Any advice on a tough flock?

[WNCTracker]

I've got 8 gobblers who are always together, 5 jakes, 3 toms and 4 hens. They fly down every day and go to a spot right in a woman's yard and eat the spilled bird seed and strut. They stay there about 1 hour then walk behind her house. I can't get any of them to split from the flock, or gobble at a slate, mouth, or wingbone call, even the jakes!  I hunt on her land which is great but these birds stay in areas that are off limits for hunting. Any suggestions. Would a gobble call help?


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[bamagtrdude]

Well, right now, if you can't get in between their roost & this woman's bird seed, it's gonna be tough - until they change their pattern later on.  IOW, you need to position yourself to "get in their way" right now.

[WNCTracker]

Very insightful.


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[bamagtrdude]

Ya, that's your best bet right now, John.  Later on, this flock may bust up on you, whereby you can hunt them in a different location; but right now, you've found their pattern -- best to just "wedge" yourself into their normal routine, and knock 'em off that way.

[woodsman1977]

Move the bird feeder into one of the spots u can hunt.

Just kidding, I would find more cooperative birds

[bbcoach]

And if you try hunting between their flydown and the bird feeder, you better find out from your State Wildlife Office how far you have to be from the feeder or you may get a ticket for hunting over / near bait.  Most states have a minimum distance.  My advice is the same as the rest, find other birds and try these at a later date.

[wibirdhunter]

I'd bust em off the roost or try and break them up on the ground. Then try and call them in. It might not work but it's better than what you have going now.

Have you tried middle of the day?

Waiting for them to walk by on the way to a feeder doesn't sound to fun to me. I assume if other birds was an option you'd do already be doing that.

[Bigspurs68]

Bust em up in the late evening. Kill em in the morning.

[jblackburn]

Can you hunt close enough that they could see a decoy?  Maybe a strutter would get their attention?

Would she let you bust them out of her yard?  Like fall season, leave gun in the truck and run through them like a crazy man then go set up for them where you can hunt?

Gobbles and gobbler yelps may work then.

Good luck!

[WNCTracker]

That is all good advice. Thanks! She would probably be fine with me busting up the flock in the evening hours and trying to call them in the next morning.  Last year I hunted the same spot that I'm in this year and I was able to call to gobblers down a 200 foot field to my decoys without any issue. They just started a different pattern this year and quit coming across to the spot where I'm allowed to hunt. I've got three small children at home, so that is where most of my time is spent and it's hard for me to get away more than just a few days to actually hunt. By the way there is no fall season in western North Carolina. I wish there was it was my favorite when I lived in Pennsylvania.


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