what should i do????

ADDICTED2HUNTIN · Apr 21, 2008

i need some major help from some of the experts...i am not an expert by any means but i have killed my fair share of longbeards, but this year has gotten to me. the problem i am having is the birds are not responding to my calls.i have been in the woods a fair amount of mornings since the opener and have been on birds everytime i have been out. they gobble good on the roost (at times as many as 8-10 different birds) and will continue to gobble until around 9am then they quit.the question i have is why aren't they coming to me? i set up in good areas and it seems like everytime i call they do not answer me, but will gobble at crows,owls,geese just about anything but me.it seems like they still have hens with them but i haven't heard any hens with any of the birds i have been on in about 2 weeks.i have changed my calls around to see if maybe that was the problem and i still got the same results, i have changed my style of calling and still the same results. i thought it was just me and maybe i had lost my "touch" but i talked with one of my customers today and he said he was having the same problem. another problem i have had is the birds are not gobbling after 9am, i have set in well used areas through the middle of the day with hopes of calling in a silent bird with no results.i have only called 2 jakes into shotgun range since the opener and seen one longbeard that i just happen to walk up on and he came to my call but hung up just out of gun range. i just don't understand what i'm doing wrong. any advice?????

Jody Hawk · Apr 21, 2008

I'd love to have your problem. :bounce:

Wish my birds gobbled till 9 am. My best gobbling bird all year was yesterday, I left him gobbling at 9:15 to go to church. Other than him, most every other bird that I've been on gobbled a few times on the roost and flew down and it's over. :huh:

Gut_Pile · Apr 21, 2008

it seems that the birds aren't in the mood to come to the hens yet. They are still being stubborn and are wanting the hens to come to them. Have heard a lot about birds hangin up halfway these past two weeks. It should be anytime now that they will quit being stubborn and start coming in.

bnew17 · Apr 21, 2008

Ill take it! At my rate im only HEARING birds every 3 times i go to the woods!

kevincox · Apr 21, 2008

Try to get closer to them on the roost since the woods are greening up quick. Make it soo when he drops down from the tree he's already in range

JDARRACOTT · Apr 21, 2008

Try using a gobble shaker when you call. Get real aggressive with a mouth call and hit the gobble shaker. If he thinks there is a hot hen with a gobbler with her it might pull them in, if not then you end up with the same result you have been having. Or maybe your birds are a little on the flaming side.

ADDICTED2HUNTIN · Apr 21, 2008

kevincox said:
Try to get closer to them on the roost since the woods are greening up quick. Make it soo when he drops down from the tree he's already in range

i tried that Saturday i didn't make any calls to him,the leaves were a little wet from the rain and i got within 75 yards of him and he flew down the opposite way!!!he gobbled a good bit on the ground and i chased him around til around 8:45 then he shut up but he never once gobbled at any of my calls only gobbled at other sounds crows, geese etc.

Echo · Apr 21, 2008

ADDICTED2HUNTIN said:
i need some major help from some of the experts...i am not an expert by any means but i have killed my fair share of longbeards, but this year has gotten to me. the problem i am having is the birds are not responding to my calls.i have been in the woods a fair amount of mornings since the opener and have been on birds everytime i have been out. they gobble good on the roost (at times as many as 8-10 different birds) and will continue to gobble until around 9am then they quit.the question i have is why aren't they coming to me? i set up in good areas and it seems like everytime i call they do not answer me, but will gobble at crows,owls,geese just about anything but me.it seems like they still have hens with them but i haven't heard any hens with any of the birds i have been on in about 2 weeks.i have changed my calls around to see if maybe that was the problem and i still got the same results, i have changed my style of calling and still the same results. i thought it was just me and maybe i had lost my "touch" but i talked with one of my customers today and he said he was having the same problem. another problem i have had is the birds are not gobbling after 9am, i have set in well used areas through the middle of the day with hopes of calling in a silent bird with no results.i have only called 2 jakes into shotgun range since the opener and seen one longbeard that i just happen to walk up on and he came to my call but hung up just out of gun range. i just don't understand what i'm doing wrong. any advice?????

Wow, you would think out of 8-10 birds gobbling there would be one lonely enough to come looking for you. That's got to be frustrating!

Everytime I get the chance to observe a turkey in the woods I always pay close attention to any sound it makes. No matter what season it is nine times out of ten they are going to be making low volume clucks and purrs. I would suggest going more subtle than trying to be aggressive with them and just be patient....if you have that many gobblers around you're bound to get a break very soon!

