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Started By
Message
Southern Bama turkey hunting is total bullshite
Posted on 4/3/20 at 8:26 pm
Posted on 4/3/20 at 8:26 pm
I am going tomorrow am to a place south of Jackson Alabama. We have a bunch of dominant turkeys in this camp. Big Tom, #5 Terry, Number 1 pain in the arse, Jump the road Tom, and in between tom. All these birds are 4-5 years old and smart as shite. (About 600 acres with most of it being old river basin or swamp.) We are overrun with bugs right now, so they are avoiding the fields. We also have a shite load of two year olds.
We Desperately need to knock off one of these old dominant birds to get the two-year-old birds to start to gobble and fight for territory.
I have one of them mapped out. I know the set of trees he is going to roost in and which way he is going to go. I know where to get to cut him off unless he sees me.
Should I just sit tight and try to ambush him right after he flys down and hope he doesn’t get a hen before he gets to me, or just do a few calls to get him to come my way as soon as he hits the ground and gobbles. What call? I haven’t heard a yelp all year and didn’t last year until last week of the season. A purr? Few clucks?
And then should I set out a decoy or just call and be quiet. Maximum he will be is 200 yards when he comes down and that’s if I really screw up. Most likely 100 yards or less.
I almost got this bird last year (he is massive) but he didn’t get this old and big being stupid. Any advice appreciated, I am tired of getting my arse kicked.
We Desperately need to knock off one of these old dominant birds to get the two-year-old birds to start to gobble and fight for territory.
I have one of them mapped out. I know the set of trees he is going to roost in and which way he is going to go. I know where to get to cut him off unless he sees me.
Should I just sit tight and try to ambush him right after he flys down and hope he doesn’t get a hen before he gets to me, or just do a few calls to get him to come my way as soon as he hits the ground and gobbles. What call? I haven’t heard a yelp all year and didn’t last year until last week of the season. A purr? Few clucks?
And then should I set out a decoy or just call and be quiet. Maximum he will be is 200 yards when he comes down and that’s if I really screw up. Most likely 100 yards or less.
I almost got this bird last year (he is massive) but he didn’t get this old and big being stupid. Any advice appreciated, I am tired of getting my arse kicked.
This post was edited on 5/4/20 at 3:34 pm
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Posted on 4/3/20 at 8:31 pm to TutHillTiger
from your scenario, get close but dont spook him from the roost, just see what he does and where he flies down. if he is dominant and going to a hen like you say, try to keep note of where he is and keep up with him if gobbling and not moving your direction and try calling him in mid- to late-morning.
this is assuming you arent overly confident with a call and not trying to compete with a real hen. if the hen hears you, good chance she will head the other way and bring him along
this is assuming you arent overly confident with a call and not trying to compete with a real hen. if the hen hears you, good chance she will head the other way and bring him along
This post was edited on 4/3/20 at 9:13 pm
Posted on 4/3/20 at 9:07 pm to crankbait
I got you we tried that last time and I thought we had him coming around 8 am. So basically u are saying just sit and wait at dawn and if he gets close enough pop him
Posted on 4/3/20 at 9:13 pm to TutHillTiger
they get much more vulnerable after taking it to that first hen early, and they are just chilling mid morning. just a thought on what i would do.
Posted on 4/3/20 at 9:16 pm to TutHillTiger
quote:
All these birds are 4-5 years old and smart as shite. (About 600 acres with most of it being old river basin or swamp.) We are overrun with bugs right now, so they are avoiding the fields. We also have a shite load of two year olds.
Most of these assumptions are wrong. I understand that these sorts of stories get told around the camp. And then it's kind of fun to build a narrative around them. Like: "This turkey has roosted along that creek for three years now" and "We need to kill the dominant turkey so the subordinates will be allowed to gobble."
My guess is that you are way over thinking it. And basically giving turkeys more credit than they are due.
