Troublesome birds...

[turkeygirl]

Went to the state land this morning. Nice morning, very quiet and no one else around Hiked in, sat down and waited. Didn't hear anything but at 6ish, heard a distant gobble. Started moving towards it, spooked a lone hen of her roost. Heard the gobble again but it seemed to come from across this big ravine on private land so no go. Went back and decided to sit where the state land meets this private land in a nice open area. Waited and waited, periodically calling. Finally around 8ish, heard a gobble! Thought it came from below me on the private land, but closer than before. then I hear hens calling, so I call back. Few minutes later about 50 yards away I see a turkey walking at a good pace, doesn't even look my way or at the decoy, I think it was a hen. Next thing I know, he just starts running up towards this trail on the state land bordering the private land, followed by another hen! What the heck! I didn't move and I was snuggled in good amongst a large tree and some greenery. Neither had the colorful gobbler head and I didn't see any beard so I think they were hens. So my two hypothesis I came up with are:

1. One of the hens was one I spooked of the roost...and maybe they didn't like the decoy although they never even seemed to look it's way.

2. Or the gobble came from my right rather than below me...it was closer but not very close to still hard to tell...and when he gobbled they took off after him before "I" did?

What should I do? Not use the decoy? Get back down in the same area again?

[Mathews XT Man]

They may be decoy shy..Id sit tight if I heard birds..do some hen, yelps and putts and see if you can pull them to you and maybe a gobbler will come following. It seems to me you are bumpimg birds everytime you start after them. That makes me think your moving too soon. Thats why I say sit tight. I run and gun only if I know the gobblers are hened up for the morning, and know where they, are and where they are going. Try to be a bit more patient, and give it at least two to three hours in a sit. Turkey hunting aint easy..

[Bachflock]

Boy that's a good one. I'm still a turkey huntin' rookie but here's what I'm thinking.

First, make a judgement call on how bad you think you bumped the birds. What I get from the post is they knew something was up but not so much they felt the need to fly out or really create a rukus for other turkeys to hear. That happened to me this year - the hen wasn't comfortable but didn't panic or fly out. In that case I'd ease back into the area and take my decoy along. Once there and I see birds in the area I'd throw out a few gentle calls to see if it grabs their attention and adjust from there. Meaning, if my initial soft calls don't turn some heads then I'd get more vocal - until I draw some interest.

On the other hand if you think you bumped them pretty hard I'd move off into a different area. They'll likely be spooky for several days or a week. When does your season end there? Hopefully you've still got some time to make the appropriate adjustments!

[Bachflock]

That's a good point, Oneida. Its really easy to get up before we should. I heard it put this way on a different site: "I sit until my legs fall asleep... then I sit for 2 hours more..." Its a paraphrase but gets the point across.