I have been turkey hunting all weekend. Take the time to get everything ready, wake-up at 3 am, drive for 2 hours each way, walk in the dark for 2-3 miles, get set-up and this is what happens:

I start calling in the dark (half hour before sunrise) and the Tom's go crazy and gobble back. It echos across the ridge and makes it hard to tell exactly where they are. They fly out of roost and onto the ground. Approximately 1000-1200 yards away. As soon as they hit the ground, they stop talking.
I understand patience is key, so I waited and waited. Nothing happens after about 1 hour. I then start walking in the general area only to find that I walked right up to the turkeys and they turn around and fly off. I have always read that you should try and meet them half way, but its hard to know when to stop when your not sure how far away they are. Is there a different style of call that I can use to get them to talk while on ground? I currently use the mouth diapham call and just yelp with the standard 5 yelps and stop. Like I said...works great when they are in the roost, but when they hit the ground they are silent. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Aaron

Can you get closer to the roosted gobbler in the dark without being detected?
100 to 200 yards might be an ideal range to try for, if the topography will let you get that close.

Well part of the problem is I hunt on public land only and it gets allot of pressure and I live so far away that I can never put these "Toms to bed". Since I can't put them to bed, I never know exactly what ridge they are on, nor do I know where they are roosted. So when I start calling (to locate the birds) I get like 30 seconds and...BAM! they are off the roost and on the ground. I try and get closer, but so far they never talk back and we end up walking head to head and they see me first and fly off. The last two times I went this happened both times and the Toms flew off when I was about 75 yards in front of them. If I would have heard them at least one more time gobble I could have set up about 100 to 200 yards out and got ready. The brush is thick and noisy so I try and walk as quiet as possible, but still no luck.

I purchased a DVD last night, two new different pitch hen mouth calls and even a gobbler call made by Premos. I was watching the video last night and there was a time on one of the hunts were the guy couldn't get the Tom's to talk so the other hunter with more experience started calling and the Tom's answered right back. They then knew where the Toms were. He used a flutter sound (gargling his throat) with his mouth call and then some short cuts. It sounded totally differnt than what I have ever heard. So I have been practicing different hen calls and hopefully this will work. Driving my wife and neighbors nuts with the calling...but it sure is funny. I'm not sure if I really want to use the Jake call, affraid that another Jake may not try to come over thinking the hen was already taken by a Jake that may be bigger than him.

It is so frustrating to get so close and lose it all. The day I blast a Tom there will be some jumping and yelling for sure. I may just shot twice to relieve some frustration...just kidding.

Gotcha....
Sounds like the birds are actually coming to your calls, but you aren't waiting for the bird to come to you - you're going to him.
Is that correct?
If so, maybe you have to wait longer, and let them come to you.
BTW, one piece of info that might do you some good: once you know of a tree, or an area where gobblers roost, you'll find gobblers in the same area year after year. Might not be the same bird, but, good roost trees get utilized over and over.
Might not help you this week, or even this year, but, once you know where roosts are likely to be in a given area, it gets easier to know hwere to go, even if you can't check 'em out the night before.

Would a locator call help? Like a crow call or something along those lines? Get the Toms to gobble perhaps without coming off the roost so quickly. I don't turkey hunt yet but I watch alot Outdoor Channel. I may be way off here and I understand that. Good Luck.
We are starting to see more turkeys around these parts and I maybe looking to hunt them in the near future.

Jack your right I probably should wait longer before moving, but it would be nice if these turkeys on this public land made some noise after they fly off the roost. When they have a 300 degree visual reference compared to my reference its hard to spot these guys before they spot me, when I have to move my head side to side to see what direction they may be comming from.

Wolfe, I purchased the locator call yesterday (great idea) went to try it out this morning and like always something new happens. This morning I left the house at 3 am was all set-up at 5:15 am. Had the decoys out, navigated myself to 300 yards of where the Toms are roosting, cammoed from head to toe and 10 minutes before I was planning to make my first call, two other hunters are walking this old trail 60 yards off the turkeys roost, talking and shinning flash lights all around the ground and up in trees. What a joke. After they passed through and headed up the trail, I started calling with every call I had. Not one sound was heard from any turkeys, when just two days prior the place was lit up with gobblers.

To say the least I was so pissed off. I will be looking this weekend for an area that is not accessed by the general public, or people who shine flashlights up in the roosting area.
Thanks for all your help anyway. Looks like I'll be starting over.

The worst thing about hunting is other hunters sometimes. I can't tell you how many times others have ruined my hunts either accidently or on purpose because I got there first. Good luckl finding a new spot. What state are you in?

I'm in northern California. I usually hunt off of highway 36 east and west, Highway 16 and Highway 20 on both sides of Clear Lake. Turkeys everywhere, but most of it is private land.