THE NEW TURKEY HUNTERS...

[Farmboy27]

Turkeys will come a long distance to a well made call.  One would not know that unless one tried.  The benefit to that style of hunting is that your presence is not broadcast all over the whole forest.  As a dearly departed friend once imparted, "It is a sin to allow them to know that you exist".

Yup.  Sometimes they will. Other times they won't. I'm not one to wait forever to find out. And I'm sure as heck not setting up farther away than I have to. The closer I get the less chance there is that a real hen or another hunter will get between the gobbler and me. And with all due respect to your friend, if he doesn't know that you exist, then all you're doing is ambushing him! 

[owlhoot]

Turkeys will come a long distance to a well made call.  One would not know that unless one tried.  The benefit to that style of hunting is that your presence is not broadcast all over the whole forest.  As a dearly departed friend once imparted, "It is a sin to allow them to know that you exist".

Yup.  Sometimes they will. Other times they won't. I'm not one to wait forever to find out. And I'm sure as heck not setting up farther away than I have to. The closer I get the less chance there is that a real hen or another hunter will get between the gobbler and me. And with all due respect to your friend, if he doesn't know that you exist, then all you're doing is ambushing him!

I think not knowing you exist is from not being seen as a hunter and letting your calling get the bird without spooking it .
I would guess that with a lot of the hunters running around and trying to beat the other ones to the gobbling bird is a way to not let the other guys get him.So how the heck can you expect the others not to do the same . Sounds like a good way to get between another hunter and the gobbling cutting him off who may have been set up and working that bird before you ever made your mad dash into the woods.  This getting ahead off the gobblers direction or getting as close and sneaking up is more of an ambush than calling from a bit further away ever will be!

[tha bugman]

This year I walked in on one end of a road that was locked.  Walked about a mile sat down and waited...about 10 min to gobble time a truck pulls up from the other direction and parks shining me with his headlights.  I get up with the intention of walking 1/2 mile back the way I came so to give room.  No sooner than I started walking a truck passes me hauling it 100 yards down the road and parks...now I am blocked....so I just stop....sit down and wait...sure enough turkey starts gobbling directly in front of me about 200 yards....I closed the distance set up on him and I don't have to tell you what happened next...but I will...all of a sudden it started sounding like wild kingdom.....owl hooting....crow calls....yelping cutting....It was like being at the NWTF convention...and of course all of this was followed by complete silence for the rest of the morning.....I am not griping its part of the game where I hunt, I don't see it getting any better, cause that's just the way that it is. 

[g8rvet]

Sounds like where I hunt Tha.  Folks on here talk about getting away from folks, but a lot of times that is not possible.  One of the best places to do it is along a river near here, but my bro did that once and had a guy come in from the river and kill the bird.  Neither knew the other was there, not anyone's fault, it just happens on public.

[Happy]

I have found that playing recordings of a wildcat screaming near parking lots as hunters are getting out of their trucks tends to help thin out the competition.

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[ilbucksndux]

I have a nephew that was so scared of bumping them, he would not set up close enough.  I told him if you never bump a turkey, ever, you are not being aggressive enough.  He took that to heart and has bumped a few, but his success ratio has gone WAY up.  He says he did not kill one this year, but he set up and called in two, one for his dad (noob) and one for a friend (noob) and I told him he killed those birds, he just did not pull the trigger.  Bumping will happen no matter your intentions.  Especially on public ground.  I too tend to plan to go back and be a little less aggressive, but on hard hunted public land that has tons of roads, getting away from the crowds is not always easy, so there I tend to be a little more aggressive than I do on private land I hunt, where spooking them is a major no no (small tracts).

This was me for a long time. Afraid to get to close,afraid to call. My first two years of hunting I managed (by scouting general woodsmans skills and dumb luck) to kill gobblers on the first morning. Year #3 my strategy didnt work out. I heard them gobbling on the next ridge or two  over but they would not come closer or close enough. With 2 days left in this season(our seasons are 5-7 days long) I decided to cut the distance in half or better........what did I have to loose ? I walked out of the woods the last day with a bird.

Since that day I have learned to be more aggressive. Do I run at every turkey that gobbles ? No. Do I sometimes cut the distance between me and him pretty quick ? Yes. Do I do it on every bird that is far away ? No. Thats where knowing turkeys,knowing the lay of the land,and having good woodsman skills come into play.

The deal is I dont care how others hunt as long as it dont effect me,BUT I'm the kind of turkey hunter that when I realize someone else is in the woods with me I get out of Dodge.

[Uncle Nicky]

Well this has become quite the dick measuring contest.   

  I don't have anything against fanning/reaping, or whatever you want to call it, provided it's done safely and intelligently. Sprinting through the woods with a loaded gun sounds like more of an accident waiting to happen.

[silvestris]

Turkeys will come a long distance to a well made call.  One would not know that unless one tried.  The benefit to that style of hunting is that your presence is not broadcast all over the whole forest.  As a dearly departed friend once imparted, "It is a sin to allow them to know that you exist".

Yup.  Sometimes they will. Other times they won't. I'm not one to wait forever to find out. And I'm sure as heck not setting up farther away than I have to. The closer I get the less chance there is that a real hen or another hunter will get between the gobbler and me. And with all due respect to your friend, if he doesn't know that you exist, then all you're doing is ambushing him!

