Could I have done something more to bring him in?

[ApexerER]

Awesome day yesterday but I couldn't close the deal.....To make a long story short my morning started right off with action and the action didn't end until I had to give up at noon but I couldn't close the deal. Right at 5:45 yesterday I hit the turkey call and immediately got another call back (a hen) and I thought damn I am set right up on someone else that calls as bad as I do and now they won't shut up. I have been told that you don't call that much. About 2 min later this hen comes in and starts walking around the decoys and she is making constant continuous noise. I said to my buddy how can you overcall when this thing is talking non stop? Anyway everytime she started working away I would hit the call and she would come around back and basically hung out there all morning. No better decoy than the real thing I thought. About 8:00 in the morning my buddy and I were talking about the fact that if there were any Toms in the area the hen would have brought him in by now. Just then my buddy asked if I heard that? ( I didn't) He said I heard a gobble....Then I listened really hard and I heard it again in the distance. Our two hen decoys were set up about 20 yard in front of us and the real hen was about 20 yds beyond that but had ben silent for a while. I hit the call and again we hear the gobble a little closer. We were sitting in hardwoods about 30 yds off the power line. Finally we catch a glimpse of the gobbler. This is my first time having even seeing a Tom in the woods so to me the bird seemed huge! I don't know if it was a really big one or just seemed big but he was about 4 times the size of the hen. He gobbled and gobbled and strutted for that hen basically all morning but he would not come in any closer than about 60 yds. We watched him all morning as he tried and tried to draw interest from that hen but the hen just ignored him. We would call, he would gobble, all while the hen ignored him. Is there anything we could have done that would have made him leave that hen and close the distance and come to our decoys? He never gave us a shot we felt ok taking. Maybe if it was an open field. We backed out at noon and he was still working that hen...I actually feel like having the real hen ended up hurting us because once he saw her I am not even sure if he saw the decoys. Anyway it was really really exciting and now I am hooked. I can't wait to get back out there.....

[Uncle Nicky]

Just my $.02, but you'd probably be better off NOT putting decoys in the woods with you, and letting the gobbler come looking for you (or looking for the live hen that you had). Good chance the decoys didn't look "right" to the bird (no movement), so he stayed back. I've never had a whole lot of luck with decoys anyway, but I'll only put them out if hunting an open field.

 

Sometimes just shutting up completely and scratching around in the leaves a little will get his curiosity and bring him in.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Uncle Nicky

[moog5050]

I have read that Gobblers may wait for the hen to come to them.  If that's the case, no decoy and calling again may work.  Or set up where you saw the gobbler next time.

[G-Man]

Naturally the hen goes to the tom. I would lose the dekes... not needed , but share look pretty on camera and they make good sponsors for TV shows... always try to set up so a small rise/trees is between you and where you expect tom to show about 30yards awayy is good so when the tom shows its in range.. it nice to see a tom fromm 300 yards away but he can see that far too.. no hen/hen movement why come in? But if he can hear but not see you then he has to himsself visable. Scratching in leaves is a great finisher..can't see so he closes distance.

[turkeyfeathers]

Ha, seems like you are for sure hooked now. A great morning you had for sure. I third the motion of scratching leaves The best part is you get to hunt that Tom again. If turkey hunting was easy a lot of us wouldn't do it. And a personal thank you for not taking the golden bb shot at 60 yards A lot of guys would. I don't know who you are personally but respect you. Enjoy each and every morning. That's what it's all about. Crud, if I wanted a turkey so bad I'd hit the frozen food section at Wegmans. Taking one home is a perk, seeing newborn fawns, coyote coming in to ambush you, songbird arsenal of songs. But back to your question , good job not getting pegged by that hen that hung around. Sometimes calling in the hens is a sure fire way to get mr Tom in. Weird things happen with these birds. I run dekes and have been successful with them. Go with your gut feeling. Keep us posted.

[RTGobbler]

I would agree with the losing the decoy, but I have always been on the fence. I think it is tough to know when its a good move and when its bad. There have been times where the bird sees the decoy and stops, or doesn’t see a bird where he knows there should be and stops. The birds make no sense .

 

Same thing with the real hen, a lot of guys would tell you to get rid of her as soon as you heard that gobble. The thought being she is going to go to the tom and take him away. But your experience says otherwise...like I said the birds make no sense.

 

Good luck!