Alright, yall help me set the record straight. Me and a buddy have a difference in opinion on this.
Say your headed into the woods early in the morning. YOu hear a bird soudning off still on the roost, YOu get to about 100 yards from him and set up. I always like to set up and give a light tree yelp to let him know im there and then i dont make another sound until i know he is on the ground. Now my buddy likes to give them a light tree yelp, do a fly down, and then some yelps every now an then until he gets on the ground. And how would this change if you start hearing hens with him. Yall help me set it straight with him because we are going to be hunting together this weekend.
I by no means an am expert, and this is only my third year. I agree with you. Light tree yelp if he answers he knows where you are.
If he has hens then he will likely get taken away, so you will need to compete with those hens to get his attention and may draw them in to you pulling him in tow. I would get more aggressive with my calling, more yelping and if that boss hen fires up then make her mad, otherwise she will take him away. They may go away anyway, but if you don't call your chances are much less that you will get him to come your way.
Now, this is MHO, and others will give advice based on more experience.
Quote from: sugarray on March 22, 2011, 11:15:30 AM
I by no means an am expert, and this is only my third year. I agree with you. Light tree yelp if he answers he knows where you are.
If he has hens then he will likely get taken away, so you will need to compete with those hens to get his attention and may draw them in to you pulling him in tow. I would get more aggressive with my calling, more yelping and if that boss hen fires up then make her mad, otherwise she will take him away. They may go away anyway, but if you don't call your chances are much less that you will get him to come your way.
Now, this is MHO, and others will give advice based on more experience.
:agreed: i'm no expert either but i agree
Agreed. I mimic every noise the hen makes, just more aggressively...often cutting off her calls. I've been in several "arguments" with hens, and that @#$% gets exciting. :)
Quote from: sugarray on March 22, 2011, 11:15:30 AM
I by no means an am expert, and this is only my third year. I agree with you. Light tree yelp if he answers he knows where you are.
If he has hens then he will likely get taken away, so you will need to compete with those hens to get his attention and may draw them in to you pulling him in tow. I would get more aggressive with my calling, more yelping and if that boss hen fires up then make her mad, otherwise she will take him away. They may go away anyway, but if you don't call your chances are much less that you will get him to come your way.
Now, this is MHO, and others will give advice based on more experience.
Cosign. But, I wouldn't be able to resist a flydown after the tree yelp! IF he's with hens, you gotta out talk them. Don't forget too, he knows you're there and may come back to check later on. Don't get busted moving too soon.
It seems the areas I hunt have more gobblers with hens than solitary gobblers. I usually get fairly close to the roost depending on the amount of cover and give a couple of light yelps and then wait. If I hear hens and he responds I wait till they're on the ground. If he sounds like he's coming to the call I yelp lightly and wait. If he's working away from me I try to determine which way he's going and try to get ahead of the flock and then aggressively call to the dominant hen to get her to drag the gobbler to me. If all else fails I shut up and stalk which can be very effective out here in the west. I hunt Merriam's and Rio's mostly and I've been very successful using this strategy. Doesn't always work but then what does? :icon_thumright:
I agree with you tree yelp then wait for him to fly down,
Quote from: bnew17 on March 22, 2011, 11:01:07 AM
Alright, yall help me set the record straight. Me and a buddy have a difference in opinion on this.
Say your headed into the woods early in the morning. YOu hear a bird soudning off still on the roost, YOu get to about 100 yards from him and set up. I always like to set up and give a light tree yelp to let him know im there and then i dont make another sound until i know he is on the ground. Now my buddy likes to give them a light tree yelp, do a fly down, and then some yelps every now an then until he gets on the ground. And how would this change if you start hearing hens with him. Yall help me set it straight with him because we are going to be hunting together this weekend.
You both can be right depends on the situation and which part of the season it is.My buddy and i have lost birds to someone elses gun shots callin like you to some one callin like your buddy.If there are hens do like everyone else has said Work the dominant hen till she has to come to you draggin everyone with her.
I always like to give some tree yelps, then fly down with my real wing to make it sound a little more realistic. They always cut me off with a gobble when I use that wing! That's just my personal preference.....
Just remember that calling to one on the limb most of the time results in the bird staying on the roost and gobbling longer. If you hunt where there are other hunters thats bad. You will be fighting a crowd.