I think not knowing you exist is from not being seen as a hunter and letting your calling get the bird without spooking it .
I would guess that with a lot of the hunters running around and trying to beat the other ones to the gobbling bird is a way to not let the other guys get him.So how the heck can you expect the others not to do the same . Sounds like a good way to get between another hunter and the gobbling cutting him off who may have been set up and working that bird before you ever made your mad dash into the woods.  This getting ahead off the gobblers direction or getting as close and sneaking up is more of an ambush than calling from a bit further away ever will be!

You have to call loud enough for them to where you are , which is not the same as them knowing what you are are, which will give you the woods all to yourself.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

This conversation has endured much longer than I ever expected.

People clearly have different hunting styles and those styles often reflect a variety of factors to include the hunter's physical condition, their preferred method of killing a gobbler and one of the unmentioned contingencies for me is the type of property I'm hunting.

On my personal leases and private pieces, I hunt with an approach I can only describe as cautious aggression.  I'll get as tight as possible to a gobbler but I also hunt with a "tomorrow mentality." The best way I can describe that is an aggressive approach that intends to kill the bird today while learning as much about him as possible (and not bumping him) to increase the odds of success for tomorrow.  I do not want birds having any awareness of my presence in the woods and will go to great lengths to keep my birds oblivious to hunting pressure.  My brother hunts with the same approach and it preserves quality hunting for the duration of the season. The best way to measure the effectiveness of this methodology, and it's purely anecdotal at best, is to visit your property during the last week of the season, see how many birds are gobbling and how willing they are to work.  If you're still calling  birds in during the 5th or 6th week of the season, you've done a great job minimizing pressure and intrusion.

When I hunt public ground out of state, I'm hunting for today.  Birds I would normally be roosting for the next day here in VA for tomorrow's hunt are birds I will hunt right to fly-up on out of state public ground (where all day hunting is legal). You can't hunt a bumped turkey, so I'm cautious not to do so but I'm not as worried about tomorrow or next week.  I need a kill from that state and I'm going to cover ground more aggressively with little regard for the birds I'm going to bump that aren't gobbling.  I'm trying to find the one bird that will cooperate not minimize my presence for turkeys I won't be hunting later on. If that involves having to bump a turkey that's gobbling very little to get to one that's on fire, I'm more than willing to sacrifice educating an uncooperative bird for one that wants to die.

[grayfox]

I have found that playing recordings of a wildcat screaming near parking lots as hunters are getting out of their trucks tends to help thin out the competition.

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[Hooksfan]

This conversation has endured much longer than I ever expected.

People clearly have different hunting styles and those styles often reflect a variety of factors to include the hunter's physical condition, their preferred method of killing a gobbler and one of the unmentioned contingencies for me is the type of property I'm hunting.

On my personal leases and private pieces, I hunt with an approach I can only describe as cautious aggression.  I'll get as tight as possible to a gobbler but I also hunt with a "tomorrow mentality." The best way I can describe that is an aggressive approach that intends to kill the bird today while learning as much about him as possible (and not bumping him) to increase the odds of success for tomorrow.  I do not want birds having any awareness of my presence in the woods and will go to great lengths to keep my birds oblivious to hunting pressure.  My brother hunts with the same approach and it preserves quality hunting for the duration of the season. The best way to measure the effectiveness of this methodology, and it's purely anecdotal at best, is to visit your property during the last week of the season, see how many birds are gobbling and how willing they are to work.  If you're still calling  birds in during the 5th or 6th week of the season, you've done a great job minimizing pressure and intrusion.

When I hunt public ground out of state, I'm hunting for today.  Birds I would normally be roosting for the next day here in VA for tomorrow's hunt are birds I will hunt right to fly-up on out of state public ground (where all day hunting is legal). You can't hunt a bumped turkey, so I'm cautious not to do so but I'm not as worried about tomorrow or next week.  I need a kill from that state and I'm going to cover ground more aggressively with little regard for the birds I'm going to bump that aren't gobbling.  I'm trying to find the one bird that will cooperate not minimize my presence for turkeys I won't be hunting later on. If that involves having to bump a turkey that's gobbling very little to get to one that's on fire, I'm more than willing to sacrifice educating an uncooperative bird for one that wants to die.

Very well put. When I say that a turkey is gonna either be scared or dead when I am done with him, it is a reflection of my aggressive style of hunting. Not that I intentionally bump birds, but I'm not going to be too worried if I do. Here's why: I am a school teacher who hunts before school. That's not a lot of time. I have to have a bird on the ground by 7:45. That means being aggressive. Having said that, I don't go running through the woods and I never have. But when I started being aggressive, I found I had much more success.
The way I keep from burning properties out is that I look for new farms to hunt 12 months put of the year and I develop good relationships with the farmers and keep them well supplied with flathead and bluegill filets, shrimp,  strawberries,  etc . I currently have 12 or so different properties I hunt within 15 miles of my house. I actually had places thst I never even made it to hunt this year and I rarely hunt a place more than a couple times unless there is a bird that has become a challenge.

[fallhnt]

TTT

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