Last Saturday Zach and I were hunting on the farm we hunt . Got there @ 5:30. heard a few birds . Sounded like we were going to have a good chance at a bird..maybe two. We sat up on the edge of the field exactly where I killed my 2005 bird. Things were looking good. We had a bird behind us, 3 to my left and 1 across the field. The 3 to my left were the ones we were thinking would come out. After about an hour and no birds comming or gobbleing. We made our moving trying to find some more birds. Walked the farm , found one more bird .We went into the swamp trying to close the distance. Nothing, dead silent. As we were comming out of the swamp,we are back at the area we were at , at first light. As we are moving I'm calling at every 5-10 minutes moving slowing. About 50 or so yrds from the field I see a gobbler with about 9-10 in beard not 50 yrds from where we first sat up. We stopped dead in our tracks , but I think he heard us or something had him spooked. We sat down and he stay there and seemed to saddle down. I gave him a few minutes but he started heading for the woods across the field. I made a couple of calls , that just seemed to speed him up . Never heard or seens him again. Question,Should we have stayed put on the first sat up. We were there a good hour after the last gobble. How long should you stay put. I'm still learning this game.
Thanks Tim

if i understand your story, you had five longbeards answering calls or gobbling , all around you at your first set-up. You had killed ab ird exactly there last year. I would not have moved for a long time from that spot. With that many birds around you it is likely somebody is by himself. He is the one that will come in. Maybe silently and he could be the subordinate bird in the area soa sneak attack is likely. Go back to that spot next hunt. If they have answer around you like that the next time, Stay there for at least through 11 am etc...(it is easy for me to say this stuff and very hard sometimes for me to have the patience to stay the course).

yes, definately stay, i've learned that too....i'm very impatient sometimes
and have lost birds because of that. I called one up the other day that I chose not to kill, but he went silent for about 40 minutes, then suddenly appeared in the field strutting so pretty.

Yep -- what they said.

I've learned some pretty tough lessons about wanting to leave a spot too early. When you think you are ready to give up and try another spot, stay put for another hour. (especially since you had birds gobbling on the roost near you) Like GN said, somebody will wind up by himself and come looking for the "hen" he heard earlier. Good Luck!

Patience, more patience, followed by a double dose of patience! We've all been there and done that. Much easier said then done. Sometimes you almost have to approach it like a deer hunt (sorry GN ). When you are around the animals, set up and stay put.

Ditto!!

Okay, The way I see it ....I messed up BIG!! . These birds have been there the last two weeks. Zach Got his Jake Opening day. We heard them before and after the kill. In the morning I will be solo. Zach has an early ball game. So I'll try to be more patience in the morning....Watch I won't hear a single bird.

One moe thing. How often should I call after the bird stops gobbling?

Thanks
Tim

that just depends on the bird. If you're set up at the edge of a field, decoys will help. But once he goes silent, don't yelp too much, he may be right on top of you and you'll blow your cover. In most cases, he knows exactly where your sound is coming from. Give him time. remember, he gobbles as a way of saying, here I am baby, come get me. And he struts to make himself more visible to the hen, and to show off for her. So, give him time, he'll come more often than not.

Guest

The previous posters have shared many of the keys of working slow responding or birds with hens.

I have found myself in very similar situations over the years with birds gobbling in the distance with seconds and minutes clicking like molasis and my patience running thin.

In situations like these I typically wonder what is going on somewhere else, kinda like the grass is greener on the other side of the mountain I guess.

Very few times have I found the hot bird on the other side of the mountain after leaving slow responding birds. However, I have killed a majority of my birds in situations that you have just described in the early season.

Patience is a virtue in situations like this.

To answer a couple of your direct questions. If I know gobblers are close I will stay until 12:00 if I dont have to work or be somewhere important. Its not a lot of stuff more important to me than knocking one in the noggin though.

On how often or how much to call I dont call a lot. If he answered your call he knows where you are and you want to keep him guessing and not exactly pinpoint your shooting location.

I also keep a decoy tucked away when Im hunting around field areas like you described and it helps close the deal for slow responding birds.

Changing calls and using different calls like a couple different hens calling has also seemed to help pull a bird into my setup.

My advise would be to go back and work those birds as soon as you can, using some of the advise that these posters have offered.

I wish I had five toms located to work in the morning from one spot! LOL

Good luck iisabigone

Well, I went back this morning all pumped up from the advice that I had gotten yesterday. Got there @ 5:20. Great morning , a little over cast but no wind or rain. Walk over to the woods and just knew at anytime the birds would be sounding off. 5:55 Nothing....6:05 nothing.....6:15....are you starting to get the picture By 8:00 I'm thinking all the birds in that area must have met at Hardee for coffee and a biscuit. I went to the area I told yall about where I saw the gobbler last Saturday. Put my decoys out made a few calls every 10-15 minutes. 11:00 not a sound. I don't understand the birds can be so fired up oneday and a few days later its like they moved to another state....Oh well I'll be there next weekend wish me luck.

Have a great SATURDAY!!
Off to the ball fields.
Tim

vabirdhunter I have had the same thing happen on numerous occasions.

They were there for a reason on your first encounter and they will be back!

I guess that is why they call it turkey hunting and not a turkey shoot!

Hang in there and things will turn out for you.

iisabigone

Tim everytime is different.What I do is when I set up on a gobbling bird I kinda take his temperature.Is he gobbling on his own ? When I call does he cut in on me ? Are there hens cutting back at my calling ? How close are they from me ? All in all I set tight for a long while and lots of the time a hen or two will come in and fuss at my decoys and thats a good thing.When they move away a ways and come back and foward I move on him when he goes away from me. Lots of the time when I know for sure he is gobbling at me I never call again,just scratchung in the leaves.Thats what make it so much fun everytime is different.When you think you have them figued out you are in for a real disappointment !!!!

My physical limitations require that I stay at my original setup. Yes, it gets boring sometimes, but I have taken more late morning birds since my injury than I ever did before.
The bird I took last week for example, I didn't hear a peep from 6:25-11:05. The bird got fired up and was mine at 11:15.
It is said Patience is "virtue".
For most it is an "option".
For me it is a "must." I don't mind, it can be very rewarding.

barry