Hunting heavily pressured birds

[tex3012]

one trick that works for me..
leave the calls at home and hunt them like a deer..pattern them..

[turkey junky]

pressured turkeys in my expearince tend to really slow down there aproach comeing into the calls & for me it puts them into high alert mood no stop... they may have to comunicate & vocalize to breed yes true but that dosent mean turkeys dont tone down there vocalizeing turkeys in heavy pressured areas tend 2 know wear the other turkeys are or have a good idea of places to hang out if they want 2 flock up with other birds
that goes for TOMS haveing a breeding area he prefers or a STRUT ZONE that is the area he feels safe breeding hens & when turkeys get pressure they hang in them areas looking for other birds so they dont need to call as much... ive hunted turkeys that will not come to calling they hear turkeys & walk the other way 2-3 set ups in a row ive then seen real hens basicly run to catch up to the hard head gobbler... but turkeys dont get call shy!!! B/S dumb turkeys dont get call shy!!!

[Gobblerman]

Hunting turkeys that have been hunted a lot previously takes a combination of perseverance, patience, a magnum dose of good luck,and an a realization that tactics that will regularly kill birds that have had less hunting pressure will likely not work with these birds.

Any conversation around pressured turkeys almost invariably leads to a discussion about whether or not turkeys can become call shy. Can a gobbler get to a point where he cannot be killed by a hunter that utters any turkey-like sound while trying to waylay him? Probably not. But does that mean he cannot become conditioned to turkey calling, either real or artificial, to a degree that in the vast majority of cases, he will not come to turkey calling,...even the most realistic calling that can be made? Most certainly, gobblers can get that way.

The question to me is,...what constitutes call-shyness? If your definition is one of zero-tolerance,...that is, if any turkey ever approaches a turkey sound,...ever,...in his life, then he he cannot be called "call shy", then there are probably no call-shy gobblers on the planet.

On the other hand, if the definition of call-shyness has some leeway,...that is, it can be applied to turkeys that develop call-aversion traits that cause them to hesitate to approach turkey calling, or in many cases, cause them to avoid turkey calling they hear in all but the rarest of circumstances, then there are lots of gobblers out there that reach that point in their lives.

And yes, it is caused by interactions with human hunters that results in the turkey associating turkey calling with danger. It is not rocket science, and it has nothing to do with the size of an organisms brain. It is more of a "survival of the fittest" response that all organisms possess, from human beings to amoebas.

So, in terms of practical application for turkey hunters, if you want to kill truly pressured gobblers, you should recognize that you are probably going to have to do something "different" in terms of calling, positioning, timing, set-up, or any number of other subtle little things that could influence the outcome of a hunt involving one of these toms.

In my opinion, doing that "something different" is often just a matter of pure luck on the hunters part,....choosing a course of action out of many that puts the hunter on a collision course with success by nothing more than an educated guess and a huge dose of good fortune.

[El Pavo Grande]

Great advice and insight on hunting pressured gobblers. What is absolute truth is that no two situations are the exact same. I agree from my experiences that a "less is more" calling approach to pressured gobblers is the best. Scratching in the leaves is often the best call to make. It doesn't take much pressure sometimes to alter a gobbler's normal routine. In my opinion the best chance of being successful on pressured gobblers is to pattern them as mentioned above and if you do call, keep it at a minimum, which is such a struggle sometimes because we all like to hear ourselves call and gobblers respond. As repeated over and over......patience, patience, and more patience. Pre-season scouting can often pay off on pressured gobblers.

[Cut N Run]

Great suggestions here guys. I wish this site was around earlier on in my turkey hunting career, my learning curve would have been much shorter.

I am also a big fan of calling less & with lower volume in late season situations. You may get a gobbler to answer you back on louder calls, but he probably knows what the game is and won't come any closer than he already is. I tend to hunt tighter cover than many of the more open places. There just aren't any agricultural fields where I hunt. The turkeys seem to be a little more at ease, but no less wary when they are using heavier cover, probably because they can't see as far.

I have had success using a gobble call late season if you hear a gobbler go off. By then, territories have been set for a long time and you may get curiosity to work on your side.

Jim

[WillowRidgeCalls]