Quote from: beards-n-bone on March 23, 2011, 02:17:34 AM
Just remember that calling to one on the limb most of the time results in the bird staying on the roost and gobbling longer. If you hunt where there are other hunters thats bad. You will be fighting a crowd.
I hunt private family land but there is no shortage of hunters in the area from adjoining properties.
Ive had the problem of Gobblers staying on the roost late before. Sometimes i go before work and only have a short window to hunt. It seems like the times they have stayed in the tree for longer than normal was when i called every10 or so minutes.
Should have said this earlier.Forget the whos right and whos wrong you are a team think like a team learn how to use each others strong points to come up with a strategie if the set up works you get success if the set up doesnt work it's still success cause you just got alittle more turkey educated.
Tree yelp only. If he has his hens roosted with him you have real trouble.
Most of my gobblers down here seem to be henned up off the roost. I will generally give one quiet tree yelp, followed a few minutes later by a flydown cackle while flapping my hat. After that I shut up until they hit the ground. That gobbler knows where you are. As others said, if they're henned up, nothing will be gained by being silent. That is the time to get aggressive. Get that boss hen cranked up and mimic her every call, just louder and sharper. I like to cut them off a few times as well. If the boss hen gets more and more vocal you know you're doing it right. This is not a guarantee, the hen may still lead him away, but you have a better chance of her dragging that gobbler in by getting aggressive. Ignore the gobblers, don't call to them. You are calling strictly to that hen, and only that hen. When she goes silent, you go silent. When she cranks up, you crank it up harder. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. If it doesn't, try to cut off the flock and repeat the process.
Quote from: bnew17 on March 23, 2011, 08:39:46 AM
I hunt private family land but there is no shortage of hunters in the area from adjoining properties.
Ive had the problem of Gobblers staying on the roost late before. Sometimes i go before work and only have a short window to hunt. It seems like the times they have stayed in the tree for longer than normal was when i called every10 or so minutes.
Are you gonna be close enough to Hogan land to hear my bird die Saturday morning?
Quote from: J Gilbert on March 23, 2011, 05:57:27 PM
Quote from: bnew17 on March 23, 2011, 08:39:46 AM
I hunt private family land but there is no shortage of hunters in the area from adjoining properties.
Ive had the problem of Gobblers staying on the roost late before. Sometimes i go before work and only have a short window to hunt. It seems like the times they have stayed in the tree for longer than normal was when i called every10 or so minutes.
Are you gonna be close enough to Hogan land to hear my bird die Saturday morning?
Haha, depends. Wheres Hogans land at?
Do a fly down with a wing or cup a gloved hand and beat it against your leg and as you do this kick the leaves with one of your feet to sound like a turkey hitting the ground. Then scratch in the leaves and cluck and purr. I find that the flydown with kicking the leaves can be deadly to a gobbler, you can also throw in a cackle but turkeys do not always cackle when they fly down.
Quote from: J Gilbert on March 24, 2011, 11:03:30 PM
Quote from: bnew17 on March 24, 2011, 02:18:50 PM
Haha, depends. Wheres Hogans land at?
Hwy 336
I dont know of a hwy 336, you sure it isnt 338? Im down on hwy 19 so im a ways from ya. Good luck to ya though. Lets hope the weather cooperates!
Quote from: bnew17 on March 25, 2011, 08:45:30 AM
I dont know of a hwy 336, you sure it isnt 338? Im down on hwy 19 so im a ways from ya. Good luck to ya though. Lets hope the weather cooperates!
You're right haha, I shouldnt type late at night. I thought you had mentioned once on GON that you hunted some land close to me, oh well, good luck and stay dry haha
Quote from: J Gilbert on March 25, 2011, 09:58:44 AM
Quote from: bnew17 on March 25, 2011, 08:45:30 AM
I dont know of a hwy 336, you sure it isnt 338? Im down on hwy 19 so im a ways from ya. Good luck to ya though. Lets hope the weather cooperates!
You're right haha, I shouldnt type late at night. I thought you had mentioned once on GON that you hunted some land close to me, oh well, good luck and stay dry haha
I have! I got a buddy with land over that way but ill be on the south end of the county this weekend bustin heads hopefully!
If both of you are hunting together I would separate about 30-40 yards apart and start talkin back and forth to one another. I would try and ignore the tom (unless he is fired up and I would hush and see what he does next) and act to hens carrying on a conversation. That way if he does have hens they may come in looking for the other ones.