If you're huntin some call shy birds and want to try a differ tactic, talk between your calls.
I'll take and put 2 diaphram calls in my mouth and "switch them up" between an ole boss hen and a young sassy thing.
I sometimes ignore the gobbling and just have hen talk...just like most females do :wink: Scratching the ground with a stick now and then.
More than once I've applied this tactic and drove the ole boy crazy !!!!!!!
Get the 2 calls talking back and forth, this can even work with a slate/diaphram, box/slate etc etc etc
But I'm a diaphram man and it makes it much easier unless you have a dip of chew in ... lol.
edited: I forgot to add that I throw the calls with my hand, meaning to make them sound in differnt directions.
Share your tips/tactics if you would please !!! ( unless its too big a secret :eyebrow: :sneer: )
I've done the same thing only I don't use 2 diapragms. I use one & either a slate if he's close or the box if he's out there aways.
I also use two different calls, sometimes three. If you can get the hens fired up to come in, the tom's will follow.
The picture shows one of my favorite tactics. A jake and a hen decoy set in the breeding position. Drives them crazy!! They come running in all sorts of pissed off!!!
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p118/cb223/pointofkill.jpg)
Those are some good tips guys. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure theres a lot more you do with out even thinking about anymore that rookies like me would be happy to hear about.
nailbender-- I'm a 6 year rookie on these birds. I figure I'll end up as a total rookie when I'm done tho. :wink:
But if you ask I'll gladly try to help you!! :biggrin:
I wanna know how silencer gets two diaphragm calls in his mouth :shck: :laf:
I don't!! :pout:
:laf: :laf:
One thing I found was, when you know where they are roosting. Setup about 100 yards from them , a few tree yelps,
(I use a primo's wing), scratch it up and down the bark on the tree, then do a fly down cackle. While flappin the wing, then flap it into the ground. Most of the time, but not always, you can click off your safety cause it won't take em long to be in your lap :biggrin:
Luckily I can't fit two calls in my mouth :whew:
JD
Ever chew the big leaf stuff ? I keep one in the normal calling position and the other in my cheek :laf:
Another good tip if you're calling for someone else and the bird hangs up and cant see you, Leave the shooter in the same position and work back 50 then up to 100 yards making the tom think the hen is leaving.
Most, but not all of the time he will follow.
Canine, I do the same thing but use my hat as the wing.
Anytime I've ever tried to set up that close they would always fly the other way. That would be cool to get that close tho. :biggrin: Sometimes I fall asleep waiting for the last 1/2 hour of darkness to give way to the new day. :eyebrow:
A lot of times you can walk right by or right under turkeys when it is still dark. Walking at a slow steady pace with no stopping is what allows this to happen. They are nervous anyways and when you stop you put them really on edge and then when you start your walking again, out they go.
Randy
I've never tried that before & it's good to know that. I like to know ahead of time where I'm setting up at so I don't have to stop on the way in. But if they were to move after I roost them it's good to know I can still get in there somehow. Thanks for the tip!!
I usually try to set up so that when I can see the bird, he is in shotgun range. But if he hangs up, as a last resort, I go to a pair of Fightin Purrs (Knight and Hale). Makes the gobbler think two other birds have moved in on HIS hen and that ticks him off. Usually he goes silent right after you do the fight sequence. Get your gun up and be ready. He is coming!
This doesn't work all the time but, over the years, I've killed several birds using this technique.
Semp
Just found this. I think it covers the basics fairly well. Sure wish I woulda had this when I started hunting turkeys. :congrats:
http://www.knightandhale.com/Spotlight
I guess you could say I started turkey hunting :readthis: :hahaha: COLD TURKEY!! :laf: :laf:
HaMeR...lets start you out with just one diaphragm call in your mouth at a time, K? :biggrin: :wink:
No Problem Jim!! :laf:
Quote from: HaMeR on March 14, 2008, 05:13:24 AM
Sometimes I fall asleep waiting for the last 1/2 hour of darkness to give way to the new day. :eyebrow:
I've done this before, but won't ever again. I woke up once, and a HUGE possum was looking at me at about 4 inches from my nose. I screamed like a little girl and scared the birds away into the next county. :rolleye: :rolleye:
Quote from: RShaw on March 14, 2008, 06:47:49 AM
A lot of times you can walk right by or right under turkeys when it is still dark. Walking at a slow steady pace with no stopping is what allows this to happen. They are nervous anyways and when you stop you put them really on edge and then when you start your walking again, out they go.
Randy
Been there, done that too many times to count. It is some excellent advice, and really applies on those full moon nights/early mornings.
One of my favorite techniques utilizes the lay of the land rather that a calling technique. I'll hen call softly as I walk the creek bottoms, and pop my head up every once in a while as I meander down the creek. I usually have the toms spotted a few hundred yards away as I keep getting closer. This technique works pretty well if the toms have hens and won't leave em. You can also use the technique to get in front of the flock, and do a lost hen yelp to pull the hens toward ya. That'll pull the toms as well. :biggrin:
Brian
:laf: :laf: Now I can't sleep in the woods no more!! :sad:
Actually,,, I'm sure I will. :laf:
Here are a couple of tips for you guys...
