I work in the retail business with a very small company that opens at 7 am so I am not able to get out as much as I would like . I am basically a weekend warrior with an occasional foray for a couple of hours during weekdays . On the last such occasion I had several hard gobbling birds in my vicinity . I ended up making a lot of very agressive moves because I felt so constrained by time . In the end all that I ended up with were several spooked gobblers that have learned valuable lessons from me . I now have (hopefully) seen the light and understand that it is better to be patient and try it another day . It's hard to do when you know that your days are very limited and you have to get to work asap .

I'm in the same boat, its hard not to press em. The trick is to take what you learned and walk away before he takes what he learned and walks away ( or flies or runs). Good luck!

definately.....it took me a while to learn that whole patience thing. and I'm still learning. I just hate it when the gobbler shuts up. Most of the time I know he's usually close by looking for me, but I just can't stand it after about 30-40 minutes of silence. My very first solo hunt I just got pissed and started walking torwards where I heard the last gobble. I walked up on 4 monsters, they flew, I shot, then I screamed and yelled at them.

Well, I didn't hunt that block anymore that year, but friend of mine did about a week later. He heard several gobbles at day break. Once he yelped, they shut up for good and never gobbled again. That was because of what I did. Major lesson learned.

This morning tried to cram in a hunt and paid for it. I got up at 350 am. Drove an hour west of me as fast as I could. Got there (after stopping for gas) at 515 am. Was in the edge of the woods in a prime location next to a corn field with two dekes (jake and hen) out. At 555 the first bird gobbled in generally the location I thought he would be. He followed that up with multiple gobbles at a owl hooter. Then at about 615 another gobbler spoke up and they duelled via the tree tops.

Like an idiot who knew he had to be gone by 745 or so (so I could drive back to my office in No. Va (about 75 miles away), I decided to try to move between the two gobblers figuring that would increase my odds a bunch and absolutely have one fly into my lap. Was thinking it was still dark enough to move (wrong idea). Flushed two hens out of the tree's. Then I looked up and was looking at a tree roosted gobbler at 60 yards looking directly at me.

Sat down and didn't make a peep. Of course neither did he. At 630 he flew down in the same direction the two hens had gone.

To make a long story short, I had a great set up already. I had two dekes out. I had three birds (2 hens, one gobbler) confirmed, who were less than 100 yards away from me and all of them could easily see my dekes in the corn field, where the gobbler almost always strutted.

Threw all of that away by trying to make a move I didn't need to make.

Vagrousehunter and I hunt together quite often and its amazing within a few days, we both made the same mistake.

Gonna give this area a try again next week. However, in this case I've already told my office I'll be in at around 1200 instead of 1000. Guessing that extra 2 hours will allow me to be more patient and deliberate, and hopefully yield better results.

Just remember, a successful hunt should not always be measured by birds harvested. If you can get over that hurdle and just learn to enjoy the time you spend in the woods, whether it is an hour or six, you'll find that you will bring home more with you, including an occassional turkey. One thing that has helped me this year is by looking at the stats from last seasons turkey survey hear in VA. One in Five gobblers encountered that responded to calling was killed. So, by enjoying the encounter alone, I've learned the kill is just the icing on the cake. The two of you guys keep after em and relax alittle.

I'm sorry that the tone of my post sounded like all that I was worried about was killing a bird . I am extremely grateful for every moment spent in the field . When I go out , often as not , I take another hunter and do not even carry a gun . I was just relating my experience so hopefully someone might learn from my it .

You are indeed correct. Guess I'm spoiled as for years I considered it a great hunt if I even heard a gobble in Virginia and now there seems to be more birds then ever.

Also, I unfortunately have never killed a spring gobbler in Virginia. A fair amount of birds in other places, but none in Virginia. Therefore I put a fair amount of pressure on myself to break the dry spell.

Once again appreciate your thoughts. It's never been about the kill for me in the past whether it is deer or ducks or upland. Just getting out is good enough normally, but I was sort of pursuing unchartered territory and thus my emotions got the better of me.