Pressured Birds

[Bowfin]

Went to my prime spot this morning but someone beat me there. One of the joys of hunting public land. I hunted the spot in the afternoon after the guy left and saw 3 hens and 2 Toms (heard no gobbling). Do Toms gobble in the PM? Turkeys around but not responding to calls. I have a feeling they have been hunted by a few folks in the earlier seasons. Any tips on hunting pressured birds that will up my odds?

[goblueM]

call less, try to pattern where they are going and sit there all day if necessary

i've had great luck in the late season hunting from 10 AM to 3 PM - lot of guys call it quits long before then

I've heard many a gobble later in the day, as always with turkeys, "it depends"

[Borch]

Use purrs, clucks and leaf scratching. In fact more leaf scratching than calling. Very effective for pressured birds.

[123fish]

How far can a turkey hear leaf scratching on a somewhat calm day?

[Borch]

Inside 100 yards I'd guess. Scratch, scratch, pause scratch. I usually set up with a good pile of leaves to one side just for scratching.

[Wanderer]

That's how my tom came in. He passed on the decoy set up with the yelping earlier in the morning but came in to the clucks and purrs with leaf scratching an hour or so later. Plus after he flapped around awhile on the ground a hen started yelping agressively from down the hill.

So, take wing with if you can get one and do some wing flaps. A turkey can hear that unmistakable noise from a pretty good distance.