Jimmy,

First, lets address the lone hen. At this time of year, she was either 1) a hen that had been bred and is nesting, probably going to her nest or off it for a short snack, or 2) a young unbred hen.

There may be a few reasons for her actions. As noted earlier, they do get suspicious when there is no movement for an extended time. Hens---similar to white-tailed does---are a bit more nervous and cautious than the gobblers. Secondly, if she has been bred and is headed back to her nest, she does not want to be followed around by a jake/gobbler---the whole reason they "slip away" from them in the morning.

It is more common, as the Spring rolls into summer, to see hens by themselves than in groups or with gobblers.

Gobblers will be more aggressive around the middle of the day, and younger subdominants may gobble extensively after the majority of hens have been bred. With these birds, set-up extra close on the roost in the morning, and if no luck come back around 10-11 and hit the calls. I was pretty successful in this tactic just yesterday, although I let a small tom/big jake and two other jakes walk. But they were at the gun within about 10 minutes...

Now, as the most complex question...later in the season. This really depends on how many younger hens are in the area, how vocal they are, and the gobbler:hen ratio. If you have low numbers of gobblers, they may be more than content to gobble on the roost and go to their strut zones all day until the summer. Higher numbers and you should find aggressive 2-year olds, but they may come in silent.

AND, just a final opinion...leave the jake decoy at home. Many of the hens will steer clear, and most subdominants and jakes will turn tail at the sight of another gobbler, especially as the season wears on.

Good luck...

S&R