How often do you guys think that we mess up birds that we never knew were even there? In other words, a bird comes in silent and sees you fumbling around with your calls, getting a drink of water, playing with your cell phone or something like that, and is gone and you never knew he was around. I think it happens way more than we realize. I know that two silent birds busted me last year, not sure how many busted me that I was unaware of. I now try to get hid a well as possible. I rarely set up at the base of a tree, I usually try to find a thick mess of stuff to crawl in when possible. It is one thing that I have found laurel to be good for. I have a hard time being still unless I know there is a bird around, so if I am blind calling or just sitting and listening, I try to conceal myself as best I can.
Personally, what draws me to turkey hunting is the show. I want the gobbling, spitting, drumming, strutting fool that makes your heart race so fast you have trouble settling the bead on him.
If I miss a silent gobbler sneaking in trying to steal away a hen because I moved to go find one that's doing it right, I'm OK with that.
Don't get me wrong, I'll hammer one that comes sneaking in too, but if I don't punch a tag because I went on a search for one that's playing the game, that's OK too.
I dont know how many we mess up when we're set up but I think we probably bump a number of them while walking from location to location and moving around.
Particularly in the early part of the season, when there are no leaves on the trees, I think they usually see you before you ever see them.