Don't give up at 8 or 9am and head home. This is the approximate time that the hens start to leave the gobblers and going on their merry way. That gobbler is still horny and looking for love. Stick to your guns. If you had a bird coming in early on and he decided to go elsewhere it was probably because some hens lured him away from your calling. It doesn't hurt to set up in that spot again later in the morning and try again...he will be cruising around looking to pick up a hot chick and may check back on a hen he heard earlier in the hopes that she is still in the area. There are way to many guys that leave the woods mid-morning complaining that the turkeys are all henned up.
QuoteAnother good tip if you're calling for someone else and the bird hangs up and cant see you, Leave the shooter in the same position and work back 50 then up to 100 yards making the tom think the hen is leaving.
Most, but not all of the time he will follow.
This tactic works when you're hunting alone as well. Just make sure the turkey is out of sight before moving . I only move twenty to thirty yards and make my calls towards the area of my own retreat - away from the turkey. It makes your calls sound like they are moving away. Plan your move before you do it and get set back up quickly.
Good luck everybody!!
Steve
QuoteDon't give up at 8 or 9am and head home. This is the approximate time that the hens start to leave the gobblers and going on their merry way. That gobbler is still horny and looking for love. Stick to your guns. If you had a bird coming in early on and he decided to go elsewhere it was probably because some hens lured him away from your calling. It doesn't hurt to set up in that spot again later in the morning and try again...he will be cruising around looking to pick up a hot chick and may check back on a hen he heard earlier in the hopes that she is still in the area. There are way to many guys that leave the woods mid-morning complaining that the turkeys are all henned up.
Good point Steve!! Some guys don't even get to the woods til this time.
I woke up once with a hudge cow sniffing my face.....maybe she was looking to see how many calls were in my mouth... :roflmao:
I always try and call once and not again unless the bird gobbles back at least twice, If he will not gobble twice I will call very little and softly as if I am going away from him :laf: If I think he is hened up, I will get more agressive, Works a lot for me.
AL
http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html (http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html)
:laf: Had a racoon try run over me last year. Hard to sit still for that!
Should be an interesting year, probably frustrating, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. 800 acres got sold off, my buddy and caller moved away and I've got a month to learn all this. No problem! :laf:
Quotemy buddy and caller moved away and I've got a month to learn all this. No problem! :laf:
That's what we're here for!! We're not experts,, at least I'm not,, Brent is purdy dang good tho :wink:,, but we do wanna help you lay out a big ol Tom!! :eyebrow:
The crash course is the only way to learn anyway. Mano en Birdo , or something like that! :laf: I do love hearing all you guys little tricks and experiences.
nailbender, Where are you located?
Northwest Nowhere,,,,,,,,Iowa.
Dang, :doh2: If you were around here I would invite you on a hunt.
http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html (http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html)
Thanks anyway! I know this isn't really turkey country ( isn't coyote country either) but I can't let that stop my fun.
I'll be hunting down south aways , closer to Omaha, where there is a few more hills and timber.
Not coyote country?! Are ya nuts there everywhere arent they? :confused:
http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html (http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html)
:laf: Yea there around. But we've got 3 truck hunters for every coyote. Thats Ok though, we still have a red fox pop. in this area and so dang may pheasants you have to slow down on the balacktop to chase 'em off the road. If my camera would'nt have died I could have taken some nice pics lately.
I guess I am lucky, around here most everyone knows ya and if youre steppin on toes it dont take long to cure it.
I am going to save some money and go out west once and see if they raelly are easy as some say they are. :yoyo:
http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html (http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html)
Ok , back to topic. Last year the toms we called in came to probably 70-75 yds. and then veered away. Instead of coming straight to the decoy. The second one was a huge paintbrush tom, hoping to see him again. Is this pretty common behavior?? Should a guy set up with this in mind?
In reply to the out west,, Waterdog is out in the four corners area of New Mexico. I may run out there next weekend. Theres a heck of alot more coyotes out there. I had seven coming on my first stand in So, Colorado till some elk hunters came down the road.
did I hear mention of ditch chickens ????? :yoyo:
QuoteOk , back to topic. Last year the toms we called in came to probably 70-75 yds. and then veered away. Instead of coming straight to the decoy. The second one was a huge paintbrush tom, hoping to see him again. Is this pretty common behavior?? Should a guy set up with this in mind?
Sounds to me you may have gotten cut off by hens or they had bad encounters with decoys. In that instance, I'd try to figure where they're heading and swing out in front of them to set up.
Was this in an open field ? If so alot of Toms will get in the field and hold right up till the hen comes to them.
If she dont come, they split.
When those old toms act like that they are probably on a mission (hened up) or something.....if you can not get around them to cut them off and set up again go aggressive and get em calling to you then every time they call back to you and are still walking away, don't let em finish talking cut em off with some real aggressive cutting and yelping until the turn for you. It dose not always work but sometimes you can make them come :eyebrownod:
Just decoy shy I guess. They don't get to be old toms by being stupid.
I do not believe they really get shy of a decoy unless they have been shot at before over one. :nono: Sometimes these birds act almost cat like as far as being picky. :eyebrownod: Remember it is usually the hen that comes to the gobbler, it aint his job to come to you :rolleye:
You have to convince him to go against the rules and go to the hen. :eyebrownod:
http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html (http://www.geocities.com/alscalls/coyote.html)
Well I better keep practicing with the calls then. :eyebrownod: Right now Mother Nature is still thinking winter, another 6 in. of snow fallin.