At A Loss, Asking For Advice

[DirtTime]

I have been out before dawn, and been out and sat until after sunset, just watching and listening for my boots on the ground scouting. I have come to the conclusion after watching, the turkey are roosting across the road from one of the public lands I hunt. I have asked for permission twice, and told no both times on the private land. Soooo........

I am no turkey pro, but what I read and have experienced is trying to call turkey up a mountain can be a PITA. Getting them to cross a main road can be more frustrating at times.

I may not be the favorite member on here ( partially my own doing ), but I am asking for advice on how to call them up to me. 

[mowin]

Rob,. I called 8 Jake's over several hundred yards on Saturday. Now I know Jake's are somewhat easy, but my grandnephew didn't care.  

Many yrs ago I was hunting with a couple buddies from Maine. This is before they even had a spring turkey season.  A good friend of mine was set up 100 yrds away from the tom on roost. I couldn't hear my buddy calling, but I could barely hear the tom going ballistic. Because the tom was on roost and my buddy was probably 200' in elevation below the tom, I couldn't hear him calling to the tom.  This tom was probably a 1/2 mi or more from me and Jim. It took about 2 hrs to get that tom within range.  My buddy could here me calling, but I couldn't her him because I was much higher in elevation then him. Tony did everything he could to get that tom from heading towards me.

Jim, the guy I was calling for, ended up killing that bird. 9 1/4” beard and 1 1/4” Spurs.   Both Tony and I had video cameras.  You couldn't hear my buddy calling on my video, but on his video, you could plainly, although faint, here me calling. 

They couldn't believe that tom wouldn't travel 100 yrds to him, but hiked over 1/2 mile to get to me. And my buddy is as good a caller as me if not several notches better than me.  

Basically, don't give up. Even if they are roosted far from you, they might have heard or seen a Flashlight beam, or been spooked somewhat that has them heading towards you. 

If they spook them once or twice, or kill one on opening day, it could benefit you. Don't give up.  Eventually, it will pay off.  

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by mowin

[Lawdwaz]

In my experience, they'd much rather come up hill to a call than come down hill to a call. 

[G-Man]

Hen calls and a cackle the evening before and at first light soft then wait. Every so often a loud call and wait..

[turkeyfeathers]

Replies above are spot on.  Getting them to cross the road is going to be the toughest part. Put up a turkey crossing sign.  Everyone knows deer only cross the road where deer xing signs are 

Where we hunted before birds would slowly zig zag down the big hill( like law said , they’re not big fans of going directly down hill ). Birds would slowly meandor back up to us.  I can recall quite a few I killed coming up hill. Last years big un included and knew they’d work uphill and I was ready.  

I’ve hunted with a few guys and neither could hear each other calling. Softly and sporadically. Loud yelps are a thing of the past imo   Clucks , purrs once he’s interested.  Maybe some yelps to get him fired up   

[DirtTime]

Not giving up, my plan B isn't so good though. Will try the calls mentioned, and hope a tom gets curious and brave.
Thank you all for the insight, it's appreciated very much.

Sent from my SM-S327VL using Tapatalk

[mowin]

One of the best techniques is to wait until the hens leave the toms to go nest. That usually happens around 8 am or so.  What happens is the tom is suddenly all alone and horny as heck as all his hen have disappeared. He gets lonely and starts gobbling. This is where patience on your part kicks in.  You'll want to call as soon as he gobbles, but don't.  You need to worry him.  Make him think "your" not so interested.  Resist calling as he gobbles every now and then.  Only soft calls.  Often you will catch him sneaking in to find the hen that has teased him for the past 2 hrs.  

But sometimes you need to take his temperature, so to speak.  If he cuts your calls off with a gobble, hammer him.   If he answers sparingly, soft not frequent calling is your best bet.  

 

 

[coonhunter]

The road may or may not be an issue. I've never had a turkey hang up on a road, but know people that have. My nemesis seems to be creeks and fences. 

