I had a big ol Tom at about 70 yds, Saturday morning.....and couldn't get him to come and check out my hardcore hen. he hung up at about 70 yds.....and wouldn't get any closer.
In my defense...........he DID have a live, lone hen that had just moved through....and I'm sure he was tailing her. he was also walking with a limp in his right leg.
I'm a relative new CALLER.....and all I could think to do was purr a little on my slate call. As he was leaving....and it was "pretty" evident he wasn't going to commit....I tried to get him fired up with a few cuts. No dice.
Sometimes every call in the book won't work and other times just a series of yelps will have them running to you. It all depends on what mood their in. One day something will work, the next day it won't. You didn't do anything wrong. He just already had his plans made.
Sometimes they just wont commit....that's why the call it hunting. I am not the greatest caller, but I think I probably would have done the same thing. Are you good at using a mouth call? If so, I would have opted to use that instead. With the mouth call, there is less movement and both of your hands are also on the gun. If you can't use the mouth call very well, then I think you did what you could. Decoys are known to produce results of what you just expierenced. I have had several birds come running at me in a full sprint...stop 40 to 50 yards on the other side of my decoy and go into a full strut and wait for the hen to come to him. I seem to have better luck when using a decoy then not using a decoy though.
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Remington Model 11-87 Premier 12 Gauge
Remington Model 870 SPS-T Camo Thumbhole 12 Gauge
Ruger M77 Mark II .270 w/ Nikon 3-9x40 Buckmasters
I agree with the other two posters - in that situation, I will call, but when he doesn't commit, I leave him alone. He has seen the decoy, heard your calls and has made his decision. Don't educate him, there is always another day to hunt and you may catch him when he is interested.
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When a tom has hen or hens with him, and he won't come in all the way. I have 2 approaches. 1 my decoy setup is always a jake on top of a hen. That rattles their cage, and sometimes enough to come in. 2 call to the hen, mock her every call. Piss her off, and get her to come in to you bringing him along. If all else fails all you can do is switch up calls, thats why they say its better to have several. Sometimes a certain tone will get them to respond.
In alot of cases of listening to turkey hunters, they'reresponding to the tom, and that causes them to hang up also. Not saying this is your case or what you do. But one of the worst times to call is right after a tom gobbles. You want the tom to gobble to your calls, not the hunter calling to the tom! It hangs them up all the time.
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08' Bowtech General
02' Champion Stratus
I tried to get the hen to come in.....before I saw the tom. I WAS using a mouth call making short little yelps. She never sounded off OR seemed irritated or interested.
Two years ago, around 11:00am, I had just finished packing up my calls, placed my mouth call back in it's case and was just about to stand up . . . It was then that the largest gobbler I've ever seen walked into view, stopped about 60 yards out and strutted and drummed for my decoys. All I could do was watch . . . and hope. His rope nearly dragged the ground and he was impressive. There was a tiny, 1 inch deep creek between us, no more than a foot across it . . . and he wouldn't budge and I couldn't call.[:@] I was relieved to finally see 7 hens approaching me on my sife of the creek. Of course, they saw him and had no problem crossing the creek to be with him. I'm sure they all had a great time.
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somtimes having a gobbler shaker will get them pretty mad and they will come lookin for a fight if you have a jake decoy out just an idea
Agreed. I will do this though only when I know that the gobbler can not see me. There is a lot of movement involved when shaking the gobbler shaker. Works great though. You can really get a gobbler fire mad when you are using a mouth call and a slate at the same time (imitating two birds) and when you stop the slate, quickly grab the gobbler shaker and shake the fire out of it! I have had gobblers sound off around me that I didn't even know was there. Also, make sure that other hunters aren't tracking you when using the gobbler shaker!!
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Remington Model 11-87 Premier 12 Gauge
Remington Model 870 SPS-T Camo Thumbhole 12 Gauge
Ruger M77 Mark II .270 w/ Nikon 3-9x40 Buckmasters
Which call?.....opinions
......he DID have a live, lone hen that had just moved through....and I'm sure he was tailing her. he was also walking with a limp in his right leg.
