GMMAT

I know we hear guys say to call sparingly at times.....but I'm wondering what the definition of "sparingly" is to you guys who are seasoned.

I hear a lot of gobbling in the AM's, usually.....and get the occasional answer. if it's evident he's NOT coming (at least, vocally).....how long between sequences do YOU wait?

My thinking is.....he already knows where I am.....and if he's with hens at that time....MY actions are moot. "MY" thinking is....I just want to "reiterate" my position.....say every 15 minutes, or so.

Too often? Too sparingly?

My "opinion" (and I'm a calling novice) is.....the more vocal "I" (the hen)am.....the more he likely thinks I'm going to come and join HIM.

bloodcrick

99% of my experience with turkeys WAS with a gun but i think they are often the same situations. I like to call sparringly and let the story play out, but there comes a point when i have made my mind up that the bird is not going to commit and will try something different. Hard cutting mixed with some purs sometimes was all it took to geta bird to commit, keep in mind im talking about AFTER the light calling that was not enough even though some times it is. switching calls has sometimes worked. Just brushing the leaves on the ground floor mimiking a feeding hen with an occasional pok note on the slate is sometimes all it takes. My favorite that has worked for me than anything ,and inMY cases, it was woods birds not field birds. Say the bird is answering your calls but will never commit, you know the ones that turn into a never ending story, you have tried everything including going silent on him. If you can wait him out and let him move say 100 yards, slip into the exact spot where he was hung up and start yelping, if he answers, start cutting, yelping, then go silent and wait. This one has landed me and my son a handful of birds that were previoulsy hung up. I think they find comfort in knowing the hen is now in a SAFE place they just were, and are more apt to come in. Decoys have sometimes made the difference as an added visual. not sure if this is the kind of info your looking for but it may help someone out one day.

mauser06

i do like blood creek...give em enough to let them know your there...if i get an occassional gobble back ill call a little more often. if i am not getting any response ill make a few series every 30-45 minutes. once in a while i will come through an area with scratchings and just blindly setup...ill call every 30 minutes or so...trying to catch the attention of any passer by..

if the birds are hammering hard i already got his attention...thats time to get the gun/bow ready and shut up because hes most likely coming..

one thing i noticed...if he was hammering and all the sudden falls silent you better get that bow ready...he IS coming. any bird that shuts down for no reason is most likely sneaking in on you. (unless you been busted...)

alot of guys call WAY too much IMO. ill admit..i love to run the calls..and love to make them gobble...but you can definently over do it. you never hear a hen sit in one spot and yelp her head off all day. neither should you.

when i am trying to fire a bird up and make him come ill cutt and yelp hard and loud and get his attention...after that its silence for a while...but other times hes gobbling and not coming...ill just cluck, scratch leaves, and yelp a series every 30 minutes or so...just enough to let him know im in the area and keep his attention...but not over do it...

lots of different hunts call for different tactics...sometimes it dont matter what you do...that bird is going to come in on a string(the hunts we all like) others they like soft calls, others like agressive etc...i just try to figure out what he is responding best to and go with it for a while..

and another thing...if you can hear the hens calling try to pi$$ her off..mock her, get aggressive, fire her up. ive only gotten to do it one time...most times the hens dont really say much..but that morning was THE most exciting hunt of my life i think. i fired her up on the roost...she was roosting with a BIG BIG dominate tom..she hit the ground infront of me screaming her head of. i really thought i might be shooting a hen in self defense..but all the while the gobbler was going absolutely bonkers(he thought he was getting a two-fer! lol) they came within 10-15yds of me...i never seen them, but heard them both...could hear him spitting and drumming and his fan clicking...just on the other side of a oak sapling thicket[:@] but man was she ever pi$$ed...it broke light too early that morning and they were sounding off...i had to setup behind that little thicket..i was actually in his strutting zone and had a clear lane but they went right not left....

GMMAT

Guys...

That's EXACTLY the kind of stuff I was looking for.

Thanks.

SwampCollie

Jeff:

Your opinion is concurrent with my experience (lets not forget that the formula for experience is summation of mistakes, mess-ups, screw ups and errors).

I cannot tell you or anyone for that matter exactly when to call, what call to make, or how often you should do it. For that, you are going to have to feel the situation out. You will be able to do that better as you hunt more and more.

As a rule, I will yelp only once or twice in any given location, even if I am bow hunting. I will, however, cluck, purr and scratch the leaves. To me, that lets the gobbler know where I am at.

I agree 100% that the more you call, the less likely he is to come your way, because he will think that you are going to come to him. Simple as that.

Germ

You did not need any damn calls

Just the "Germ Turkey Orgy Decoy Setup"

GTODS

indianahunter83

My problem is that I hunt on a huge field where I see atleast 3 toms every time (except tonight @#%@!# storm) But every time they are surrounded by hens. These hens never do the same thing twice which makes it hard to get anywhere near a tom.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Kinda tells ya what I tried to instill in ya doesn't it...lol All of it.!.

mauser06

indiana....if you cannot fire up the hen and piss them off another method i have heard of, but never tried is going in right when they fly up the night before and "breaking up the flock" like you would do in the fall season...gotta do it right and scare the daylights out of them to make sure they dont fly off in the same direction...its easier when they are on the ground...but ive heard of that working...never tried it...definently makes sense...and if you got permission on the surrounding areas it may be worth a shot near the end of the season...

i might actually give it a shot this season if i have a hen problem. the idea is that they will all roost in different areas(if you can get them to fly in different directions) and will goto sleep and leave the gobbler alone...note what way he went and try finding him and getting close in the morning and he should come to you...with any luck...seems like alot gotta go right for that method to work..but when the birds wanna play hard ball id try almost anything

GMMAT

I had a big tom come in last night on his way to the roost. He walked by .....coming from my left and behind me....headd towrds the woods (his roosting spot). I got his attention with some putting.....but he was hell-bent on going to roost. Last night I had a jake over a sitting hen (facing the blind at 5 yds)......and two hens facing away from the blind at about 15yds.

He wasn't interested in checking them out. Could a bird be SO intent on getting to his roosting spot that the set-up didn't interest him. Would ANY set-up likely have influenced him?