My turkey opener was slow

Gobblers hit their strut zones from 8 to 10 a.m. Locate these areas and hunt.

Hunting conditions seemed perfect. Just a soft breeze, and a bit of lingering fog as the sun bathed the woods with sunlight. I was in place long before daybreak, put out my decoys within 150 yards of the roosted birds, and sat back for everyone to wake up.

It took a long time, and as best as I could determined, there was only one gobbler. He gobbled mightily from the roost, but this bird wasn't where I'd bedded down the others. Those birds had a bad case of shut-mouth.

The bird that gobbled was a half-mile away, on a piece of land that I don't have permission to hunt, and we traded sweet-nothings twice. I gave him some time before calling the third time, and he didn't respond.

Roost gobbling and then silence

I'd talked with a pair of hunters with first-season turkey tags, and they had ended their hunt yesterday. Today was my opening day, and only one thing could have made it more delightful -- seeing a bird. There was no way for me to know for certain, but my chat with the other hunters gave me a clue.

They told me each bird they would put to bed would gobble once or twice from the roost tree, fly down and shut up for the rest of the day. I've seen such situations on other occasions, but it's often weather related.

The early period after fly-down, is often when gobblers are vocal as they patrol one to four or five strutting zones. Temperamental longbeards may have several strut zones where they go to meet up with the hens, and this is usually a great time to work a bird.

However, it's been my experience not to call much unless a gobbler is rattling the trees with loud gobbles. Often, if many of the hens have been bred, they quickly move away from the big Toms to head back to their nest.

Sleep in and hunt the mid-day hours with minimum calling

What works? Try hunting at mid-day, don't call too much, and if you have a response, don't get too eager to reply. If a bird gobbles the second time, give him a soft call, sit back and be patient. A bird might come running in looking for a hen, but chances are equally good that they might sneak in without making a sound. Don't get too antsy about calling.

It goes against a gobbler's basic nature to come to a call. They expect the hen to come to them, which means hunters must be patient, and wait for him to edge closer. Play these birds with a cool hand, and don't try to hurry them.

Take a page out of the gobbler's book, and take your time. I've occasionall spent two hours patiently wooing a lusty gobbler away from other hens. It can be done but all sorts of things must fall into place.

Proceed slowly and don't try to hurry a gobbler

Rushing a bird at this point can lead to failure. But, using my example today, I try not to call to a roosted bird. Sometimes it helps, more often I think it hurts your efforts, and wait for the bird to fly down. Talk to him a little bit on the ground, and don't try to hurry up the process.

If he comes, there's a good chance he'll come all the way to you. Get up and move too early, and you may lose your only chance of the season.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors