Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Strutting but not Calling, Strategies?

Didn't get started hunting till late in the season. Now the Toms are strutting but not calling. I think they are just tired and not call shy but not sure.

So should I keep calling or just try to bushwhack them?

No fun in "bushwhackin 'em,do your homework,put them to bed and pattern them.Set up accordinly.

rong: Will do probably haven't waited long enough. Unfortunately the roost trees are off the property I can hunt but will see if I can talk one in still.

...try "contentment" talk.

Putts, whines, soft purrs, rather than full on yelp.

Kindve like sayin, "im here" just feeding along.

"Good cluck"

I have called in many Toms without ever hearing a gobble. Sounds like you know where birds are. Call every 20 or 30 minutes as WillARights mentioned above and sit tight. Be patient and be a little more patient. Birds that don't sound off are just as easy to kill if you are patient and have confidence in your spot. Did I mention being patient?

I don't do anything different than when the toms answer- a turkey is a turkey and they have their mind on the same things whether they gobble or not. I'll add in some hard cutting as that may result in a shock response and give a hint there is a bird in the area. More often, the first sign of a tom is seeing the bird fan out from behind a log, bush, or dip in the ground.

The key is being observant and not moving. As the bird is quiet, the Hunter is often lulled into thinking he is alone when reality may have a tom screened by some light brush or other concealment and able to survey your hiding spot. The bird then spots you wipe your nose, scratch a knee, or other movement and fades off without you knowing. I've had several birds come in in this manner, how many saw me first I can only guess but it is probably more than I wish.

In the late morning I'll often go back to where I started calling. I seem to have toms show up later and assume they are looking for the hen they heard earlier as she did not join up with the rest earlier. I'll either call to them if they do not appear to be heading my way or ambush them if they are ambling my way. I figure the tom is checking out my earlier calling so it isn't a true ambush. Even if it were, there is some skill and knowledge involved to be successful. I have no qualms doing so as tag soup is not something I relish.

Not gobbling usually means the hens are keeping them busy. Trying to call henned up birds makes them harder to kill when they're not henned up.

Wooo

There is some killer advice in these two posts, no doubt learned from seasons afield.

Old Archy didnt get so smart by always yellin at the top of his lungs "here i am!' come and shoots me inna face!"

But his crafty using logs and bushes to fan behind to see if you move is a killer diller move. Seen many the back of turks skulls as they roadrunner to the next field or county after leaning around a tree to see them.

Pay attention to footsteps running toward you, as well. Hes on his way, and hot for you. Hes just not easy, or cheap, sometimes.

Turkey Reaping when they get in this strut mode for hours of the day is the most effective way to harvest a gobbler just (youtube turkey reaping) it isn't fair chase. The problem is its not turkey hunting its reaping. Number 2 is get on them while their in the tree call and wait have patience and don't move per above. A shaker call can be more effective at that time as well especially if you can make them think another gobbler is tending a hen they were calling. One of the biggest gobblers I have harvested was at this time. I set up my decoys near the tree he was roosted in. A jake and a hen decoy call like a hen once like another gobbler and waited for 2 hours I heard him gobble twice. When he was 50 yards out he saw my set up and covered the last yards doing the goose step. Eastern gobbler 23 pounds 10.5 inch beard 1.25" spurs and a huge hog head.

If you know where their tree is and it is reasonably close to the strut zone you can call from it just once and wait. If they come in and gobble at 50 don't make a sound or movement they're already looking for a hen. If they see a human you wont see them.

Gobblers have uncanny eye sight they can spot you at 50 yards through a 2" tunnel in brush pile. Proceed accordingly.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

Who's had good hunting by waiting until late mid/afternoon for Eastern's to separate from the hens??

Every year my son and I kill more turkeys, not all just more from 10:30 on. Have killed a substantial number at 3 or 4 pm. Have killed them as late as an hour or less before sunset.

You must be present to win.

I know so many guys that are out of the woods by 11 AM or even earlier if they don't hear one gobble. I hunt a particular farm where I know there are birds. Don't need to hear a damn thing to keep me in the woods. I would rather nap in shade than at the cabin. We killed 3 this season that never made a peep. One at 0730, one at 12 noon and one at 1600. We all love having a bird come in gobbling but that does not happen every time.

Patience and keeping after them kills more turkeys than anything else. My problem has always been that I've usually had to hunt early, then leave to do some work. Even now that I'm retired, I still farm, and farm chores often take me out of the woods too early. Anyway, I've had good luck on those days that I can hunt all day, as the gobblers usually get lonely after the hens leave to go off to lay. Catch a tom by himself at that time of the day, and he's much more likely to work.

Killed one yesterday that gobbled his head off on the roost( along with 14 other Toms and jakes). Then all of them shut up off the roost. Passed on 8 jakes that crossed within 25 yards of me. Had 6 long beards strutting in the field about 250 yards from me. Finally see this white snowball bobbing through the weeds then I see his girlfriend ahead of him. Each Yelp of cluck series brought him to full strut but no gobbles. Switched up tactics and pissed his GF off....she brought him to me on a string

Great advice, sorry to say I didn't get to put it in to practice and I probably quit too soon. Last day of the season I went fishing instead and I kayaked up on no less than seven gobblers strutting away together in a pecan bottom. These guys didn't let out anything more than a hiss if that. I have heard of people bringing them in by fanning a wing and dragging it on the ground to imitate one flying down from the roost and then immediately strutting. Those must be some educated turkeys.

