First time going for the afternoon hunt

Hello all :)

so we went up today and got to the farm i wanna say around 130ish. Another hunter was on the property when we got there, we werent sure where he was on the property so we contacted the land owner just to make sure everything is alright and we wouldn't be screwing buddy's hunt up. land owner insisted that the other hunter came back to the trucks so we can figure out where everyone is going so we can be sure to be safe.

My father opted to sit just on the other side of this little opening looking out into the field.

[COLOR=#FFFFFF]https://i.imgur.com/mvFYCbY.jpg



i on the other hand went about 1300 FT to the south west and sat on the inside of the bush being able to look into the bush and still be able to see out in the little pocket "field".


it didnt seem like any turkeys wanted to talk back today. only heard 1 gobble and that was right when i sat down. other than that it was quiet the rest of the afternoon.

about 3 hours pass and i havent seen much other than some baby squirrels (which honestly are hilarious to watch try and make it through a sea of tall grass)


My dad sends a text says hes got a couple hens that walked maybe 10 feet infront of him and say 2 turkeys with beards in the distance but across the field.

i decide im going to get up and switch myself to the field edge, so i pack my stuff up and slowly make my way out the bush. i get another text from ym dad saying there is now 2 jakes witht he hens but theyve moved to the other side of the pocket hes in which is almost 100 yards across (roughly).

knowing these are most likely the only birds we are going to see today i decide to grab my stuff up again, and slowly move through the bush again north east to the next pocket. once i get to the next pocket i follow the bush line to the corner. i peek my eyes round the corner and in the distance i see a big big hen but no males yet. i waited what seemed like a hour for that hen to start moving along and i crawled as far as i could in the rain to get my decoy up just in case they decide to come back south and my dad couldn't get a shot.

after getting the decoy up just after the edge of the pocket, i slip back under a pine tree to shield me from gods tears pouring down onto my sweater.

at this point i moved up to the corner of the pocket looking north east along the bush line.

the whole time waiting for my dad to send a text back i was debating on moving farther up to the other side of his pocket on the south western side as i knew without him texting me that the birds are now either to the north east or west of that pocket.

another maybe 30 minutes pass and i finally get another text from dad saying they are coming your way!

at this point i know i should have moved up again. but i didnt want to get that close to my fathers hunt without him messaging me and giving me the go ahead.

so now im looking up the bush line hoping that these birds will turn the corner as my dad says they are. all of a sudden i see 3 big red headed turkeys turn the corner.

Now from where i am sitting on the corner to where they turned the corner is 500 feet. i get caught in the most unconformable position and they are still walking towards me. im literally squatting and on my tippy toes leaning against a stump with my gun on my lap. they stop maybe half way towards me and start pecking at the ground a couple times.

Then decide to make their way into the swampy bush and disappear.

was a great learning opportunity none the less. next time ill be going with my gut and trying to cut them off hopefully successfully next time haha

story might have been a little hard to follow along so i went ahead and made a little diagram for anyone whos interested :)


[COLOR=#FFFFFF]https://i.imgur.com/2qayFjw.png

Blue: Dad
Red: Me
Purple: turkeys
Green: field
Brown: bush


anyone know why the birds just didn't want to respond today to calls?

are they more talkative in the morning than afternoons?

if anyone has any input or tips for afternoons hunting turkey please dont be afraid to share.[COLOR=#FFFFFF]

I didn't hear a peep either this weekend saturday afternoon or sunday morn, but know they were out there. Oh well, still great to be out.
John

Great report, thanks for sharing.

I was out yesterday as well and did see and bump birds out of corn fields but during my initial sit of a few hours there was no gobbling heard or any of them come over to check out my setup.

We did take a nice Tom a week ago so don't know if they are gun shy now.

They are definitely more talkative in the early morning than in the afternoon, but if you catch a Tom in the right mood in the afternoon they'll still gobble their fool head off.

Sounds like you guys were close, it just didn't pan out.

I was once watching a couple of big toms from the cover of the brushy fence line between fields, turned and looked and saw a group of 4 jakes walking up the field I was in on my side of the fence. I had no cover at all and had to just lay down flat on my face in the field while they walked by within 5 yards. When I finally scrambled up and brought up the gun I spooked them too badly for a good shot.

Frustration and blunders are all part of the learning experience. Sometimes they just aren't responsive to calls. Another idea would have been to just bump those birds over to your Dad. They might have taken off in the wrong direction or they could have just run over to his side of the field and given him a shot.

When you get your first turkey, you'll look back on these hunts and see that they all eventually tie together to spell success.

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

ah thanks for the responses guy's. we know they're birds on this farm this year, if the afternoon hunt goes this way usually, looks like were gunna have to try and bump or cut the birds off to get one as they just dont look like they care for responding to calls or decoys in the afternoon maybe it was just the day. well see next time i go up.

ah jeehz, totally disappointed in myself.

well we went up today.

after sitting for about 3 or 4 hours i didnt hear a thing, so i decided to take a nice slow walk through the bush and let out some calls, i got to my deer spot decided to sit down for a couple minutes and see whats goin on with my dad. he hasnt seen much either in the last 4 hours but he decides to continue to sit in the back field closer to a swamp this time around.

i get up and walk back to where i originally was, i come out the bush line and squat down against a tree (gun across my lap) just scanning the field before i find a place to sit conformably

behind a couple shrubs and behind some fallen small trees. i was about to shift my weight to sit flat on the floor when i see 2 bright red heads bobbing just over the crest of the topography heading straight for me.

i try to slowly shift my feet forward and then i see another 3 bright red heads RIGHT behind them all in a line walking the tree line headed right for me not even 50 yards out.

at this point im desperately hoping they will stop and maybe look away for a moment so i can attempt to shift 1 of my feet from under me but of course they head straight for me, they get literally within 10 yards of me, im trying not to look at them, squinting and looking at the floor while briefly looking at the at the corner of my eye, the position im in i cannot shoulder my gun or ill loose balance and fall. i stay perfectly still for what seemed like forever, then 1 by 1 then go maybe 10 or 15 yards to my right and walk slowly into the bush.

a very disappointing day for me, but it has taught me alot yet again, ill be bringing a stool next time.

OH and get this.

i go look at my trail cameras when i get home.

i see these damn birds walking through my deer stand camera

10 minutes later, i see me on my camera walking by.

WHAT THE HELL
how big are these birds brains!

better yet
HOW SMALL IS MINE!?!

LOOL

Sounds frustrating, but kind of fun to try and get them figured out. I’m sure you will. And you at least know you’ve birds in the neighbourhood. Hope it all comes together for you.

Sounds like you are having a great time chasing them down... Wishing you best of luck next time out

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cameracutter

Sounds frustrating, but kind of fun to try and get them figured out. I’m sure you will. And you at least know you’ve birds in the neighbourhood. Hope it all comes together for you.

---

haha, oh yes, i think we know what they do now, seem like if they see us in the front fields, they go through the bush to the back fields, and vise versa. the only thing we haven't figured out yet or have experience with is finding their roost. i might make a thread about that later on when i wake up a little here haha.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fratri

Sounds like you are having a great time chasing them down... Wishing you best of luck next time out

---

appreciate that fratri hopefully ill connect next time out maybe!