Posted on 4/3/20 at 9:24 pm to TutHillTiger
So much wrong with your post regarding dominant turkeys and 2 yr olds I’m not even gonna try. You have turkeys to hunt. Go to the one that you can get the closest to in the morning if they gobble. Don’t spook him off the limb. Probably gonna have hens with him tomorrow. Stay with them. Sounds like you are a novice and might not be confident in your calling. That’s ok. You don’t have to be a competition caller to kill a metric frickton of turkeys. Don’t try to call an Alabama turkey like you see folks yelping to Rios on the outdoor channel. Go real slow. Get 100 yards (or closer) from him before you call to him and make whatever turkey noise you can make the best. Scratch some leaves. Don’t fricking spook him. Don’t think you know what tree he’s going to be in. You’ll be wrong.
Posted on 4/3/20 at 9:30 pm to tenfoe
I definitely over think everything about turkey hunting for sure. But in my defense I have brought in 3 very experienced good turkey hunters who were all very confident they would be able to call these birds in no problem, and they all did. Just like I do every damn time, call them in just not close enough to get a shot at them. Only one of them wants to come back...lol.
This post was edited on 4/3/20 at 9:35 pm
Posted on 4/4/20 at 4:31 am to TutHillTiger
On the way, if the damn snakes, bear or bugs kill me, I have few regrets.....
Posted on 4/4/20 at 7:05 am to TutHillTiger
quote:
brought in 3 very experienced good turkey hunters who were all very confident they would be able to call these birds in no problem,
Oxymoron here. There is no such thing as a good experienced turkey hunter who is confident that he can call in a mature gobbler with "no problems" .
The more I do this, the more humble I become. For instance, while fishing late yesterday afternoon I roosted a turkey basically by accident. He gobbled about 12 times on the roost. I listened to him from three different locations so I was confident I had him triangulated. This morning I snuck in with my nephew was before daylight and set up on a ridge about 150 yards above him. Felt really good about it.
We've been here an hour now and haven't heard a gobble. No idea what happened to him. Is he right there and just silent? Did he Fly off in the night? Did something spook him?
Confidence is for middle time turkey hunters who have a few birds under their belts and think they're Preston Pittman.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 7:15 am to No Colors
Hunt them like a dear OP. You have some open areas?
Deer hunting them after 9am with decoys out in the field is an easy way to kill private land birds. By easy I mean, easier then calling often times but not actually easy.
Do you have a pop up tent? Set up some decoys in front of a tent in an open area in the path you think the birds will go. Often times we as turkey hunters just like to try to force things and give up too early, in a tent you have to be patient to let them come to you.
Decoys in an open area will also often times bring in the hens first that the gobblers are henned up with.
Also, if your experienced guys all got hung up on they aren’t that experienced or selfish. If I hunt with someone else, I put them 30-50 yards in front of me. That way the birds hang up at 75 yards it’s perfect. Not saying I’m better, just my dad and I hunt together and use that tactic routinely.
Deer hunting them after 9am with decoys out in the field is an easy way to kill private land birds. By easy I mean, easier then calling often times but not actually easy.
Do you have a pop up tent? Set up some decoys in front of a tent in an open area in the path you think the birds will go. Often times we as turkey hunters just like to try to force things and give up too early, in a tent you have to be patient to let them come to you.
Decoys in an open area will also often times bring in the hens first that the gobblers are henned up with.
Also, if your experienced guys all got hung up on they aren’t that experienced or selfish. If I hunt with someone else, I put them 30-50 yards in front of me. That way the birds hang up at 75 yards it’s perfect. Not saying I’m better, just my dad and I hunt together and use that tactic routinely.
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 7:19 am
Posted on 4/4/20 at 7:48 am to TutHillTiger
I’ve never had any luck with turkeys I gave a nickname too.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:07 am to TutHillTiger
Being a great caller is way down the list of what it takes to kill turkeys
It’s easy, be where that turkey wants to be
The hard part is knowing where that is
I say that as my son and I am sitting in an area i have heard 3 turkeys gobble the last 3 days and haven’t heard a peep, but we are gonna wait it out People all up and down the roads stopping and hooting but they will be gone soon
It’s easy, be where that turkey wants to be
The hard part is knowing where that is
I say that as my son and I am sitting in an area i have heard 3 turkeys gobble the last 3 days and haven’t heard a peep, but we are gonna wait it out People all up and down the roads stopping and hooting but they will be gone soon
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:08 am to spudz
No truer statement. If the bird earned a nickname, it was because he fooled more than one of us in my old club.
