This past Saturday I worked three different birds. The first one was right after first light. He gobbled good to my calling , but would not show himself. I was in the open woods and he was in the brush. He came in and started clucking. So, I clucked back, but he still would not show himself. After about an hour and fifteen minutes he finally went around the ridge to the right. A second bird came to the same spot immediately after he left. I called to him sparingly just as I did the other tom, but after about 45 minutes he left and went to the right.

I struck another tom in a nearby field and worked him for and hour and forty-five minutes. I knew he had hens with him. Again, I worked him softly and sparingly, but he too left the area. I finally said the heck with it and started cutting loud and hard. He gobbled and a hen between us started cutting. I figured he was content so, I got up and walked to another field blew a crow call and got no response. Went across the field to the next fence, and a crow flew across where I was set-up at on the third bird, and guess what????? You got it gobble, gobble, gobble!!! I walked back to the fence where I was standing just four minutes earlier and spooked the bird!!! Hard to compete with the real ladies.

The moral of the story is, don't believe everything you hear about being soft and subtle when calling. Each situation is different. After working the bird for that long and then giving up on him and spooking him I am going to be a little more aggressive next time. It worked for me last year too.