I think that might have to be my approach. He clearly has a destination in mind every morning before he flies down. The area he roost in is tore up with sign so I know he spends a lot of time there. I’m going to head back there in a bit and camp out for a while and see what happens.
Turkeys spring 23'
- Thread starter giles
- Start date
You are describing this scenario to a T. It’s definitely the same bird because he’s always roosted on the same ridge. I’m guessing he’s probably the king of the roost(pun intended) judging by how much he gobbled before flying down. Just going to have to get creative and mix it up and throw some different things at him. If I do end up sealing the deal on him, it will certainly be rewarding.
If you know where he is going and can be there before him, set up in that area and call very sparingly and very quietly after you know he is on the ground and getting close to you. He is probably just following the hens and will give you some courtesy gobbles. When the hems all go to nest, he will come looking for you. I would also suggest using one of those camo screens with the stakes so that you are comfortable to wait him out. That way your legs are hidden when you need to stretch a little. It also helps hide your movement when moving your gun. And I try to scratch leaves when I am repositioning myself. Use the hen scratching cadence, 1,2 pause, 1,2, 3 pause, then 1. Maybe throw in a little soft purr or two.
Not much going on here..about the same as the last 4 times out. Lol recurve is ready though.
I’ll have to get real creative to intercept him. He flies down and heads straight out the finger ridge overlooking the creek bottom. That point he heads towards is pretty steep but I could give it a shot. I could try coming in from the creek and heading up the point. It would probably be feasible under the cover of darkness. Probably my best option at this point since I’ve been setting up above him and he always works down and away from me. That point is where I first struck him a week ago but from the opposite ridge across the holler. That’s the gobbler icon in the pic and the 2 roost icons are where he’s been roosted the past 2 times I’ve fooled with him.
If you get him to really gobble AT you and not a courtesy gobble after 10:00 you should be able to kill him. He is probably going to his strut zone, where he drops his last hen and then waits for her to lay an egg and then they will head back to their preferred roost site, picking up other hens on the way. What time does he get to the gobbler icon?
Bet ya havn't called in a buzzard before. First for me.
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He was there right at 1000. Haven’t heard a peep today since fly down
This is the point he headed out to. Makes sense, creek is straight below, roost directly behind me. I think I can get up here from the bottom. I might be in the game tomorrow if he roosts in the same spot
Big_Holla
Senior Member
If you get between where he roosts and where he wants to be I'd consider not calling at all, or very sparingly.
He has hens, so no reason to gobble. Listen for them walking and also listen for the spit and drum. That bigger split trunk tree on the right side is where I would be sitting before fly down and let him walk to me with minimal calling. Add in some leaf scratching.
That’s the plan! The creek bottom below is absolutely tore up with fresh scratching. No doubt in my mind that’s where he went to get with his hens and probably spent most of the morning down there. The climb up the hill is very agreeable, old haul road. There’s a chance he could be on the other finger ridge where he was the other day but it’s just as easily accessible from below. If he follows the script he’ll at least gobble a few times from the roost and give away his location. Could be a fun morning!
Good Luck! You may find out that there is more than one Tom in the group also. A buddy of mine watched 2 Toms, 3 Jakes and 2 hens mess around 100 yards from him for 4 hours yesterday and he tried everything to get them to commit. They eventually went on their way. Only gobbled a couple times on the roost. He was hunting a field edge in Coshocton county.
Funny you say that, the most responsive gobbling he was doing this morning was to another gobbler that was firing off on the other side of the creek lol.
You got the video show it. I'm mushroom hunting.Come on man let's see the video
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Ooops. I didn’t notice Xbox’s previous post. Sorry, no birds were missed in the video I posted. 
Of course he was a no show this morning. Heard 4 others gobbling but not super close. I’m set up over the creek bottom now hoping this is where they’ll wanna end up at some point.