Decision Time: The Siren Song

[Brian Lovett]

In Decision Time, Editor Brian Lovett will share a scenario from his 20-plus years hunting turkeys. Each hinges on a critical decision. Post what choice you would have made, and then see how things actually turned out.



The Siren Song

If you've turkey hunted long enough, you've heard this: "That gobbler is here every day -- every day, I'm telling you."

Sure he is.

Still, that happens often enough that you can't discount such reports. You just have to see for yourself.

Several springs ago, friend Matt Egge and I had received that advice about a Wisconsin longbeard that was reportedly visiting a pasture every morning. The intelligence seemed solid, so Egge and I found a comfortable hay-bale setup the final day of the season and settled in. Then the rain started.

The first hour netted nothing.

The second hour was a repeat of the first.

At some point during the third hour, I heard a distant gobble.

"What do you think?" I asked Egge.

"The bird's here every day," he responded.

"Yeah, but that bird's over there right now," I said.

I knew he wanted to leave the pasture and chase the other turkey. However, neither of us would admit we were concerned about abandoning a supposedly sure thing.

What would you have done? Post your decision below.

Click here for Lovett's decision.

Great information can help you make good turkey hunting decisions. Click here to get expert advice on spring gobbler hunting.

[shad309]

First & foremost, I think we all know of "that" turkey LOL
I had my own this spring- The Ghost! One thing I have learned from turkeys as there is no sure thing, ever. No ands ifs or butts.
I have wasted many days waiting for the bird to come into his field for his daily strut. I think those birds know you are there. Have you ever had a feeling something wasn't quite right??? I think those smart ones are that way. He knows.
 
Save your frustration and head off to a bird you know is there. You may get him & you may not. I would put my money on a bird I can hear over one I cant.

[Cut N Run]

I would probably stay put. If that pasture is one of his regular haunts, he will probably show up at some point. It would be helpful to know what the surrounding territory was like. If that land is mostly in wooded and the pasture is one of the few large openings in the area, I'd say there is a good reason he visits regularly.

Rain is the wildcard. It usually makes turkeys go to open areas...like say, a pasture. If the rain really gets cranked up, it can shut everything down. Be in position when it quits though.

Edit-I missed the final day of the season part. I might be more inclined to go for broke if it was my last chance.

Jim

[cuttnrun1187]

You say the final day of the season and it's raining.... If I am dry where I'm at, I'm stayin put. I don't mind getting wet but at least if the bird dosen't show, I can blame the rain. At least I stayed dry on the last day of a long season. Already was wet several times and don't get me started about lightning. [:D] That bird I heard sure is tempting but chances are I'll probably bust him moving, although there is plenty of green cover now, he most likely is closer than I think.
I'll throw some light calling at him, and who knows, he MAY be the one that shows up here everyday anyway. If I move, I won't be here when he gets here. Yep, I'm stayin put.

[Ben Sobieck]

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[Gobblerman]

Being a "Siren Song" chaser at heart, I would have been very tempted to cut the distance to the bird....if I knew exactly where the gobble came from....and felt I could move closer without detection.  However, one distant gobble does not a turkey hunt make in many cases.  Consequently, knowing that a gobbler often hangs out where I am sitting, and presuming that this may well be the bird that does, I would wait for a while for 1) the distant bird to gobble again to give me a real idea of what he is doing (moving towards, away, staying in place), or 2) for him or the resident bird to show up in the pasture.  
 
In the meantime, I would yelp and/or cutt/yelp at him loud enough that I was confident he could hear me and see how he reacted to that.  Hopefully, he would respond positively to my calling, but if not, I would just shut up and wait him out. 
 
However, another gobble or two from the siren bird...especially if he is not coming my way....would un-hang me from my "strut zone" and off I would go towards him.
 
Jim

[Chaz Lyle]

First of all, that bird that "shows up" everyday may be dead. It's the last day of the season and from the sounds of the text above, you guys haven't set foot on that property. If he's there everyday then obviously someone is seeing him everyday, more than likely that someone has been hunting him everyday. If they haven't killed him yet then he's more than likely not on any sort of regular pattern. 1. You haven't really done enough homework to know this bird well enough that people are having trouble killing, so this bird will probably turn into one of Spencer's "Bad Birds". May be call shy, decoy shy, or could have been bumped several times. Now, maybe the people that have been chasing him(If he has been hunted at all) don't know much about turkey hunting and haven't approached him the right way. Maybe they are the old fashioned guys that don't call or use decoys ever, but have laid eyes on him everyday but did nothing in hopes that he would wander by. It's really hard to give a straight answer for this bird. What did this "informant" tell you? Does he(the bird) come into the field in the same spot every day? Does he come at the same time every day? Does he hang out in a corner or side of the field regularly? Many many factors to take into consideration before a decision can be made.

[Bobbyparks]

If this is earlier in the season I might be patient and sit and wait for the gobbler that I had intelligence on.........but because this is the last day I'd be up and running towards where I heard the bird knowing that he's not only there "right now" but that he's gobbling right now.

If that didn't work out I might come back and hope the other bird hadn't been there yet and might still come thru.......but if I heard another bird I'd be up and running again......patinece is not something I might have enough of on the last day or weekend...It's time to pull out all the stops...

I'd probably just go home tired and empty handed but if I drove home knowing I ignored a gobbling bird on the last day I'd be kicking myself.

[TRapper]

since there was two of us,  i would let the other guy go see about that other turkey we heard over a distant way,  and then stay put to see what happens,  at least this way one of us could possibly be right.