Next year if I can only hold off during the winter season again and save my tags for spring.

Thanks

This "turkey reaping" (what a name) when used to describe a camoed hunter holding a fake gobbler in front of his face while crawling to shooting distance of a real gobbler, is one of the best ways I can imagine to draw fire upon oneself. Sooner or later if it hasn't happened already happened some turkey thug is going to get shot. Just because it's shotgun only season don't mean somebody's not out there with a .223 looking to dot a gobbler's eye maybe at 200 yds or so. For me "fair chase" doesn't even enter the conversation. It's crazy to turn yourself into the decoy.

But as far as judging what is or isn't "fair chase" leave the decoys at the store and get back to me. Why is a hand held turkey-on-a-stick decoy not fair chase and a decoy on a stick in the ground is? I killed a turkey with decoys for the first time last week. Had the decoys set in front of me in a fairly open field while in a blind on the tree line. Once the tom showed and I gave him a few soft yelps and clucks he decided to commit suicide. Try that same scenario without the decoys and blind and calling that bird in is a whole different game.

I've been hunting a pair of toms for the past 2 years that beat most anything I've ever seen. They gobble a little on the roost, then pretty much shut down after they fly down. Sometimes they will give a token gobble to a call, but they won't come in. More often than not, they're by themselves.

Part of the problem is that they've been hunted to death by people besides me, and are probably call shy, as I've yet to get them to respond to a call. I used a fan to bring them in last year, but a low flying helicopter spooked them when they were just out of gun range. I love the challenge of hunting turkeys like these, and don't mind resorting to bushwhacking or any other method.

I'd use any legal method I could if I really wanted to kill a turkey. I've killed a bunch by crawling within gun range, as you cannot always get a bird to come in close enough by calling alone.

I've always heard it said that all's fair in love and war......and turkey hunting.

Henned up birds have two deadly tactics; Hunt them between noon and 2 pm when they are lonely. Expect them to come in silently and a jake decoy with a hen decoy will seal that deal. Or call the dominant hen, she will bring the entire flock with her. Good luck ain't it fun?

Call shy birds can be brought in with two or more decoys and the use or two or more different types or calls. Especially if you can operate a friction call and a mouth call simultaneously. Feeding purrs and whines with a few sort yelps on top of those do the trick.
You have to do something that sounds like turkeys but not like a single hunter.

Some quiet birds are not call shy, they are reacting to predator pressure. If bobcats and coyotes are coming in to your turkey calling, you are going to have birds that don't' call after they hit the ground. A couple of fly down yelps then shut up.
A very few purrs and whines after the fly down will work. Good luck.

I knew a fellow who killed his limit of turkeys every year by putting out a decoy, never calling, just sitting all day if he had to, figuring that sooner or later one would walk by, and they always did. He was fortunate to be in a turkey rich area, and his tactic worked for him.

For those of us not that fortunate, it can be difficult when they're not wanting to work. We often blame it on call shyness, but sometimes that's not the case. I believe there are some birds that, for whatever the reason, won't come to a call. I've had a lot birds like that. The key is usually patience, patience, and patience. Those toms can't be rushed, so don't get in a hurry. Take your time, and test their temperature. If it's on the chilly side, then act accordingly. Usually though, at some point in time, mostly in the latter stages of the season, those birds will eventually get to wanting companionship, and can be called.

I don’t know what part of the country you are in but, regardless, the toms are still looking to breed. You may not hear any gobbles for a whole variety of reasons, many of which I still wonder at.

But in my experience, having long given up all the dark-early stuff, I’ve hit upon a method that works for me (I won’t say “perfected” by any means). And keep in mind, as always, there are always different ways to skin the cat.

Hens by now are laying and will go to the nest, say, mid-morning, leaving the toms to wonder about looking under each street light. This may be an open field or a small clearing, but certainly an area that gives them some visibility. I “cold-call” — set up without hearing a gobble or even having seen birds but in an area where I generally know there are turkeys. This will work from mid-day on this time of year but often require’s a magnum load of patience. An hour and many times much more as some of these guys may not even start your way for an hour or two. So you need to be comfortable. A blind gives you latitude here.

I usually use two hen dec’s or a hen and a jake, placed where they can be easily scene. I start with a few quiet yelps increasing the volume after 15-20 min. Depending on what I sense, I will throw in about every call at some point, periodically, except a gobble or “danger” call, maybe every 20 min or so. Don’t expect to hear a gobble; if you do it’s like finding you had an investment return of 20% this year and Uncle Sam owes you money. Hang in there as long as you can.

You will eventually win.

If birds gobble on the roost and then shut up when they hit the ground I take a woods nap or go take my dogs for a run to pass some time.

Then come back in the mid morning-afternoon and see if I can get them to gobble. Between an owl hoot with my voice and a trumpet call I can more often than not get a gobble from “silent” birds at some point. Just gotta keep checking in on them throughout the day. If they gobble in the afternoon it pays to get aggressive and cover some ground to meet them half way or even more.

I mostly hunt big woods with logging roads and atv trails that the birds relate to. Most guys setup with decoys and a blind and wait them out but I refuse to do that and will only spend time setup on a bird that’s gobbling. Pretty common for birds to go all day without gobbling only to fire up during the afternoon and come right into a call.

The best turkey tactic is to know where they roost and where they will go to feed. Set up a decoy between those two places and you don't even need to call. It's almost impossible to call a turkey to a place he don't want to go.