Big bird lived on for many years without one of us killing him.
Big bird lived on for many years without one of us killing him.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 3:41 pm to TutHillTiger
Called one up for my son this morning. We got in tight on the same ridge. He didn’t gobble when I yelped, but did when I purred and when I scratched leaves.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 4:49 pm to 257WBY
No gobbles this a.m. in Georgianna,AL
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 4:49 pm
Posted on 4/5/20 at 1:49 am to TutHillTiger
In my experience, normally old birds like that are call shy. Find out where he’s located at mid morning most days. Go there and wait. Resist the urge to call and kill him like you would a deer.
Another tactic I’ve used with success is IF you know where he flies up to roost, wait until almost dark and then bust him away from his hens. You can achieve the same by busting the hens and scattering them. If you can pull it off he will he desperate to gather his hens the next morning.
Another tactic I’ve used with success is IF you know where he flies up to roost, wait until almost dark and then bust him away from his hens. You can achieve the same by busting the hens and scattering them. If you can pull it off he will he desperate to gather his hens the next morning.
Posted on 4/5/20 at 1:58 pm to geauxbrown
Results: Turkey 5-0
He was already on the ground when I set up at 5:45. I was 200 yards off as I feared. I tried to be quiet but after he gobble a dozen times straight and was getting hot I realized his hens weren’t close by like he wanted so I thought I had an opportunity. I called “ridge tom” for 45 minutes back and forth, he answered every time. Tried yelps, purrs clucks etc, even gobbled back at him and pretended to be another Tom and fanned at him.
Although he Gobbled back he would come off his strut area. Was 200 yards off ridge and closed to 100 yards and strutted back and forth going from 50 to 100. I couldn’t see him through brush and was too scared to move. I tried to piss him off, gobbled at him etc. He got pissed He came to 75 yards but was just pacing back and forth and eventually found a hen. End of game.
Went into the swamp set up called there until 11. Saw 6 deer, heard a few hen and hunted entire day. Waiting for hours, calling, moving etc. Should have left at ten. Ghost Land
He was already on the ground when I set up at 5:45. I was 200 yards off as I feared. I tried to be quiet but after he gobble a dozen times straight and was getting hot I realized his hens weren’t close by like he wanted so I thought I had an opportunity. I called “ridge tom” for 45 minutes back and forth, he answered every time. Tried yelps, purrs clucks etc, even gobbled back at him and pretended to be another Tom and fanned at him.
Although he Gobbled back he would come off his strut area. Was 200 yards off ridge and closed to 100 yards and strutted back and forth going from 50 to 100. I couldn’t see him through brush and was too scared to move. I tried to piss him off, gobbled at him etc. He got pissed He came to 75 yards but was just pacing back and forth and eventually found a hen. End of game.
Went into the swamp set up called there until 11. Saw 6 deer, heard a few hen and hunted entire day. Waiting for hours, calling, moving etc. Should have left at ten. Ghost Land
Posted on 4/5/20 at 2:42 pm to TutHillTiger
Heard zero gobbles in Georgianna again
Posted on 4/5/20 at 3:31 pm to TutHillTiger
Get on that ridge before daylight
Don’t call
Shoot him in the face
This is very very very hard to do but when that turkey answers you, he knows where you are if he leaves the area with hens, many many times he will come right back looking for you. May be twenty minutes, may be 3 hours. And he may come in silent or he may gobble and wake you up. You have to be patient.
Never call to a turkey from a place a turkey isn’t going to go to. Get where he wants to be before he gets there. Dont call from 400 yards away. Get up in there
Don’t call
Shoot him in the face
This is very very very hard to do but when that turkey answers you, he knows where you are if he leaves the area with hens, many many times he will come right back looking for you. May be twenty minutes, may be 3 hours. And he may come in silent or he may gobble and wake you up. You have to be patient.
Never call to a turkey from a place a turkey isn’t going to go to. Get where he wants to be before he gets there. Dont call from 400 yards away. Get up in there
Posted on 4/5/20 at 5:31 pm to TutHillTiger
Get in there without a light. When it’s fly down time, flap a wing. Then, start scratching in the leaves. Don’t call.
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