Welcome First there could be a back ground on the hunt. It is a normal thing to have this happen to every turkey hunter. You need to determan what the problem is, being Real Hens around him ? do you have a decoy in sight of him ? Are you calling aggressive to him? is there a creek in the field ? Is there other Toms in the area that may be the dominate bird of the area ? There could be a number of problems in the hunt like that,, one has a hard time to figure out.
There is some tricks that can be played with birds like this , but background info is important to determan...BT
I haven't tried this yet as I usually hunt alone, but I've heard this from multiple sources, and it sounds like it should work. Try setting up 40 yards in front of your buddy and have him do the calling. If the bird hangs up 80 yards from him, he should be within your range, (assuming he comes in from the direction you expect him to)...
Well Kevin, in my experience, the main thing that seems to hang up gobblers is hunters getting too excited that there is a Tom near them and calling too much. I used to have this happen to me every once in a while. The solution that I came to is to stop calling when the turkey stops calling back or gobbling to you. This always seems to work for me and I hope it helps you this next spring.
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[image]http://members.tripod.com/~drphilgood/images10/xrebel.gif[/image]Rebel Born, Rebel Bred. I'll Be A Rebel Till The Day That I'm Dead!
I'll second the advice on calling too loud and gobbler zones.
If a tom can hear you, but doesn't see the "hen" where it's supposed to be, he can hang up. If he's responded to your calling, and then scomes into sight, many guys will just stop calling altogether. Maybe a few soft contented small calls will draw him into range.
Also, you may be near the edge of a larger tom's turf. In that situation, the other gobbler may not want to trespass and get a whuppin from the other tom.
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Days Full Of Clays...
NWTF, DU, SCI
BT is right on the money here.Being able to recognize certain situations can solve problems before they happen.Your preseason homework can not only tell you the lay of the land but where those creeks,fences,thickets,and what not that can hang birds up.Not only that but succesful preseason scouting can put you right in the birds by reading sign,patterning the birds, and knowing where those roost sites are at.The longer a bird has to travel to get to you the more opportunity there is for a hang-up.With this in mind I always attempt to set-up within a 100 yards or less preferrably on the same plane.
Even with all thats been said you still have those woodwise gobblers out there that have there own strut zones and fully expect the ladies to come to them and in alot of cases those hens do.Sometimes it may take a few hunts to figure out these zones but once accomplished I'll be waiting patiently for him...
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Monarch isn' t a butterfly it' s the King of the Spring!
I can't really add much to what has been said.Maybe try this it has worked for me several times.Wait for a few minutes before you start to call again and then SLOWLY turn your head and throw your calls behind you.Try to sound like an excited hen but do it at half the volume you were before to try to sound like you have moved away from him about 100-150 yards.It will work about 75% of the time.It just seems to drive them crazy knowing that the hot hen they just heard a few minutes ago has walked away.He will either come on in or walk away depending on his dominance in the area.Hope it works for you.
Are you using decoys?? I've had some gobblers hang up when the see dekes. They'll sit there...fan out and gobble but they want the hen to come to them. I can't tell you how many times that has happened. I usually go without decoys for that reason. I did use decoys with success this last spring by putting the Buckwing jake right on top of the hen like he was mounting her.
If you aren't using decoys, you could do as others have said and set a guy 40 or more yards behind who does the calling. Also, if you hear him gobble and know you can move without spooking him, try and change locations by maybe moving closer. If you are using only yelps then switch to really soft clucks and purrs. I had a Wisconsin gobbler a few years back that gobbled in front of me on the edge of the woods but wouldn't come out. He went back and forth as I yelped softly. Then I went silent and reached down and clucked so softly that I could barely hear it. Suddenly, he gobbled much closer. I couldn't see him as he came but followed his footsteps with gun barrel. His head and body came into view at about 8 yards and the game was over. If I'd have kept yelping he might have taken off or gotten spooked. I've since went to only soft clucks/purrs when they are close and it has worked well.
How do you kill wary gobblers?