You sound like you can set up just about how I like to start the morning. I want to be above them if at all possible, and I never worry about getting real close to them in their roost. Just be patient, and it may not work out the first time. If you can hear them gobbling every time you go, you will get an opportunity or two. It may be work, or, the very first call you make may have 2 or 3 toms coming at a dead run. You just never know.

I do a lot more watching and listening than I do calling. Some guys call a lot more than me, and they do seem to get their birds every spring, but I always seem to get more action in the long run.

[turkeyfeathers]

15 hours ago, mowin said:

One of the best techniques is to wait until the hens leave the toms to go nest. That usually happens around 8 am or so.  What happens is the tom is suddenly all alone and horny as heck as all his hen have disappeared. He gets lonely and starts gobbling. This is where patience on your part kicks in.  You'll want to call as soon as he gobbles, but don't.  You need to worry him.  Make him think "your" not so interested.  Resist calling as he gobbles every now and then.  Only soft calls.  Often you will catch him sneaking in to find the hen that has teased him for the past 2 hrs.  

But sometimes you need to take his temperature, so to speak.  If he cuts your calls off with a gobble, hammer him.   If he answers sparingly, soft not frequent calling is your best bet.  

 

 

Well said.  So many want to call at the gobble   Make him search   If he ends up cutting your calls like mentioned above , you’ve got him interested. Let him hammer and cut you off. Let him worry. Soft talk   Purrs and clucks , content sounds   Scratch leaves in behind you.  Be patient grasshopper   It’s a waiting game   

[DirtTime]

I am not a big caller. I will make a call, then wait and listen. If I don't hear anything I don't start hammering on the slate. When I hunt private land I might call a tad more then usual ( a few an hour to locate and try to move closer/cut them off ), but not on public land. I tend to sit still and call maybe every 30 minutes on public land, or longer.

Again, the advice is appreciated.

 

[mowin]

I only hunt private lands.  If a bird Interrupters everything I through at him, I'm gonna hammer him with cutting and yelps every time he gobbles.   If he's that hot, I want to know where he is so I can get the gun pointed in the direction he's coming from because I've had many a tom come from a different angle then the last gobble.  The more gobbles, the better I can keep track of his location and adjust my shooting position. 

As he gets closer, I do tone the volume down.  I want him to think I'm not interested and moving away.  

Then there's the unhuntable tom.  So educated, he won't respond to any call once he hits the ground. If he hears any calls on roost, he pitches off in the opposite direction. Those are the toms that become huntable after 9 am, but only with soft calls and being where he travels at that time.  

I've killed several toms that I never called to at all.  Just learned there patterns, and ambushed them as they strutted by. 

 

 

[E J]

Off the top of my head I can remember three times I've called birds from far off on opposite hills. Two times there was a road in the way too. Also two times there were two Tom's traveling together. All three times I was calling aggressively.

[Uncle Nicky]

Actually, calling them up a mountain is usually easier than calling one down a hill, but they like to go downhill first thing in the morning (usually).

My experience is there is no "Turkeys always..." in turkey hunting. Catch them in the right mood on the right day, and you'll probably get one to cross the road. My advice would be to set up as close to the roost as you can get, and wait them out, calling sparingly but loud enough to be heard. Give it enough sits, and you'll eventually pull one in.  Good luck! 

[Buckmaster7600]

Never had a problem calling birds up hill or getting them to cross a road. Fences and streams are a different story!

 

Your calling has to reflect the toms temperature. If he’s hott you gotta make him hotter by being aggressive. I’m a firm believer that the whiter a toms head gets the dumber they get. If the toms are henned some soft calling until 8:30-9 then get excited for a bit and see if you can’t fire one up.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[coonhunter]

It is unreal the stuff I have dealt with when it comes to fences. I have had toms walk away 100 yards to go through an open gate, just to come screaming back up across the field. The next time, a flock of jakes will just duck their heads and run under. Other times they have just strutted back and forth, gobbling away, refusing to go under the fence. 

The same bird will gladly come into your lap if you can work around him and call softly from the other side. It's crazy and that is what makes it fun.

