Bigtimer

This being my first year of turkey hunting I was expecting to make some mistakes but DANG!!!. I have seen 104 turkey in 4 days and can't seal the deal. I guess I'll get the hang of it one day but I sure wasn't expecting this much failure. I'm hunting private land and there's not a lot of pressure, some, but not a lot. The woods come alive "every" morning with the sound of gobbler's trying to outdo one another. I'm not calling a lot but enough, I think. I had gobblers around me in 4 different directions Saturday morning and had 2 fly down in the field with me. I had a hen decoy out and gave them some soft purrs at first but they would have notheing to do with it. I gave a couple of soft yelps and they left the field like I had shot at him[:@]. I was in my blind with only one window open and I just know that he didn't see me. Any ides? Maybe I'm just paying my dues and will get lucky before long. I hunted Thursday with a guy that is a very experienced turkey hunter and he was very impressed with the number of turkeys on the property but he said that my inability to get around was hurting my success. I bought some of that leafy material to cover my wheelchair but I just can't get to where I want to with it. I will own a Bad Boy Buggy next year. I'll keep trying. I'm bound to get luck before to long.

God Bless

mohunter82

if you have that many gobblers i would definitly be using a jake decoy with that hen. with over a hundred turkey on your property its probably not extemely hard for them to find hens. but they will be very protective of the areas they currently have.
another thing is dont be afraid to get aggrsive with your calling every once in awhile. if soft isn't working try using some excited clucks and yelps. never know till ya try.

Bigtimer

I don't have a jake decoy, I have a B-Mobile with a real fan. Can I use it with the fan laid back a little?

mohunter82

oh yea you could probably even use it with the fan up. just make sure the beard is a shorter length to show a jake. and i wouldn't set him up breeding either. set her off a little bit maybe in a feeding position.

maglite

The first gobbler is the HARDEST!!!!!!!!!!! BY FAR after that it seems to get easier!!!!!!!!!!

StruttinGobbler3

different gobblers respond to different calls. mix it up a little, some gobblers respond to quiet, slow calling, while some birds get fired up when they hear aggressive cuts, yelps and cackles. you just have to experiment, and let the gobbler tell you what he likes. and i wouldn't worry too much about not getting one yet, i hunted two years before i killed one. with that many birds on your property you're bound to connect soon. good luck!

SwampCollie

Thats the issue. One, being that you had a lone hen decoy that had been yelping and the birds came to you.... when that happens they have made the effort, and frequently its the hen's job to come the rest of the way.

Once I have a bird sighted, especially in a field I NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER call. A hen will not yelp in the prescense of a gobbler..... they will make noises that might SOUND like yelps... or even variations of a yelp... but a typical spring, receptive hen yelp is designed to locate a willing and available gobbler... once that gobbler is there, I guess its sort of like your date dancing with another guy.....


I don't think mobility is your problem bigtimer. Sure, if the birds don't want to play your game then you need to get after them, but in your situation you just need to adapt your hunting style to your abilities.

I'll say this much, 90% of the turkey hunters I know and talk to would probably kill a heck of a lot more turkeys if they had the patience to wait a bird out. Successful turkey hunting is about knowing your birds and being patient... followed by not overcalling and not moving.

In your current situation, I think you would benefit highly from a full strutt decoy. Its one of those things that will make you or break you... the birds will either be afraid of it (if its a subdominent bird) or they will charge it, offering you a perfect shot. But what typically will not happen, is birds hanging up at 80-100 yards gobbling and strutting. With a single hen decoy, I more often than not have had birds hang up in fields.

SwampCollie

Yes you can and yes you should, but no matter in what capacity... this is the time of year to use them!!!!! I called a bird in for my girlfriend on wednesday and the bird came right to b-mobile... full strutt, straight up fan and I painted his head to look more well... like a real bird not a dead one. You MUST challenge the dominent bird right now. Don't bother trying to make him look like a jake, because birds don't judge another bird by their beards or their tails even... its all based on posture, head color and SIZE! If a gobbler is the man in that part of the area, he is going to man up againest ANY other bird... PERIOD! Killing the chief bird throws chaos into the social structure and you have a stuggle for power, I've noticed that after killing a domient bird in the past, gobbling usually skyrockets... and so does the hunting because now there is a power struggle to take advantage of.

I set my hen up with B-Mobile to make the hen look like she really isn't all that interested... sort of in a semi-looker/alert position, and about 6-7 yards away from the strutter. Part of what I really like about B-Mobile is how small he is... I had an old boss hen walk up and flog my widowmaker last week, and as she stood next to b-mobile she made him look like a bantam rooster. I think it makes gobblers more prone to try him out.

TEmbry

x10. they either come in or run away, but will not hang up on this deke. Jakes and boss toms come in easy to it, its those 2yo birds that are sometimes skittish around the bigger ones such as my Pretty Boy. Hunted over a homemade jake full strut decoy that is much much smaller than the ones out there on the market. Motion stake and a jerk cord, small size, I honestly think ANY gobbler will come into this one, it isnt very intimidating. As a matter of fact, I missed one of two jakes earlier this week over this deke with my bow....[:@]

shamlin

I agree with what everyone is saying 100%. I just wanted to touch up on the fact that the birds ran the other way when you yelped. I have seen that before and it generally means you should practice up on your calling or the birds have become call shy to that call. When this has happemed to me before sometimes I noticed it would help me just to swap up the call I was using. If it is the box you were using then put it down and pick up the slate, or you might try to swap up your slate surface.
I really think most of your problems come from your calling. Thats what I would focus on.