another "what would you do?"

hawglips

Old Mossy Horns
You're in a place early to listen for gobbles. You know there are birds around the area - in fact your last trip to this property a couple days prior you heard multiple birds on the roost but couldn't close the deal on one of them. It seems like it ought to be a good gobbling day, but you hear nothing. After a while, you try to provoke a gobble with a couple owl hoots, and then a bit later, you try a crow call, and then a coyote howler. But you get no responses at all.

What would you do?
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
You're in a place early to listen for gobbles. You know there are birds around the area - in fact your last trip to this property a couple days prior you heard multiple birds on the roost but couldn't close the deal on one of them. It seems like it ought to be a good gobbling day, but you hear nothing. After a while, you try to provoke a gobble with a couple owl hoots, and then a bit later, you try a crow call, and then a coyote howler. But you get no responses at all.

What would you do?

oh i do this all the time.

on weekdays i go to work. :)

on the weekends i piddle around blind calling and listening.

I do always though cuss them for not gobbling.
 

dhsten

Ten Pointer
I know I am limited in experience compared to most, but I get excited when I know there are gobblers around and they don't gobble first thing. Seems IME that when they do start gobbling or I strike one later, on the ground, then they are more apt to play the game. It isn't the classic gobble from the tree to the gun scenario I wake up hoping for every morning, but seems to have a much higher success rate for me than those gobble like mad in the tree hunts.

So if they don't gobble and I know they are there, I start my piddle route which is determined by which hunting spot I am at.
If it is weekday hunt, then I have to head to work.
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
My response is much the same as OS. During the week I just go to work. On the weekend i try to get a hen to talk to me. If i can get her to answer, at least I know where he is. Even if I can't do anything with him lol
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
now if i am in a real place to hunt turkeys like texas or nebraska you just walk and call or go to another spot, call and listen, repeat until you hear one.

no use wasting time on non gobbling birds there.
 

josh

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I normally sneak into areas the birds frequent mid morning and do some cold calling. Or just ease around and sit and listen, not as fun as run and gunning them when they’re talking but I’m too obsessed to give up most of the time and have sat all day not hearing a single gobble.

It’s just so nice in the spring woods lol
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
I go where they're gonna go if not henned up, usually a small open area near their roost the tend to gobble on ground and strut. I used to get discouraged when I didn't hear gobbling on the roost, I don't anymore. I heard more gobbling on the ground this year then any year prior.
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Set up in area they frequent and WAIT....will call (cluck, purr, scratch leaves) ever so often and might be mid-late morning...and there he is...then give him little more if he gobbles---be ready and try to cut him off at end of his gobble with couple clucks...only do this couple times and sometimes only one time..make him find me. Now, this can be some long mornings, but I can most of the time determine any call by a hunter and any call by a gobbler or a hen, and many of you can...now don't you think a turkey can determine it also. Try to keep it low key and don't ruin a good spot that you know will produce sooner or later. I have plenty of time in my turkey hunting...don't get him today, be there tomorrow.
 

turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
No way I give up but I also don't hunt birds that don't gobble so if I know they were there it depends on species I'm hunting, Merriams or Rio will travel and so I'll do the same and go find them birds and I'll move at fairly good pace, eastern I'd take it little slower but still get on the move till strike a bird stop do some blind calling move couple hundred yards and do same I always believe there is a bird just onver the ridge and when I get to top I'll hear him and have the advantage of being above him and I rarely get disappointed even if there is no bird I keep on believing spring season is short I'll go every ay and walk till my legs give out then circle back and check the first area before I quit. Amazing how many times a bird will be right where you started in morning
 

slickheadslayer

Six Pointer
Depending on the property layout I will work my way around sitting in a spot for mabey 30 min and cold call every 15 minutes. Might even find a good nap tree. Been many times where I hear nothing on the roost and then mid morning find a bird fired up.

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hawglips

Old Mossy Horns
Well, here's what we did.

After hearing no gobbles with no provocation, and being unable to jerk a gobble with a few owl hoots and a couple coyote howls, I pulled out a gobble shaker, and bam, got one to answer back about 150 yds away. So, the moral of that story is to don't forget about the gobble as a good spring time turkey call for certain situations. We were on public ground, and there was a chance other hunters were within earshot, but I didn't hesitate anyway.

It would be a great story if I could say that we moved in on him and killed him right off the roost, and got video to show it - but that didn't happen. We moved in on him, but hens pulled him away from us. We piddled with him for about an hour to he evaporated, and then piddled around the area - finally getting some hens to answer us, and a gobbler that was with the hens answered us as well. We headed over to get in front of them, and figured they were very possibly the same gobbler we heard on the roost.

Long story short - we got the hens to head to us and after a prolonged spell of hanging up just out of gun shot range, we got them to step up and out into the open and killed the gobbler.

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oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
next year i think i will cut to the chase and just use the gobbler call first thing. it is always that last ditch locator call and it works when nothing else does.

why hold it in reserve? making it a starter. :)
 

TarheelTurkey

Six Pointer
If I’m certain they are there as you stated , I would gobble eventually too. Great job on the tactics there ! Very well done.


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brucesmith0817

Six Pointer
Last couple of years they haven't gobbled good at all in my area one or two times on the roost an one or two times on the ground just got to have patience the 2 I killed this year never gobbled at all on the tree or ground but they rode home in my truck I new they were there because had been watching them for 2 weeks before the season I just went an set up where I knew that went every morning nothing like scouting


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