Terasec

Every day I would hear gobbling (I mean gobbling their heads off gobbling) on the left side of the property and I am on the right side. Five straight days. OK, on day six I set up on the left side and hear them gobbling on the right. Go figure.
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That sounds exactly like my last hunting trip.
woke up to wild gobbling, was like wow,
went out and nothing,
next day they were gobbling at the other end of my property,
went there and they went back to the other end,
dang birds playing mind games with me,

Antler Eater

I may be reading into your plight more than I should but I see way more frustration than lack of desire. While it is true that unrequited frustration can lead one to eventually run up the white flag, at least you are still in there swinging.

The one thing about hunting is that things can change on a dime!! For the good or bad.

I didn't consider our season here to be a particularly good one. Yes I did "tag out" but the gobblers were not responding the way they have in years past, at least not where I hunted. It got so bad that when you called they would move the other direction and I still am unsure as to why, they were not pressured here. For three days in a row I had a tom close to me as I was walking out. He gobbled at me, I knew his general location. When I set up and called back he would answer and each time it was obvious he was moving away. The next time I could go I decided I wouldn't call and just put a decoy out in a small open area. Late in the morning I heard a gobble and it was coming towards me. I waited. Sure enough up struts this tom. He was close enough to kill easily distance wise, but he stood behind a blow down as he eyed the decoy and there was no good shot. He eventually left without me being able to take advantage of my ruse. It was a moral victory of sorts for me so instead of being discouraged by my bad luck, I was encouraged by the fact that I had one in range.

A couple of days later in this same spot I clucked on the call and got an answer. A short while later it was evident this guy was coming to the call. The exact opposite of what I experienced the prior four days.

When he got right on top of me he gobbled. It was one of those types that reverberates off of the trees and vibrates the inside of your chest! Even so because of the thick stuff I could not see him. I had my gun up, head down, safety off, it was go time baby!! Three minutes later in the same position, I'm thinking that my gun is getting heavy and the silence is deafening! I thought he might have left. What I didn't know at the time but figured out later, was that he was over there strutting because he could see the decoy just fine. I nearly blew that hunt big time by doubting my set up. I had just picked my call and stiker up when I saw his head stick out at a 45 degree angle from behind a tree twenty five yards away. He never saw me raise my gun until it was to late.

I have had the same experience with elk. I had a few days in a row last fall where they would run if you cow called. The final two days I could hunt it was like someone turned on a switch, everything changed. They not only answered they came to the call.

These critters don't read the magazine articles. They don't know how they are suppose to respond to what we are doing. We are the only ones who fall into that trap.

There are lots of good suggestions here. As long as you can get out of bed in the morning and go to an area that holds birds, and you keep trying with a reasonable amount of guile and stealth, eventually success will come your way....Good luck.

dog1

Mikey S.,

Every post here is a good one and I don't think you're ready to throw in the towel. Geting up at 4 a.m. will wear on you, I know, I get up around 3 a.m. and my hunting land is only 10 minutes from my home.

I think you need more than an hour to hunt, but you have to take what you can get. Here's something I do every year and I usually get my two birds in the first two weeks of the season, (we can take three here but I only kill two). The reason I get up so early is to get my gallon of coffee intake before leaving the house, but more importantly, to get in the woods an hour before daylight. What I do is get in the woods, sometimes just on the edge of the woods, the hour before daylight and listen. Unless I'm lucky enough to be near a bird when it gets' light, I mark him, I may try moving closer and work him, but most of the time I'll leave try working another bird, if there is another gobbling. I make it a point to be in the area I heard that bird an hour before daylight the next morning and set up, normally, for me at least, he will roost pretty close the next day, this has proven very successful for me.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I won't hear that bird the next day and I'll take off for one at daylight that could be a half mile away. Actually, what I'm doing is applying some deer hunting experience to turkey hunting.

The main thing is, don't quit, but take a day or two off. Just go listen sometimes and don't hunt, listen and leave. You'll be surprised how rested you'll be if you lay off a day or two.

Good Luck,
dog1

snowdog2

All good advice and thoughts fellas. This spring my wife, friend and I all wound up getting skunked (for the first time ever) at my "honey hole" (in South Dakota)!! I went out about 12 different days, busted my wife's car, got my truck stuck so badly I needed a 4-wheel tractor to pull it out, in general had a miserably wonderful time!!!

