Indiana Turkey Hunters, HELP!!!

b.glass · April 24, 2008, 10:41:00 AM

I have been trying for years to get a turkey on publlic ground. My son was drawn to hunt the Mississinewa resevoir these first three days of the season. I'm trying to help him. I thought getting in on the first of the season would make a big difference. We did hear 2 gobblers and saw one strutter but none would come to my calling. It seems that it is spooking them. I am completely self taught and don't have any mentoring to know what I could be doing differently. Are all the birds in Indiana this spooky or if I were to go to the southern area of the state would I have better luck. Cause it seems luck is my only hope but I've never been a lucky person.
:confused:

Hood · April 24, 2008, 12:42:00 PM

I'm in the NorthEast part of the state and seem to experience about the same thing. I just try to set up where they travel and put decoys out so they can see them. The toms seem to come in when they see a jake/hen setup, but will ignore my calling for the most part.

John Nail · April 24, 2008, 01:29:00 PM

PM sent

BleekLight · April 24, 2008, 02:58:00 PM

Same here I am in the north east part usually they are pretty easily spooked except for the other day when me and a buddy were out stump shooting and walk right up on a tom. No more than 15 yards from us. We just stood there and look at him for about 5 minutes until he decided to run away.

Reggie Catfish · April 24, 2008, 05:51:00 PM

I grew up over on the East Central side of the state around the Brookville area and fought this alot. Can't speak for your neck of the "woods" but its been my experience that alot of folks "practice up" on public land birds so as to sharpen their calling skills, see some birds, etc. Thus the birds are skittish and call shy prior to season. Now mix in a healthy batch of mushroom hunters and Ta-Da! Local birds become tight lipped and extremely call shy.

Best advice I can offer has already been posted- set up your dekes in their path of travel, call very sparingly and be very patient...the ole cluck & nap.

tadpole · April 24, 2008, 10:16:00 PM

Birds are very henned up right now, not responding to calls at all. Hang in there and they'll come around.

adeeden · April 25, 2008, 10:16:00 AM

Tadpole nailed it. I have been out every morning this week scouting, and started hunting Wednesday on the opener. I have seen 11 different toms all henned up. I watched 2 toms with 7 hens Wednesday from flydown until 4:30 P.M. or so and the hens never left the toms. I did manage to get in front of a group yesterday and blew a 8 yard shot at a tom (shot high). This morning the birds gobbled really good and started gobbling very early must have been the bright moon anyway I put it all together and took a bearded hen at around 12 yards right at 8:00. in 22 years of turkey hunting this was the first bearded hen I have ever seen, more happy with her than the biggest longbeard in the woods!

Dustin Waters · April 25, 2008, 12:50:00 PM

yeah it is hard when there are this many hens that havent been bread yet. My dad and I were on birds yesterday morning that were with hens we went into stalk mode and ran out of cover at about 60 yards. I made one purr and it took them about 5 minutes to decide the live hen was better than anything I could offer. The hens started marching off and thats all she wrote. Buh bye. Keep your calling to a minimum just use your jake and hen dekes and try to set them where a tom in a field could see them. Calling at this point only moves the hens away from you which takes those toms with them as well.

b.glass · April 25, 2008, 01:32:00 PM

As I may have said earlier, I thought maybe the early season would be different in reguards to calling. Thought they might respond better. Obviously not. But it sounds like I will have to keep to some of the late season tactics. It was pretty cool that I heard and saw more in the early season. It got my son pumped up! He's 11 and hard to impress. He lives in a gameboy world but he wants to go hunting more now! His brother enjoyed turkey hunting too.

Steelhead · April 25, 2008, 10:49:00 PM

Missisinewa has a few birds.I dont think its got the best overall habitat for a big flock.But thier are scattered pockets that hold birds,I lived near thier and and spent alot of time hunting and fishing thier.I prefferred hunting the southern 3rd of the state for turkeys.The habitats better and thier is alot of public land.you have to be ready to do alot of hiking and scouting.But once you learn an area its great returning year after year.I had good success downstate.The hunting experience is just plain better as well with the beauty and all and lots of elbow room.

beyondmyken · April 26, 2008, 11:18:00 PM

Could also try being more subtle with the calling, clucks, purrs, scratching the leaves. BTW,I have had the last 3 birds (all shotgun) come in silent but they gobbled like mad while on the roost.

Steve Branson · April 27, 2008, 09:03:00 AM

I live/hunt in North Central Indiana, and it seemed the toms would actually walk away from my calls, even toms without any hens.... I had a group of four toms I maneuvered in on the opening morning, one was laying down and the other three were just scratching and looking around. They wouldn't gobble or strut to any of my calls, and I'm not a bad caller. Everyone that I have talked to around here has had the same exact thing. Must be a lull in their breeding pattern. Just try to find a roosting site and ambush them...worked for me! GOOD LUCK!

varmint101 · April 27, 2008, 09:57:00 AM

I've had the same experiences as you guys this season. After flydown they've been pairing up almost immediately and quit gobbling. They just won't come to the call.

Yesterday I managed to call a hen into my decoys and she had a puffed up tom following her. He never made a sound coming in with her. I lucked out.

Took my buddy out this morning and they were gobbling like crazy off the roost again, but shut up shortly after flydown.

All I have to say is good luck and setup where you have confidence in a turkey coming by during a long setup. They are henned up bad this year so you'll need patience.

52 bow · April 27, 2008, 06:25:00 PM

My luck has been different but just as bad.This morn.[sun.] had 4 hens[two bearded 4-8 inch] come by at 5yds. followed by two nice toms and a jake- I was under strict orders not to shoot the bearded hens-behind them was a monster gobbler that I took in the center of his wing. He thrashed around and fell down a ravine out of sight. A friend videod the whole thing and kept me in the blind too tape the bearded hens.My ? tom roled to the bottom and we followed a feather/blood trail for 250 yds. and 3 hrs. of searching came up with nothing.Reviewed the footage in slow motion and my arrow hit 4 in. from wing butt in wing slightly quartering away.Took a 25lb. last year and he was larger.I'm sick.Used a 175 gr.razorcap and 67# Tree Custom Prickly Ash longbow.

Mike Bolin · April 27, 2008, 07:27:00 PM

Hi John! Sorry for the bad luck on your bird. I am having no luck! Had some birds gobble on the roost this a.m.and then shut up after fly down. Could hear them moving/scratching to the west of me and was thinking that it was "time". BOOM! 40 yards behing me someone cut loose with a shotgun. Apparently there were some birds moving in from the south. May try to do some ambush set ups going to the roost thru the evening this week.
Good luck to all! Mike