 

[Buckmaster7600]

It is unreal the stuff I have dealt with when it comes to fences. I have had toms walk away 100 yards to go through an open gate, just to come screaming back up across the field. The next time, a flock of jakes will just duck their heads and run under. Other times they have just strutted back and forth, gobbling away, refusing to go under the fence. 
The same bird will gladly come into your lap if you can work around him and call softly from the other side. It's crazy and that is what makes it fun.
 

Fences have certainly given me fits but the one thing I have yet to do is get a turkey to fly across water.

My favorite turkey hunt was 15+ years ago when I brought my girlfriend at the time uncle turkey hunting for the first time. Had the hottest bird I have ever hunted in my life 80yds from us on the other side of a creek. After half an hr and 1000 gobbles I told him we have to swim the creek he said hell no I said ok I will. Stripped swam across crawled up the bank put my shirt on made 1 put and the bird ran to me and I killed him at 5 yds in my underwear. He was beyond pissed, that is the 2nd biggest bird I have killed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[turkeyfeathers]

20 or so years ago I had a bird gobbling his fool head off. He was hot. Hit everything I threw at him. All of a sudden I hear this crashing sound , he flew across the small creek flying through grape vines and practically landed in my lap   Scared the crud out of me. I didn’t stand a chance at getting the gun up. A tennis racquet would have been perfect. Never did kill that bastid and hunted him hard after that day. I laugh when I think about that day. 

[wooly]

On ‎4‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 9:12 PM, Rob... said:

 I have come to the conclusion after watching, the turkey are roosting across the road from one of the public lands I hunt. I have asked for permission twice, and told no both times on the private land. Soooo........

I am no turkey pro, but what I read and have experienced is trying to call turkey up a mountain can be a PITA. Getting them to cross a main road can be more frustrating at times.

Here's something I have tried in a scenario similar to that.

Head into your spot the evening before you intend to hunt and let a few turkey calls rip from your side of the road when you suspect birds to be on the roost on the other side. MAYBE you get lucky and those birds remember those sounds when they pitch down in the morning and sail right on over to your side.

I had that work once with a flooded creek I couldn't cross and a patterned gobbler that sounded off every morning from the other side. He didn't exactly fly right in off the roost and I have no idea how or where he crossed, but I believe I got him so fired up the night before that he couldn't resist checking me out once the sun came up. If he hadn't been gobbling non stop all the way, I probably would have thought it was a different bird when he finally did show up on my side.

Oh BTW- I never did kill that bird even after everything else went according to plan. By the time he showed up about 80yds out, he suddenly lost interest in coming any closer and waddled away gobbling his head off.

[mowin]

Definitely had issues with fences before. 

Had a buddy hunting with me, and we spotted a nice tom strutting all alone in a paddock.  The only way to call to him was to come at him from the back side which would put him 200 yrds away with 5 fences between us.  Told my buddy we've got a better chance hitting the lotto twice in a row then killing this bird. 

I couldn't believe it.  He'd jump up on the fence, and gobble his head off, hop down and strut to the next fence, jump up and gobble away.  Buddy killed him at 15 yrds.  Double beard, 24#, 1 1/4 hooks.  

Definitely the most uncharacteristic bird I've called in.  

[DirtTime]

10 hours ago, wooly said:

Here's something I have tried in a scenario similar to that.

Head into your spot the evening before you intend to hunt and let a few turkey calls rip from your side of the road when you suspect birds to be on the roost on the other side. MAYBE you get lucky and those birds remember those sounds when they pitch down in the morning and sail right on over to your side.

I had that work once with a flooded creek I couldn't cross and a patterned gobbler that sounded off every morning from the other side. He didn't exactly fly right in off the roost and I have no idea how or where he crossed, but I believe I got him so fired up the night before that he couldn't resist checking me out once the sun came up. If he hadn't been gobbling non stop all the way, I probably would have thought it was a different bird when he finally did show up on my side.

Oh BTW- I never did kill that bird even after everything else went according to plan. By the time he showed up about 80yds out, he suddenly lost interest in coming any closer and waddled away gobbling his head off.

So, make "come hither" calls the night before and hope for the best?

This is going to be an interesting Spring Turkey Season for me.