I can't agree more about patterning high pressured birds. You need to know your area like the back of your hand, and where those birds like to go and when they like to be there. What I've found is that hard pressured birds don't like to travel more than a few yards out of their normal routine areas, they will talk to you all day, but they won't budge off their line of travel unless they see movement of a hen.
Calling is very important on high pressured birds. Knowing what calls to use and how and why to use them is a big key to filling a tag. Late season birds that have been hunted 4-5 weeks have heard just about every call made to them, and that's why most folks say call very little, and for the most part that's the best idea. If you know what calls to use and why and how you should use them is a major key. I hunt public land and I don't start hunting until the 3rd week of seasons, the 4th, 5th, and 6th weeks have been my best seasons. As the seasons get later in the year the less I'll use a yelp and if I do yelp it will only be a couple quick yelps, most of my talking is softer calls like clucks or whines or purrs, and don't drag your calls out, keep them fairly short. If I'm cold calling then I'll yelp more often, lost call or 4-5 yelps in a series followed by some clucks, but if I'm working a gobbler I yelp very very little. What I like to do is get out early and wait for a bird to sound off, then set up on him. When he sounds off agian I cut him off with some hard cutts right on the roost. Most times that will get other gobblers going in the area. Make sure you only work one bird period, don't ansewer every gobbler that sounds off just the one you cut off, when he goobles again cut him off again with some softer yelps and tree talk and work that bird only. Let the other ones gobble their heads off, they will try to get you to ansewer their gobbles, DON"T, more times than not it's the boss Tom that will sound off first, work him and only him. A lot of times when you cut him off a boss hen will sound off, forget about that Tom and work that boss hen. You'll hear that almost all the birds won't cut a boss hen off, even the gobblers stay quiet until she's done talking, but not you, cut her off every time she opens her mouth. You may call non stop for 5-10 minutes but that's what it takes, challenge her for that boss Tom, and throw in a jake gobble or two, that will get that boss gobbler fired up. If you ansewer every gobbler that calls more times than not they will go the other way off the roost. The other gobblers know your there and they can pinpoint you exactly what tree your by, they will try to sneak in and steal you away from that boss gobbler, but most times they come in quiet. It's easier to tell which gobbler is which when they are on the roost, but when they are on the ground isn't that easy, that's why you don't call as often and keep your calling soft and low, make that bird talk to you, he won't gobble much on the ground so pay attention to what he sounds like so you can tell him from the others. Most old birds gobble 2-3 times on the roost then shut up until they meet up with that hen they are looking for. That is why high pressured old gobblers are harder to hunt, but if you learn to hunt one bird and only one bird, you'll do much better.

[Treerooster]

I can't agree more about patterning high pressured birds. You need to know your area like the back of your hand, and where those birds like to go and when they like to be there. What I've found is that hard pressured birds don't like to travel more than a few yards out of their normal routine areas, they will talk to you all day, but they won't budge off their line of travel unless they see movement of a hen.
Calling is very important on high pressured birds. Knowing what calls to use and how and why to use them is a big key to filling a tag. Late season birds that have been hunted 4-5 weeks have heard just about every call made to them, and that's why most folks say call very little, and for the most part that's the best idea. If you know what calls to use and why and how you should use them is a major key. I hunt public land and I don't start hunting until the 3rd week of seasons, the 4th, 5th, and 6th weeks have been my best seasons. As the seasons get later in the year the less I'll use a yelp and if I do yelp it will only be a couple quick yelps, most of my talking is softer calls like clucks or whines or purrs, and don't drag your calls out, keep them fairly short. If I'm cold calling then I'll yelp more often, lost call or 4-5 yelps in a series followed by some clucks, but if I'm working a gobbler I yelp very very little. What I like to do is get out early and wait for a bird to sound off, then set up on him. When he sounds off agian I cut him off with some hard cutts right on the roost. Most times that will get other gobblers going in the area. Make sure you only work one bird period, don't ansewer every gobbler that sounds off just the one you cut off, when he goobles again cut him off again with some softer yelps and tree talk and work that bird only. Let the other ones gobble their heads off, they will try to get you to ansewer their gobbles, DON"T, more times than not it's the boss Tom that will sound off first, work him and only him. A lot of times when you cut him off a boss hen will sound off, forget about that Tom and work that boss hen. You'll hear that almost all the birds won't cut a boss hen off, even the gobblers stay quiet until she's done talking, but not you, cut her off every time she opens her mouth. You may call non stop for 5-10 minutes but that's what it takes, challenge her for that boss Tom, and throw in a jake gobble or two, that will get that boss gobbler fired up. If you ansewer every gobbler that calls more times than not they will go the other way off the roost. The other gobblers know your there and they can pinpoint you exactly what tree your by, they will try to sneak in and steal you away from that boss gobbler, but most times they come in quiet. It's easier to tell which gobbler is which when they are on the roost, but when they are on the ground isn't that easy, that's why you don't call as often and keep your calling soft and low, make that bird talk to you, he won't gobble much on the ground so pay attention to what he sounds like so you can tell him from the others. Most old birds gobble 2-3 times on the roost then shut up until they meet up with that hen they are looking for. That is why high pressured old gobblers are harder to hunt, but if you learn to hunt one bird and only one bird, you'll do much better.

Thats just flat good right there.

Some great advice you don't have to interpet or ask questions about...just put it in your vest, go hunting and apply it.

Very well written Scott!

Mr. Lovett, get your radar gun out and point it at this guy. You just might want him throwing for your team.

[Fan Club]

And yes, it is caused by interactions with human hunters that results in the turkey associating turkey calling with danger. It is not rocket science, and it has nothing to do with the size of an organisms brain. It is more of a "survival of the fittest" response that all organisms possess, from human beings to amoebas.

That's it. Turkeys don't get call shy, they get people shy. If I never again hear a reference to the size of a turkey's brain it will be too soon. I know some pretty stupid humans with brains the size of cataloupes, so what's the point? Intelligence is variable and when talking turkey, survival instinct is a more accurate assessment.

And Scott, the tactic of only honoring one tom's gobbles is little known but very effective. It's been around a while...just like us old timers!

<- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <-

[mark hay]

That is some fine reading,,,,top grade advice ,,,,,and good refresher for an old fart turkey hunter.

[dewey]

Great advice Scott as always! I almost need to create a word document of all of the great advice on this forum so I can access easily and not forget it.

Dewey