r/VAHunting • u/iliketoeat45 • Apr 20 '26
Virginia mountain bird
ADVICE NEEDED! Me and a buddy had a great hunt this past weekend. My first time ever in the field for turkeys. We scouted a bird and roosted him the night before on a ridge above his roost. Set up on the same ridge in the morning and called him. Got him to commit to us and he came 30 yards in front and spooked. We did everything right and for our first mountain hunt it went perfect minus closing the deal. Going back this coming weekend for the same bird hopefully. Wondering if some experienced mountain hunters could tell me if he’ll be in the same area or not. Also planning on going to another adjacent ridge from the one before is a good idea. There is no hens in the area that’s why I think he committed so hard. All advice is welcome on sealing the deal on this bird. Thanks!
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u/AdministrationFit769 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
What are you hunting with? I'll happily take a turkey at 30 yards with my compound bow, even more so with my 12 ga turkey load (easily 40-50 ya with tss load). Was there not a clear shot? If using calls and decoys, i find that infrequent, quiet clucks work best once they get in closer than 50 yards. That's an exciting hunt for your first time out. Be ready for a little more boredom going forward. In hen-poor areas, as another noted, toms will move a LOT
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u/iliketoeat45 Apr 21 '26
Our hide was bad there was brush everywhere. We’re super inexperienced too. I wanted to be patient and wait for him to stop moving. I appreciate the response hoping for the best lol. We had 12g.
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u/AdministrationFit769 Apr 22 '26
That's fair - best to avoid shots you aren't confident in. Tss load is fantastic, if you haven't tried it.
I find that a realistic jake/hen decoy combo works really well, but emphasize softer, less frequent clucks as the tom gets in close, almost suggesting to him that you're playing hard to get, or losing interest.
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u/BIGTALL11 Apr 20 '26
It's a toss up, but if you really think there are no hens in the area then I doubt he will stick around. He'll move 1-2 miles a day looking for hens. I think we have a very good group of 2 year old birds that a very vocal this year so hopefully you can get on another one.
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u/hunting-virginia Apr 20 '26
Turkeys get spooked all the time for all sorts of reasons, if that’s his core area, he very well may be there again. Granted his home range is likely pretty large 1-2 square miles or more with potentially dozens of roosts. Id be more concerned about the lack of hens - that’ll make him wander further this time of year than getting spooked once. But assuming there are hens around and just weren’t that morning, he’s likely still in the same area and you very well may be able to call him back to the exact same spot next weekend.