The first call I make during my first spring gobbler hunt.......
04-17-2008, 11:35 AM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Trempealeau, WI
Posts: 1,138
RE: The first call I make during my first spring gobbler hunt.......
Get yourself a decoy.... Go out the night before and try to roost a bird from a distance right before dark. Once you find your bird or I guess even if you dont, set up 80-150 yards from where you think the birds are roosted and inbetween where you think they are and where you think they want to go. Now set your decoy up past you a lil bit from where you think the bird will be coming from this way if he hangs up 40 yards from your decoy you have him dead at 30 from your gun. I typically for gun set the decoy 15 yards out and 10 yards left or right of me opposite where I think that bird is going to come from. With the bow I just shortin that up to 10 and 10. This should pull the bird right across infront of you if things work out right. Any more questions let or clarifying let me know. WCL
04-17-2008, 02:07 PM
#13
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Horse Country, VA
Posts: 937
RE: The first call I make during my first spring gobbler hunt.......
Brett,
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdaymornings I set up my blind 20 feet from edge of woods in a field where I knew a big tom had been roosting. Every morning I would blast him with my barred owl hot and he would respond back with a gobble. I use a hen and a passive jake decoy and the tom saw the decoys and was strutting back and forth in the woods but never gave me a shot or came out in the open. I would have him gobbling for 20 minutes and never saw him!
Last evening I snuck my blind in the woods about 10 feet near wher I had seen him previously...this morning absolutely nothing! I use a slate and after some calling, yelps, purrs, etc. i located him about 100 yrds from where he had been the past few mornings. I guess he had his hens because he wasnt coming anywhere. I may have spooked him by putting my blind so close to his roost, so if you go into the woods before dark, look up every once in a while for a dark figure on a limb!
If you know he is roosting there, and you dont spook him, he will be there tomorrow. Set up 100 yrds away, give him a hoot right at sunrise and enjoy the show...especially if you have some decoys!
I got my trail cam set up now in his scrape zone to see if he is coming back or has left the area.
Dont feel shy to use a slate. they are relatively easy for all the calls you need, from yelping to purrs.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdaymornings I set up my blind 20 feet from edge of woods in a field where I knew a big tom had been roosting. Every morning I would blast him with my barred owl hot and he would respond back with a gobble. I use a hen and a passive jake decoy and the tom saw the decoys and was strutting back and forth in the woods but never gave me a shot or came out in the open. I would have him gobbling for 20 minutes and never saw him!
Last evening I snuck my blind in the woods about 10 feet near wher I had seen him previously...this morning absolutely nothing! I use a slate and after some calling, yelps, purrs, etc. i located him about 100 yrds from where he had been the past few mornings. I guess he had his hens because he wasnt coming anywhere. I may have spooked him by putting my blind so close to his roost, so if you go into the woods before dark, look up every once in a while for a dark figure on a limb!
If you know he is roosting there, and you dont spook him, he will be there tomorrow. Set up 100 yrds away, give him a hoot right at sunrise and enjoy the show...especially if you have some decoys!
I got my trail cam set up now in his scrape zone to see if he is coming back or has left the area.
Dont feel shy to use a slate. they are relatively easy for all the calls you need, from yelping to purrs.
04-17-2008, 06:06 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manassas, VA
Posts: 3,612
RE: The first call I make during my first spring gobbler hunt.......
Thank you everyone, especially Wingchaser and Hoyt---thank you very much for giving me alot of advice. I am back at it Monday, Friday, and Saturday mornings next week as tomorrow morning didnt work out. I will try and purchase a slate call this weekend down in Richmond.
Brett
Brett
04-17-2008, 06:27 PM
#16
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Wilmington NC
Posts: 4,919
RE: The first call I make during my first spring gobbler hunt.......
Did he have any hens with him. I am hunting a henned up bird, and he will only gobble in a tree, but only once or twice, If i am lucky. I missed him two days ago, and his pattern still did not change. The only way I can get close to him is by being silent and stalking through the woods to cut him off on his way to roost or on his way to feed. That is why I am asking if you know where he is going to feed. Sometimes no call works the best, just like deer hunting. You cant go wrong with a decoy though, boss toms love to tear em up. I will post a video of the bird in a few minutes that I am hunting. Henned up, all he does is strut it out. I would study/hunt him, that will allow you to get closer than any other way and still give you a chance to kill him.
Brent
Brent
04-17-2008, 07:21 PM
#17
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Horse Country, VA
Posts: 937
RE: The first call I make during my first spring gobbler hunt.......
Brett,
I have almost 400 acres down here in central VA, about 20 minutes west of Richmond. My hunting buddy lives up in Fredricksburg and makes the drive, maybe you guys can meet up and drive down to hunt some REAL good turkey and whitetail land.
If you are coming to richmond, send me a PM and give me your number and while you are here I will show you how our place is laid out. It may help in your endeavors!
I have almost 400 acres down here in central VA, about 20 minutes west of Richmond. My hunting buddy lives up in Fredricksburg and makes the drive, maybe you guys can meet up and drive down to hunt some REAL good turkey and whitetail land.
If you are coming to richmond, send me a PM and give me your number and while you are here I will show you how our place is laid out. It may help in your endeavors!
04-18-2008, 08:41 AM
#19
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Manassas, VA
Posts: 3,612
RE: The first call I make during my first spring gobbler hunt.......
Hoyt, what an offer, thank you very much! How about I send you my number via PM, and then next weekend I can see if I can make it down. I have alot of obligations to some of my old buddies in Williamsburg this weekend. I used to live in Fredericksburg, in fact I graduated HS there in the 93'. I only hunt with my bow and don't shoot the little bucks...but for turkey, I am just looking to take my first gobbler, regardless of size or age.
Brett
Brett