got my first bird this morning, just a jake but you gotta start somewhere!

Don't fret it. It only gets better...Killed alot of birds that 3rd and 4th week.
 
Congrats on that first bird....

The Beast is dead, long live the beast.  I took today off (first day to get out-kids and little league...).  Worked several birds in the trees early, but they flew down to hens and got quiet in a major hurry.  At 8 am, I decided it was time for a quick breakfast and I would get back out to catch the birds after the hens had left.  On my second setup, at 10:15 I let a series of yelps and putts that were immediately replied to.  I setup right there against the tree I had called from.  Two minutes later, here he came and in a hurry.  At 20 feet, I purred and cutt a couple of times.  He stopped, snapped his wings down and threw the tail up, going into full strut.  Needless to say, I have a sufficient pattern at 20 feet.  As soon as he turned, game over.  This was a true giant (pictures on 35mm- stop laughing, the wife owns the digital).  He has 1 3/8 hooked spurs on each side (limb hanger with pictures), 10 3/4" beard, weight of 23 1/2 lbs. 
 
To Chicken, Bings is right, it only gets better.  Another tip, I would rather hunt from 10-12 than any other time.  Here's the thing, when the birds are with hens, even the best hunters can have difficulty with them.  But... get let the hens go to nest and the game changes.  Many toms will go silent, but those that gobble have one thing in mind and you better have your act together in a hurry.  Those are the birds that will be coming on a string.  Another thing, I almost never use decoys (including this morning).  I will use one once in a while particularly in large field settings, but other than that, they stay home.  I will not use a strutter (I am sure they are deadly), but people are going to get shot using these, it is only a matter time as more and more of them flood the market.  I really would be willing to bet that some of these will be outlawed in some states in the future.   

I WAS WONDER IF ANYBODY COULD HELP ME OUT.I THINK I'M A PRETTY GOOD CALLER WITH A MOUTH CALL BUT WHAT I DON'T KNOW IS HOW OFTEN TO CALL OR HOW LONG OF SERIES YOUR CALLS SHOULD BE.SHOULD I YELP AND MIX IN A CUTT OR A PURR ONCE IN A WHILE OR WHAT?I CALLED BIRDS IN FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS IN A ROW BUT THEY WHERE FIRED UP.I NEED TO KNOW IF THEY'RE NOT TALKING WHAT KIND OF CALLING TO DO I WOULD REALLY APPERICATE SOME INPUT FROM YOU GUYS.                                     CONGRATS GRIFFON

Chicken,  A jake and two hens is always a good option (I really like the Buckwing Jake).  As for the woods you hunt, there has to be some travel corridors (logging roads or right of ways) that the birds travel.  I would also bet that there are some open hardwoods close by that they frequent when they are not in the fields.  Turkeys will hang in the underbrush, but prefer more open cover where they can see danger and escape with relative ease.  More open cover usually provides better food sources such as acorns for them to scratch around and find. 
 
As for calling, listen to what the hens are doing.  Whatever they are doing to get together with the toms is what you should be doing that morning.  Even after the hens are with the birds, remember what just happened.  You may want to let the birds be for a couple hours and come back employing the same techniques.  Generally I fire them up with cutting and mixed series of yelps.  Once they commit, my yelps are either two or three notes and mixed in with soft cutts, putts, and purrs.  The purr-putt combination is absolutely deadly.  When you hear him spit, run your hand through the leaves like a scratching turkey, purr once putt twice and seal the deal.

Good job Grif. Nice bird. I,m with you on the wait till later. I,ll put more time in towards the end of the season. The bigger birds are really looking for that last hot hen.

A 9 shot 22 ???? Those shells are basically worthless. Had a few and they wouldn't even kill a bullfrog at 10 yrds..

On my way to the grocery store I stopped at the farm I often hunt and glassed the fields. As I got out of the car to glass the field just to see if I could see any birds I heard a shot about 250 yards from me.....looked at my watch, it was 12:25. A few minuts later a fellow came out of the woods carrying the biggest bird I ever seen. I had to harrass him about shooting the bird late. He wasn't to appreciative of my comments since he knew he shot the bird late because he left the bird along the trail and walked to the car empty handed. He later retrieved the bird and told me he had shot it about an hour before and it was just too heavy to carry the last 40 yards.

