Will they be back?

[wtnhunt]

Posted yesterday, hoping to get some suggestions before I went out, but didnt get any response, so I went on and tried hunting the same spot. Basically had 2 nice gobblers in Tuesday afternoon as close as 25 yards, and I blew it when I tried to get turned into position for a shot when the birds were behind trees. This is within about 100 yards of where I killed my first bird Saturday afternoon.

Yesterday I never heard a gobble one, is it likely these birds will come back to roost in these same hardwoods after a couple days, or is the area shot for a pretty good while?

[borch]

Re: Will they be back?

The birds will likely still be there. They have a pretty short memory. Just try a different set up just to be safe.

[Rhino]

Re: Will they be back?

Chances are they'll be back roosting somewhere close by pretty soon. To keep from risking busting birds close to where they prefer to roost, I normally don't hunt during the last 1 1/2 to 2 hours of the day myself. I understand your situation if that's the main time you have available to turkey hunt.

Here at home, as hens shift their roosting patterns closer to where they'll nest, the gobblers will often shift roosting areas to stay close to the hens anyway.

[RangerClay]

Re: Will they be back?

[ QUOTE ]

The birds will likely still be there. They have a pretty short memory. Just try a different set up just to be safe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep I have to agree with Borch! You may want to change up your calling pattern too.

Ranger

[py_archer]

Re: Will they be back?

[ QUOTE ]

Here at home, as hens shift their roosting patterns closer to where they'll nest, the gobblers will often shift roosting areas to stay close to the hens anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent point! If you kill the dominant bird a lesser bird will move in. Not knowing what happened to the Boss they might just see it as their lucky day. Whats really tough is when you had two birds running together and you shoot one of them and the other one see's the kill. That second bird can be really tough to hunt. Like Deer, hunt the Hens and the Gobblers will be there. If there's any left LOL If not the jakes will take over.

As the season progresses and the Hens are on their nest, gobblers will stake out a location nearby and let the hens come to them. Later when the hens quit coming they start to freak out and go looking. This can be the best time IMO as they will really come to the call.

[wtnhunt]

Re: Will they be back?

Thanks for the suggestions. Didnt bother the area yesterday, and bad storms today will likely keep me from getting out. Planning to get back out early in the morning to the same area I saw the 2 longbeards Tuesday. Hopefully they are roosting in the same area again.