Beginner.. need advice

[JFB]

Hi all,

I'm a novice Turkey hunter and although I understand some basics I would not consider myself a good caller yet.

But I've located a couple fields on my property where the Toms and hens are using in the mornings and I've scouted them from a couple hundred yards away.

My thought is to put up a ground blind in the middle of the plowed corn field they are using. My question is whether or not turkey need time to adjust to a new blind before hunting in it? If I pop up a blind tomorrow afternoon (Monday), is Tuesday morning too quick to hunt it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thx

[deerpassion]

sometimes they do if they are pressured birds like on state land, but if its your property and your the only one huntin it, than you should be fine throwin it up n huntin.... brush it in a little with some left over corn stalks if you got em n you should be good

[ants]

I would head out real early (still dark out) and sneak just inside the woods (50 yards or so) at the side of the field you have been seeing them. When it's just light enough to see try a few very soft yelps and listen. If a Tom answeres dont jump all over him. He knows about where you are. Give it a good half minute to a minute and do it again but just a little louder. see what happens. It's hard to resist calling to a bird that is going nuts gobbleing But IMHO playing a little hard to get works pretty well.

If you're set on the field blind then I kinda agree with deerpassion.

[JFB]

Ok, thanks a lot guys. Can you guys offer some "do's and dont's" when it comes to decoys? I see there are regular hens, breeding position hens, jakes, and even full strut toms. I'm willing to spend some money if certain ones are worth it (the breeding hen was $75 and the full strut Tom was $40. the regular hen and tom were $25 a piece).

How many do you suggest and which combination would be a standard safe bet? I was thinking of a regular hen (or two) and a jake? Thx again.

[deerpassion]

as far as decoys, i grew up huntin osceolas ( the hardest dam birds to get, not quite as aggressive as the easterns, a little more call shy, and the least vocal of all the subspecies of turkey's) so i usually just use a quarter strutt jake, and sometimes combine it with a hen, it depends on the feel of the woods at that time.... for you a full strutt tom will work earlier on in the season when birds havent been beat up so bad yet, but as the season progresses birds get a little shy and tired of getting there but wooped*( those being the subordinate satallite gobblers that are younger birds jakes/2 year olds) if it is the boss gobbler of the woods he will most certainly want to fight... my recommendation is the 1/4 strutt jake Avion-X jake decoy.... most realistic/durable decoy i've seen yet... scored two osceolas this year (a 2 yr old and a 3 to 4 year old bossssss) definitely get a regular hen decoy(same company) and if you want to spend the money get a breading hen too... basically if you get a bird fired up, and he knows where you are as soon as he answers(so no need to call your head off at him) he will be expecting a hen to be there, but when he shows up to see a jake beat him to his lady he's lookin for he wont be too happy and want to fight... four setups you can use and why: a single jake- for the reason i just explained, a jake and a regular hen- he'll get a visual of the hen and want to bump the jake off a potential partner, a jake and the breading hen- same deal, he'll not take it lightly that a subordinate bird is trying to breed his lady, or you can use a single hen if they are getting shy or educated with the jake decoy.... full strutt decoys work very well, but its a touch n go thing, its gotta be the right time and the right bird( the BOSS) .... good luck , hope this helps... of course there's always more to say, but in short thats the basics....

[growalot]

I don't use a lot of decoys but the best I have is the Bobbin head feeding hen...her head and body moves in a light breeze....and doesn't spook the other birds...as for breeding hens what i do is take one of my alert hens and a Jake...take a broken arrow and cut it so when you put it in the ground the hen looks like she's in a squatting breeding position and I position...the jake just off the side and behind her......Setting that up with the feeding hen a few yards away works pretty good for me....good luck and have fun

[JFB]

Thanks again all.

Deerpassion, I'm going to take your recommendation on the jake and regular hen.

Would there be a advantage or disadvantage to having the jake, the regular hen, AND a breeding hen at the same set up? Or should it just be one hen or the other with the jake?

[deerpassion]

Thanks again all.

Deerpassion, I'm going to take your recommendation on the jake and regular hen.

Would there be a advantage or disadvantage to having the jake, the regular hen, AND a breeding hen at the same set up? Or should it just be one hen or the other with the jake?

that's a possibility, don't know how good of a heard a birds you have in the area, but heck, go for it n see what happens,, if they don't like it, go back the next hunt with a different set up... i changed setups three times this year before i scored.... always an active learning curve each season....

[JFB]

Ok, I think I'll just start basic with a jake and hen and then go from there. Fortunately, this is a healthy heard and very little pressure. So hopefully that will match up with my novice skills. I'll be sure to report back if I have some action. Thanks!

[growalot]

Flock guys...it's flock of birds....lol

Edited May 7, 2012 by growalot

[deerpassion]

Flock guys...it's flock of birds....lol

ya ya ya

[JFB]

Just wanted to report back because I went out this morning. I could not find any roosting the evening prior so I just set up in the fields where I've seen them prior. Very quiet. After 1.5 hours, I visited some other fields and saw a small flock with Tom. They were not responsive. Oh well, will try again Saturday. The decoys looked nice though. Thanks again.