Pressured birds

[muddy]

Calling them uphill is way easier.

 

[Deer Nut]

Calling them uphill is way easier.

I agree. They don't like strutting downhill.

 

[Limb Chicken]

100% agree. Skyline will never hurt you. I killed a Tom Sunday that stayed at 40 yards for almost 3 hours. Then about 1 o'clock came right in. Flap will kill you but other than that its just their mood. I woukd keep moving around and give them different looks but best thing you can do is just stay after them

Yep, also it doesn't matter whether it's up hill, down hill or across a creek if you are where they are used to being they're going to end up there eventually. Had a bird one day putt and run the other way when he saw the decoys and the next day he ran in (identified by a missing tail feather). They're turkeys.

 

[shooter72]

Also, over the years I've noticed that lone toms are much easier to call in. If they are in a group, especially with a few hens, calling the toms in tends to be much more difficult.

 

[SEIowaDeerslayer]

Turkeys can change personalities within a few hours. They'll skirt your decoys for 2 weeks then come thundering in when you least expect it. Yours setups look good, just pay attention to where they like to go.

 

[Hammerin Hank]

The last two seasons I've taken my daughters out with me, so I hunted later in the mornings or afternoons. Each year I had a bird on the ground within an hour and a half, first sit. This year was 9:30 am and last year was 5:00 pm. Perhaps though they just give me some luck!

When I go out by myself and get in at dark, I'll get bored about 9:00 or so and start wandering around looking to "make it happen" and probably do more harm than good.

So perhaps you might wanna try hunting those birds at different times than some of your neighboring competition on public land. Perhaps you will have some idiot like me bump one out to you.

 

[meyeri]

I've hunted a lot of public birds and sometimes it doesn't matter what you do. It's frustrating when they turn and leave the second they see your decoys. I shot a bird last year on public that wanted nothing to do with my calling or decoys so started crawling and fanned him and he covered 200 yds in no time. (It was a weekday, I was a mile back and I was crossing a wide field of corn stubble so I wasn't worried about safety.)

I also suggest hunting hard woods or small strutting zones and being mobile. I've found if they can't see where the calling is coming from they sometimes come closer to investigate.