I can' t figure out what I was doing wrong this past weekend, the PA opener. I was sneeking up a logging road before light and heard a couple toms gobbling like crazy in the trees ahead of me. I snuck within about a 100 yards and set up my deke and got situated. All the while, they were going nuts in the tree. As it began to get light out, I heard hens. This really got the toms wound up. I figured the only option I had was to out do the hens and see if I can get them mad. Well, it didn' t work, but to my surprise the toms didn' t follow the hens once they flew down. Instead, they snuck within about 50 or 60 yards of me and put on a show! It took them about 2 hours to get to distance from me, but I couldn' t get either of them any closer. I know the one was really looking hard at the decoy, but he just stared, and gobbled everytime I clucked a little. Than, after about 2 1/2 hours or so, they acted like they lost interst and made a big loop around me and disapeared. I stayed put all morning for fear of spooking them in case they didn' t go far.
What went wrong, I thought for sure I had this one wrapped up. Is this a normal thing that happens once in a while?
thats called turkey hunting.
better luck next time.it' s not that you did anything wrong,you just didn' t do something right.
next time it may be completely different.
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I am not a hunter ; I am a whitetail population reduction specialest
remember keep your back to the sun, your knife sharp, and your powder dry.
Frustrating. Ive been there myself. The only other trick in the book in that situation is to add a small jake to your spread and give the decoy a little movement. It doesnt take much but a little twitch with some fishing line to get the gobblers to move on in. I have had this happen a couple dozen times in my 20 years of turkey hunting. In every situation, all it took was a little decoy movement and some soft purring to close the gap. Adding a small jake to your deke spread
will make a difference. [:-]
You may have been calling too much or too loud. Once the birds spot your dekes, go to very soft calling, just loud enough for them to hear you.
Then again, you may have done everything right. Sometimes it doesn' t matter what you do. That' s part of the challenge. They are always unpredictable.
That sounds like a problem with decoys... I don' t know how many times a tom sees a decoy, and begins to strut about - well out of gun range. Hens typically go to the toms - when they hang like that I' d say it was the decoy. Perhaps a Jake decoy as well my help - or a breeding jake/hen kind of set-up might get a tom angry enough to storm in and try to stomp the youngster back into his place. Just my humble opinion. Good luck!
Try putting your decoy a little closer to you and on the your side AWAY/OPPOSITE to the position of the gobblers (so that you will end up between the gobblers and the decoy(s). And as always, watch out for other hunters!
What am I doing wrong?
