Can you say "Call Shy"?

[jyoung]

I don't know guys... until you hunt it yourself you have to see it to believe it.  I do a LOT of hunting on public land in Mississippi! I love the challenge, but those birds are crazy!  And yes I have seen a gobbler run from a live hen yelping!! These birds have had every trick played on them that you can think of.  It has been said several times that if a person can continuously kill turkeys on Mississippi public land year after year, that person can kill turkeys anywhere else in the USA with no problem!  Even ole Preston Pittman has said that the birds in the south are the hardest to hunt in the USA. He goes on to say that some of the best woodsman and hunters were from the south because of this reason. 

Jonathan

[stinkpickle]

It may be a pecking order issue.  If that bird has had his a$$ handed to him recently by a dominant tom, and he thinks he's suddenly too close to bully's girl, he will make some space.  I've had them behave like that before...maybe not a full-on sprint, but they would definitely skirt the call.  HOWEVER, another tom has magically appeared on occasion.  Even worse, a couple of years ago, I had a bird strut all of the way across a field only to hang up about 80 yards away.  He suddenly dropped out of strut and took off running.  Initially, I thought he was spooked by my setup...until I saw a band of jakes come screaming out of the creek bottom, run him down, and beat the snot out of him.

[GobbleNut]

Regardless of all of the theories, if you intend to hunt this same bird some more this spring, it will be interesting to hear how it works out.   I, for one, will be totally amazed if you kill that bird by uttering any kind of turkey calling to him and he comes to it.

[jakebird]

No, no...u mississippi boys cant go stealin our thunder now. Everyone knows that phrase was coined in reference to Pennsylvania. WE have the TOUGHEST  birds around.  :p Just as me, i'll tell ya. Preston Pittman once tried to kill a bird on a PA state game lands and left in tears with his thumb in his mouth!  Lol  jk Makes for great trash talk though. 

[Frankinthelaurels]

I remember ole' Ben Lee saying he couldn't wait to go back home and that was more than 25 years ago! Could you imagine if these other states had 350'000 or more people chasin gobblers, most of which have watched every show, dvd, and watched all the seminars at every sport show going..I wonder how many of them have pulled into a public area and found 20 cars in a parking lot and sometime even more. Killing one by calling in PA is very difficult, the vast majority are illegally ambushed without question. YOU may be right PA birds are nothing short of amazing at times...they all have PHD's in calling and turkey hunters.

[jyoung]

    LOL!! That's what makes this sport so much fun. It's a mind game!  I think we can all agree that public land turkeys, regardless of which state you hunt them in, are harder to hunt than private land birds.  There are, however, some hard hunted private land birds that can be just as hard to kill.  At times just as I mentioned above you can pull out every trick in the bag and your confidence level just gets shot . There is nothing you could have done... but other times they come running in to the slightest remote sound of a turkey and your confidence is restored.  There is several underlying aspects that play a HUGE roll in when and what that ole gobbler will do. 

Jonathan

[paboxcall]

I remember ole' Ben Lee saying he couldn't wait to go back home and that was more than 25 years ago! Could you imagine if these other states had 350'000 or more people chasin gobblers, most of which have watched every show, dvd, and watched all the seminars at every sport show going..I wonder how many of them have pulled into a public area and found 20 cars in a parking lot and sometime even more. Killing one by calling in PA is very difficult, the vast majority are illegally ambushed without question. YOU may be right PA birds are nothing short of amazing at times...they all have PHD's in calling and turkey hunters.

What?  The "vast majority are illegally ambushed without question."

OK, even though you think its without question, I'll ask just this one:  Where do you get that statistic? 

[goblr77]

It may be a pecking order issue.  If that bird has had his a$$ handed to him recently by a dominant tom, and he thinks he's suddenly too close to bully's girl, he will make some space.  I've had them behave like that before...maybe not a full-on sprint, but they would definitely skirt the call. 

That's my reasoning as well.

[turkey_slayer]

Come up here April 14th and I will show you a spot that will have at minimum 30 vehicles and we still kill them till the last day of the season.  Turkeys do not run from other turkeys unless its a pecking order thing.  Pressure can make them go silent.  Either the turkey seen something he didnt like or heard the hen yelping and thought the boss was there. Thats really the only 2 things it could be. Or your hunting with guesswho near those gay turkeys 

[K9Doc]

I have hunted many states over the years.  Public land anywhere is much tougher.  And Yes, Mississippi birds are the toughest I hunt anywhere hands down.  That's why everyone loves the Western birds.  Even novice hunters can kill turkeys out west.  They are dumb and terrain allows easy ambush.
Just like the dang old spinning wing duck decoys.  These younger hunters think they can duck hunt cause they just put out the wing and kill mallards.  It should be outlawed!!!  but that's another post.
Mississippi public land is not joke.

[Flydown]

I have never hunted MS but our public land here in Bama is pretty dang crowded with morons for the first 2 weeks but I can honestly say I have never seen a turkey run from calling of a hen wanting to get bred. But then again there are a lot of things that happen in MS that dont happen any where else in the country.LOL (joking) 

[hobbes]

I would comment but considering im only hunting western birds this season.... :-)

[guesswho]

Call shy is like anything else, if you believe it then its true.  If you don't then it's not. 

[NYbassman]

I have hunted many states over the years.  Public land anywhere is much tougher.  And Yes, Mississippi birds are the toughest I hunt anywhere hands down.  That's why everyone loves the Western birds.  Even novice hunters can kill turkeys out west.  They are dumb and terrain allows easy ambush.
Mississippi public land is not joke.

I have found that typically, those people claiming they hunt the most difficult birds, would struggle most places, and then there are those hunters, like the one who posted just before me, that will get it done no matter where they are without ever saying a word about how tough the turkeys they hunt are. These are the guys that never complain about call shy birds, or the toughest state. They think like a turkey, they adapt, and they kill, no matter where they are. NOT saying I am one of these hunters, as I am not, but when I fail(often), I chalk it up to failure on my part, rather than crying "call shy!" or "These are the toughest birds you will ever hunt. JMO.

[h2obil]

I hunt Land Between the Lakes(LBL) public hunting in W.Ky. and the turkeys have a reputation for being very call shy, after a few days of getting whipped by an old tom I decided to get in the woods early and hope for an ambush which never works but I was desperate.   Sure enough the tom flew down was within 35 steps and I was  just waiting to pull the trigger when he cleared a fallen branch when a mockingbird (I guess) makes  a sound  behind him that sounded alot like a hen and he turned his head looking behind him and it had really spooked him and he listened very hard. Then the  bird called again and with that he flopped his wing and ducked his head and took off  running and when he cleared a dip I was going to shoot but when he came out of the dip  he was out of range and ran until I lost sight of him going over the next ridge and me left with WHAT JUST HAPPENED?  I saw it and still cant believe it.