Hello everyone, it was a cold morning here in VA so the birds didn't gobble this morning so I just set up in an area I knew the turkey's were using and wait well I never heard a gobble so around 8:30 I made a few short notes on my slate and heard a gobble about 200-300 yrds away so I got ready and prepared for the bird and he did close the distance to within 50yds were he gobbled on his own in a matter of minutes of the only call I made all morning, but I'm sitting in thick woods and my decoys were to the front of me where I had the best shooting this birding coming from behind me had not made a sound or appearance for a minute or two so I decide to yelp once on my mouth call within 30 seconds of that I heard clucks and the running of the gobbler away from me but I never once saw the bird. So I backed out, any suggestions on what I could of done and what I should do? :help:
You could have either just waited longer without any calling, or after you spooked it you could have stayed in the same spot. If the gobbler wasnt spooked by a sound or lots of movement, it has a good chance of coming back at a later time.
Dont use decoys in thick areas. Make him
Come looking. Once a bird is within 100 yards and closing why call ? Don't believe what you see on tv. Silence and patience kill more birds that trying to prove your close distance calling skills.
If a hot bird got spooked I would move to another position. He didn't like something so odds are he won't just change his mind.
Yeah, rule numero uno....if a gobbler has shown interest, then shuts up, get your gun up and get ready! Good chance he is on his way in. I have learned this lesson the hard way many times.
I agree with most statements above... Seems like most of the time they shut up if they have pin pointed your location. Just be ready when that head pops out of the brush!
turkeys are afraid of everything, so it doesn't take much to spook them on occasion, it doesn't even mean it was you that did the deed. It could have been a coyote coming in to the call, I've had that happen. It could be your decoys, sometimes those can startle a bird if he just all the sudden sees them at close range. Strangely enough, even though I make decoys for a living, I don't use turkey decoys. I prefer to make the bird look for me and really feel like when it comes to a big old tom, it's better to have him searching for me than to show him some decoys that he expects to go to him and have him hang up just out of range.
Time and a place for everything. I had a bird one year that stayed in one field. Calling ran him out of the field, he roosted in different trees around the field, and he never gobbled. The day I killed him I had out 1 hen. He hit the ground 200yds away and strutted in. Took about 1 hour to strut the distance but it did the trick. I always carry a decoy of some kind. Better to have and not need than to come across a bird in a field with hens and not have that strutter decoy hanging on my side.
I really can't say you should have done anything differently. Unfortunately, what you just described is sort of how it goes sometimes. Sounds to me like you were hunting a mature bird. Couple things though, since the ones we don't kill seem to be more memorable than the ones we do.
Generally speaking - I'd say you don't want to use decoys in heavy cover. ALSO and obviously this wasn't the problem here but it's certainly something to note - I find more and more people making this mistake:
Setting up for your own best field of vision isn't a good idea. Always set up with not only a back drop, but a screen in front too. Is it harder to see? YES. And GOOD. That extra cover isn't going to cost you a shot, it's going to keep the bird from seeing you. A modern turkey load thrown from a choke is going to kill the bird at an ethical distance passing through brush.
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