I may be reading into your plight more than I should but I see way more frustration than lack of desire. While it is true that unrequited frustration can lead one to eventually run up the white flag, at least you are still in there swinging.

The one thing about hunting is that things can change on a dime!! For the good or bad.

I didn't consider our season here to be a particularly good one. Yes I did "tag out" but the gobblers were not responding the way they have in years past, at least not where I hunted. It got so bad that when you called they would move the other direction and I still am unsure as to why, they were not pressured here. For three days in a row I had a tom close to me as I was walking out. He gobbled at me, I knew his general location. When I set up and called back he would answer and each time it was obvious he was moving away. The next time I could go I decided I wouldn't call and just put a decoy out in a small open area. Late in the morning I heard a gobble and it was coming towards me. I waited. Sure enough up struts this tom. He was close enough to kill easily distance wise, but he stood behind a blow down as he eyed the decoy and there was no good shot. He eventually left without me being able to take advantage of my ruse. It was a moral victory of sorts for me so instead of being discouraged by my bad luck, I was encouraged by the fact that I had one in range.

A couple of days later in this same spot I clucked on the call and got an answer. A short while later it was evident this guy was coming to the call. The exact opposite of what I experienced the prior four days.

When he got right on top of me he gobbled. It was one of those types that reverberates off of the trees and vibrates the inside of your chest! Even so because of the thick stuff I could not see him. I had my gun up, head down, safety off, it was go time baby!! Three minutes later in the same position, I'm thinking that my gun is getting heavy and the silence is deafening! I thought he might have left. What I didn't know at the time but figured out later, was that he was over there strutting because he could see the decoy just fine. I nearly blew that hunt big time by doubting my set up. I had just picked my call and stiker up when I saw his head stick out at a 45 degree angle from behind a tree twenty five yards away. He never saw me raise my gun until it was to late.

I have had the same experience with elk. I had a few days in a row last fall where they would run if you cow called. The final two days I could hunt it was like someone turned on a switch, everything changed. They not only answered they came to the call.

These critters don't read the magazine articles. They don't know how they are suppose to respond to what we are doing. We are the only ones who fall into that trap.

There are lots of good suggestions here. As long as you can get out of bed in the morning and go to an area that holds birds, and you keep trying with a reasonable amount of guile and stealth, eventually success will come your way....Good luck.