WE WNET AGAIN TODAY WE HEARD BIRDS EVERYWHERE THEY GOBBLE FOR 30 MINUTES STRAIGHT ON ROOST.AT DAYLIGHT I DID A FLY DOWN CACKLE FOUR OF THEM SOUNDED OFF(WE USE THE BLIND BAG TO MAKE IS SOUND REAL LIKE WINGS FLAPPING).WAITED A COUPLE OF MINUTES DID THREE SOFT YELPS THEY GOBBLE AGAIN.I TOLD MY BROTHER IN LAW THIS COULD BE THE DAY I DIDN'T CALL FOR ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTES NEVER HEARD ANOTHER BIRD.I UNDERSTAND ONE BIRD COULD BE HENED UP BUT NOT 7 OR 8 MAYBE MORE THEN THAT.CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT HAPPEN TODAY? OR COULD THEY ALL BE HENED UP IF THIS POSSSIBLE.I ONLY HEARD ONE HEN YELPING.

When you say you hear birds everywhere, how far are you from them? You need to bag the blind. Get a bird to respond and move in on him. A blind is ok for certain situations but if your set up where they don't want to come they are not going to come, period. And as far as them going quiet, most of the birds I kill don't make a peep coming in. They may gobble like mad but most come sneaking in looking for the hen. Remember, usually the hens go to the gobblers, we do it backwards, we try to call them to us. If your not set up in a place they feel comfortable coming to then they know somethings up.

Be patient, it will happen.
 
By the way, you only hearing 1 hen is normal. Most hen calling I hear is very soft and subtle. They may have hens with them and you may not even be hearing them. Quite often a hen wont make a peep if she has her boyfriend with her. Also, pecking order determines which mature gobblers breed. Often a subdominant gobbler won't come to hen calling because he is afraid of getting the smackdown by the dominant bird. They'll gobble like crazy becuase it's what they do but forget about breeding when big boy is still around.

If your new to calling and spring hunting just soft call 2-3 times max while he is in the tree. Now he knows where you are. When he flies down call a bit louder one time and shut up and see what happens. If he heads your way don't call. If he stands out there or goes away call just a couple more times 10 min or so apart. Call too much or too loud and he will gobble his****off and wait for you. One down and one to go for me 20 1/2#  10" 1-1/8" spurs.

Two or three clucks each time when he is on the roost and a series of 4-5 yelps when he hits the ground. If he's alone and hot that's all it should take. If he takes off but is still gobbling sit tight and do a series of yelps every 10 min or so. Sometimes they will make a big circle looking for a hen but will come right back to you if none go to them. Lose the blind unless you are bow hunting and don't be afraid to call and then move closer to them if the folage and terrian allows it. You will bump some but kill a lot.

You can do it either way but if you purr don't use it with loud yelps or clucks. I mostly use the purr and soft clucks on hard hunted birds or late in the season after they have been bombarded with the loud calling. hooting, etc. Most anything will work the first couple times they hear it but they get smart (or dead) quick. I very seldom call to birds before season for that reason.

S-10 ONE MORE QUICK QUESTION THEN I'LL YOU ALONE.MUST OF MY MOUTH CALLS I PREFER TO USE ARE MORE RASPY THEY SEEM TO MAKE ALOT BETTER CLUCKS,CACKLES AND NOT AS PITCHY.I WAS WONDER IS RASP THE ANWSER TO CALLING THEM OR DO HIGH PITCH SINGLE REEDS WORK BETTER?

This morning got into the woods at about 5 go to set my blind up and kick a gobbler out of the tree above me i was pretty upset and thought the day was shot but set up anyways got the pretty boy and pretty girl set up didnt hear anything for awhile had a deer walk about 5 yards from my blind when it got out of sight i did a little calling and saw a coyote about 40 yards out checking out pretty boy so i called again and heard a gobble about 40 yards to my left so i decided to give up on the coyote and go for this bird so kept callin and the dumb thing hung up and would not come in gobbled probably 30 times but wld not get any closer so i took the jake challenger call and gave it a shake then did a little more calling and he wldnt gobble bout 2 minutes later he gobbled and it was real close saw him out of the corner of my eye about 8 yards from the blind he was heading right to the decoys until he saw the bright orange bag that i accidently left outside the blind he turned and started running so i shot him heres a picture ill post some better ones later these are just ones i got with my phone.... about 11 inch beard 3/4 inch spurs weighed about 20 lbs shot him at about 6:45