RE: Strategy for tight lipped Gobblers
Charlie,
Depends on how aggressive you want to be...
If he only has two hens, I would bust him and his ladies from their evening roosts. Hopefully, they scatter in different directions and roost 100s of yards apart.
The next morning, set up about 50 yards from him gobbling, he'll probably be going bezerk. I wouldn't use dekes, but if you're bringing your son you may want to, because the bird will (if everything works right) glide right into gun range.
A few notes for this technique.
1) You have to be there early, and hope you can locate with an owl hooter. Setting up super close to the tom is essential. With no ladies around, he should be quite vocal, and the moonlight has them gobbling here at least 10 minutes before twilight...
2) Be the first hen that he hears...
3) Call very softly and use only short series of yelps (3-5), clucks and I use mostly purrs. Just let him know that you are there.
4) At flydown time, do a simulated wingbeat and start scratching the leaves. Use only very soft clucks and purrs, and be very soft. Anything loud will either a) scare him off or worse yet, b) keep him gobbling on the roost, attracting those hens you worked hard to scare off.
Other than roost busting, for henned up toms I either (a) get really close between him and his girls or (b) get to where he's going.
I've noticed the first three days here in CT that the hens are not vocal in the least, which is a good sign. It indicates that they are almost done laying and will be nesting/incubating very soon. Then the fun begins, as the toms get lonely and you can pick it up.
If the hens start to get vocal, try to get nasty and have her draw the gobbler to you.
Other than that, your plans sound good. The ridgetops ~10 are always good this time of year, but don't worry about being too aggressive. They're lonely because their hens have left to lay, so picking it up and then cutting him off cold, more often than not will bring them in on a run. The hard part about mid-morning birds is finding one that will gobble...