ADDICTED2HUNTIN · Apr 21, 2008

thanks guys for all the advice, i am definately getting frustrated with this, usually by now i have killed a couple and sometimes even limited out and calling for other people by now, the only thing i can do is keep trying (your not gonna kill them if your not out there)

tbgator · Apr 21, 2008

Let me tell you it ain't just you. I have had the same problem the past 2 weeks. Birds gobbling like crazy up until 9:00 - 10:00 and not coming to calls. Some 100yds out. I have still heard and seen some hens but usually they're not an issue this time of season. A buddy of mine saw 23 hens this morning and 4 gobblers. Something is going on strange and I'm beginning to wonder if the hens lost their eggs on that last cold snap and have started re-breeding.

BgDadyBeardBustr · Apr 21, 2008

If the birds are henned up the hens are not going to be vocal. The Gobbler will gobble when he is ready and one will come in and sit down in front of him to breed. I saw to many hens by theirselves here since Saturday for them to be re-breeding. I think they are being content with what they have right now. If a hen hears a gobble, the natural thing for them to do is go to the gobble. Patience!!!! The name of the game. You will be better to go to them when it gets 80+ degrees in the middle of the day on a creek bottom. You might have better luck then. Once that gobbler has been alone for 3 or 4 hours, he gets worried. I have not got up enough will power to be out there that late in the day. I tried it Friday but we were calling in hens, till we ran her off. Good Luck, Tim

BOSSOFTHEWOODS · Apr 21, 2008

All I can say is I feel your pain brother! :banginghe

rhbama3 · Apr 21, 2008

after reading your post, i realized that i have not heard a single hen yelp this year. purring, clucking, cutting yes. but no yelping.

huntmstr · Apr 21, 2008

I tell you what has worked for me... and it has put down 11 birds this year. In most of the cases where we had birds gobbling and were not moving towards us, I ran like a mad man to get around to the other side of where he was headed and then just sit and waited. If he got to within 75 yards and I could hear him, I only purred once or twice and then shut up. In fact, of the 11 killed by me or my hunters, only 2 were killed where we called the birds to us after they left the roost without resetting our position. The rest took a lot of running and knowing every inch of the terrain I was in to my advantage. The last 3 weeks, we have not even set up in a fixed position prior to the first gobble. We just get in a general area, listen and then move like lightning as soon as the birds talked.

On the days they have not said anything, we have done a bunch of walking and looking for fresh sign. Mid-morning scrathing has been easy to find as the dew is still on some of the leaves and it's easier to tell that the birds had recently been there. In those cases, we doubled back, gave em a wide berth, and run an end around on them to try and intercept their movements. It's like playing a live game of chess. Hard as heck to win and tons of work, but the payoff is sooooo sweet!

Best of luck.

Ricochet · Apr 21, 2008

BOSSOFTHEWOODS said:
All I can say is I feel your pain brother!

Ditto!

Jody Hawk · Apr 22, 2008

tbgator said:
I have still heard and seen some hens but usually they're not an issue this time of season.

I've got on gobblers the last week of the season around here that were still henned up. :huh:

turk2di · Apr 22, 2008

Without having read anyone's elses replies yet, i can tell you up front that i doubt you R doing anything wrong. You have stated you have bagged birds b4, so you didn't suddenly become dumb & inept! Its possible tho you might be starting to push yourself, getting a little antsy & anxious. Relax! It will happen. Do what you know to do. Best of luck & i hope u keep us posted!

GAMHUNTER35 · Apr 22, 2008

yea same thing was happening to me till this morning. found two toms willing to play called them in from bout 400 yds. across a field an a dirt road. it was sweet just dont give up it will happen hopefully.

gamechaser · Apr 22, 2008

rhbama3 said:
after reading your post, i realized that i have not heard a single hen yelp this year. purring, clucking, cutting yes. but no yelping.

I think we are educating the birds more than we give them credit. I heard mostly cutting and clucking. Yesterday I did hear one yelp real loud and was followed by a gobble and then the woods was silent.

ADDICTED2HUNTIN · Apr 22, 2008

gamechaser said:
I think we are educating the birds more than we give them credit. I heard mostly cutting and clucking. Yesterday I did hear one yelp real loud and was followed by a gobble and then the woods was silent.

i was wondering the same thing, all of the hens i've seen this year only one was yelping the rest have been cutting, clucking and purring, so i tried just sticking to the soft more subtle way of calling with clucks and purrs and still nothing.... the one thing i haven't tried is what JDARRACOT suggested which was gobble with some aggresive calling i think i will give that a shot in the a.m. i don't have anything to loose

what should i do????

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