Can you help teach a new hunter?

I am fairly new to hunting spring turkey(second season) and only have on jake to my credit that I stumbled across that my BIL took. Other than that I have had very little success with even getting one in very close at all. Just finding a property where the birds want to be has become a real challenge. I have had a couple come to a fence row but not cross and one to a creek but he didn't cross over either. I am hunting the LBJ Grasslands and there is a lot of land there to cover but the areas that I hunt does have turkey because I see them on private lands adjacent to it nearly everywhere. I do realize that I need to scout a bunch but what I need help with is, what types of areas do the turkey like best? What do they eat? Is there a certain type of property that appeals to them more than others? Guess what I thought I might be learning hasn't proved to be very affective. I know there is no substitute for time in the woods and I will continue to work at it each season until I get better at it. Anything that you as a turkey hunter could share with me to help better my chances would be greatly appreciated. I'm not asking for any locations or parcels of land to hunt, just things to help me out when scouting other places to hunt, decoy setups and such. Thanks again in advance for your help and your suggestions.

When you have a tom hang up on an obstruction like a fence, a lot of times if you can ease back without being seen, say 50 yards, they will think you're leaving and may get antsy enough to cross. If you are seeing birds, you are in the right place. trial and error in the field, will teach you more than anything.

Western knows I'm no turkey hunting aficionado, but the most I've learned about calling turkey...real hens taught me. Anytime you see one, gobbler or hen, assuming you're not under observation for a mental capacity hearing, try calling them with just your voice. (If you want to carry a call around everywhere, that works too.) If you can get a hen to answer, imitate her as best you can. Don't setup too close to any fence to begin with. And rule #1: think, and hopefully sound horny.

One of the biggest things that took me the longest to learn was to stop calling when a bird is gobbling and heading your direction. Even with obstacles between you, a lot of times their curiosity will get the best of them and they'll come right in. Often, I strike them up with some loud yelps/cutts on a box call during the late morning hours and if I get a gobble response, I wait 30 seconds or so and hit it again. If he gobbles back right away, there's a pretty good chance he's coming in, so I find the best spot to sit and shut up. If I do any calling from that point on, it's just some really soft clucks and purrs.

I called in 3 birds to the gun this year in my four times out, and each of them had to cross a creek to get to me. All of them seemed to do it with little hesitation, without the use of any decoys.

Garb is throwing some information. I would add this. Often times when things don't work in our favor we ask what "We" have done incorrectly. The problem is we stop there and don't investigate even further. It is good to look at ourselves but if that is all we do then we won't become a good turkey hunter.

THe birds enter into a season with slow enthusiasm. They get increasingly excited about the hens over a period of time and then that excitement gradually diminishes over time. Now in that peak season you could call a gobbler over a D9 bulldozer. In the early or late season, not so much.

Fence lines are a killer, especially in off peak times. We had one hang up at 45 yards on the other side of the fence this year. He would not cross. He stayed there for an hour. There was nothing we were going to throw at him to get him to cross. The next day we called one from as far away as I could hear him gobble. He crossed two fences and the county road to get to us. We called the same way as the day before. That bird was simply ready to find a hen.

So I say go have fun. Keep stabbing away at it. You're hunting LBJ I would assume is public hunting. If you're hunting public you're starting off behind the 8 ball anyhow.

I am hunting LBJ but so far this season I have yet to see another hunter in the area I have been using and this will be my 7th tip this weekend. I saw 4 toms, 2 at 2 different spots on private land next to what I was hunting and 2 of them were strutting for a single hen that was in the field with them. I am in a good area for population of turkey because I am seeing them all around the area. I'm just not sure what it will take to get my first bird down. I am determined to give it one last run on Sunday in spite of the rain that is forecast.

My next thing is about decoys, I'm not sure what the proper setup is. I don't have a strutting jake or tom but I do have a jake, a tom and three hens. I'm still learning and hopefully it will get better. I'm already looking forward to my trips for next season.

This time of year, I would use one. maybe 2 hen decoys, tom optional IMO. Id bet most hens are bred by now and one or 2 hens wouldn't be out of place.

I haven't used decoys much, they where not around when I started chasing them and it took a friend using them to get me to try them, but if they like the decoys, pretty much any where you set up with-in range and you out of sight, seems to work for me.
I always set mine off to the side of where I expect the tom to approach, I don't want him looking at the decoy and inadvertently seeing me in the background, or behind the decoy.. I also like them out where they can be seen from as far as possible, some toms will come so far, then want the hen to show it seems.

For all you know, you have done what is needed. Some come in on a string, some are a real challenge, but in any case if they see you, day is usually over, even if you never see the bird.

I can tell you this so far as decoys. This late in the season these birds are tired of fighting. If you are going to use the jake or tom, set it on the opposite side of the bird's approach. Meaning they need to be 20 yards from the hen and the hen be the first decoy the tom encounters. I can almost guarantee this time of year a hang up if he comes in and the gobbler decoys are in between he and the hen decoy. They just get tired of fighting and #$%^&**. Not unlike us at all really.

For the last 2 trips I have only used 2 or 3 hens. I'm going to give it one more shot on Sunday and then prepare for next season.