Days without gobbling, birds that go the other way, "henned up" birds, toms strutting and/or gobbling "out-of-bounds"--- I've seen it all. And when I get beat and bummed and worn out and ask myself why I do it, the answer is not for the kill, but for the chance to get away from "the real world", from work and from all the stresses of life. Nothing more, plain and simple.

As a matter of fact, my best hunting day this year (in Kansas)--the textbook hunt--roosted the night before, set up, flydown and strut over, shot by 6:00 a.m.--was, in many ways, unsettling and unsatisfying. Just killing a bird. Over way too quickly, now what are you going to do with the rest of your day?? Ho-hum.

But what I remember best so far was a pre-season scouting trip where I had a tom 15 feet away, spitting and drumming, in the sunlight, in all his glory, for about 20 minutes, me leaning against a tree and watching through half-closed eyes, not daring to move or blink. I didn't have to kill that tom to find fun and excitement. Or maybe it was the hen that stood by my decoy for almost an hour--no gobbler came that day, not even for my "live" decoy. Still, watching her feed and preen and walk around the area of the decoy was neat. (I was in my Doghouse blind.) So I can say I was skunked, but then again, I had some really neat "adventures" to make the spring, 2005 in South Dakota memorable.

Find the pleasure in the moment. Relax and enjoy!!
So look for enjoyment in small things. Don't put all the pleasure in the kill. Find the beauty of the season, the day, the woods.

(And if you really want to kill a roosted gobbler, get out in the woods earlier, in the dark dark, so that you can be comfortably set up at least an hour before legal shooting time. Then shut up until you hear tree yelping if there's hens, or the tom gobbling if not. Never hurry the hunt.)

mauser06

im with u....i have a post like this too......im ready to quit myself.....but them birds just drive me mad........i sleep 2-4hrs tops.......hunt...then school if i go or have it....work at noon till 5....then some days i work my SECOND job......this is all after getting up at 430am.......i just cant take it......somethings wrong this year i think.......they are sick or maybe they all turned homosexual......i dont know.......but they are killin me this year.....they will go nuts on the roost.....hit the ground and never say a peep......killllllling me!......but......too late to quit......i got to many hours into these birds.......im hangin in there a little longer........even if it kills me! good luck......stick with it......never know when they will cooperate..........tomarow after the morning hunt im just going to sit on the highest point i can find with binos and GLASS every field i can see......every time i leave they are in the field........and i got all day to hunt tomarow.....ill climb the silo......glass.....find them.....and pull a sneak setup on them........cant say its illegal......im setting up....and calling......they pull dirty tricks i just might do the same.......im not even just out there for a kill......i just want the excitement i get from chasin turkeys when they cooperate SOMEWHAT

Mikey S.

It's 10:35, got my alarm set for 3:45. Borrowed a "bubba" jake decoy ( was always afraid to use one in my old spots) Gonna plop his butt out in that field with a couple sweeties and see what happens. Any bird that lands in that field is gonna see them. Hopefully one of those toms gets a little agitated and comes looking to strut his stuff. It's the only thing I haven't tried yet.........

See ya guys tomorrow. Thanks for all the replies also!

Mikey

Rem1100

BUT... BUT .... ??? ....what WOULD you call a good one?
HUH??? .......... your 1st response to this thread was better.......IMO.

Phil J.

Sounds like you just need a break from things for a while. Sleep in for a day or two then go out around 9 or 10 am and see what happens, sometimes a change in your schedule will do the trick.

I know when I get frustrated like that sometimes I just have to step back and look outside the box and think why I really love to hunt. I filled my tag this season but got skunked the last 3 years, I was very frustrated and ready to stop hunting birds where I live, but things came around.

Antler Eater

Rem1100, after rereading that part of my post I can see why you might feel the way you do. As far as killing a turkey, yes it was as good a year or better than the last five. But making a kill doesn't necessarily equate a good season. FOR Me, my satisfaction comes from the interaction with the turkeys.

What I was trying to communicate (and failing miserably at) was how the turkeys were reacting to the calls. In my area you can normally count on a tremendous response in terms of vocal replies and excited toms coming to your setup. This year was markedly different than recent years. I don't know if it had to do with the unseasonably warm weather we had for a period of time before the season opened or what. What ever it was or is, it was very evident from early season on. Once down from the roost they were very tight lipped and for the most part unresponsive by comparison to years gone by. So, by those standards, I didn't feel is was as "good".

rybohunter

I can relate to antler eater. I'd rather have a season full of gobbling and mornings where I feel like I have a chance to have something come in and not end up with a bird over a season of sitting there in silence and lucking into one that came in and I shot it.