Unread postby cornfedkiller » Sat May 07, 2011 1:29 pm
My actual turkey hunting experience has been quite limited, but I do alot of reading and video watching, so I can maybe offer you a bit of advice..Hopefully some more people will chime in and help you more. This may seem abstract, but Im just spilling alot of what I have learned here..
First off, if you can find their roost, you are in great shape. I would do this by trying to put some birds to bed - scout the area in the evening, around sunset..where the birds are near dark is not far from their roost (if there are open fields, etc in the area). Also, after they fly up, you can sometimes get them to gobble by using a shock call such as a crow call, coyote howl, or even honking your vehicle horn. If you can scout some mornings before daylight, they usually gobble a few times before they come down off the roost..this will help you pinpoint where they are. If you can find their roost, set up close (DO NOT BUMP THEM), and make a few soft yelps once you hear them start gobbling in the morning, and sometimes you can get them to fly down almost in your lap...
Also, if you can locate their strutting, dusting, or feeding zones throughout the day (scouting again), those would be good places to set up near as well, since they are pretty much creatures of habit, and will often travel the same circuit each day.
Another piece of advice I can give you is DO NOT (I repeat: DO NOT) call to them before you are actually hunting them. Dont go out in the woods 3 days before you plan to hunt and start yelping like a hen. This will educate them.
Any time during the day while you are hunting, you can try locating birds by walking around and doing a little yelping and seeing if you can get something to gobble back at you. A crow call also works excellent for this - Hammer a few caws on it and they may gobble back at you.
If you can get them to gobble at you, dont over-call. Get them interested, then play hard to get..In nature, the hens come to the toms..its not natural for toms to go to hens - hence playing hard to get and making them come to you. If they are interrupting your yelps with gobbles, thats a good sign..that means they are very interested.
In the late season, the toms may be a little love sick and looking for hens, so sometimes it doesnt take much..but then again, they may be really educated and really tough to get to gobble or come in to anything.
Ask away any more questions you have, and good luck!
) Anyhow we went around just at last light and would stop along the road wherever we could hunt and we'd get out and just do some yelps with the slate call. We got a gobble back friday night and saturday morning set up on that bird and he came right in. I definitely think putting them to bed is the way to go. Even if you don't pin point a roost if you can set up where they are close enough to hear your calling you should get a crack. I'd lose the burlap blind, I have tried them in the past as have buddies and they seem to spook more birds than they bring in. We just sit up against trees. Good luck!