Yeah, build you a good natural blind, use cedars to get a really good backdrop and try to get some over-hanging limbs so your in the shade. Get tucked back in there and wait for him.

I dont know if you have tried decoys but sometimes a strutting tom or jake with a hen will work really good if he is in the right mood and feels like kickin some tail!

Good luck! Im off to KS now for the rest of the week! Keep us posted

I wouldn't listen to Michael... He doesn't know anything about killin gobblers with a bow..

Haha you got that right!

ROFL, that caught me a little off guard. Well played Joey.

Thanks guys... I saw the danged group again tonight..on the land I cant hunt..where they roost...They have picked up another gobbler...bout like the bird Jess and I killed a couple weeks ago.. 4-5 inch beard.. is this normal for a boss gobbler like himself to let another gobbler in there with him? I thought this was strange..its the first time I have seen him around another gobbler since back in late April...????

Everything you guys have said makes sense... I am driving seperate tomorrow from the wife, we commute to work together..anyway... here's my simple plan..

get home about 3... get down to the field that theypass through (usually they stay close to the timber line)..set up in there with a natural barrier'blind..enough to block my draw when they approach but with a peak hole to watch them coming (if they do)... anyway, I will be solo in the thick timber/brushy edge of the field in my trusty 3-d camo

Motown.. I hearyou on the THIRD eye, when I have taken my boys after him 3 differenttimes now..every time we see his butt/fan show....we are on the move in the brush and timber working towards him.. I SWEAR he winks at me with that third!!! LMAO

thanks again fellas..


MIKE GOOD LUCK MAN...

p.s. Yes I have tried a jake and hen set up on him..he still wouldnt leave the hens he was traveling with..he would come over and give us a look..I probably just dont call well enough....

Good luck to you too man. Its tough gettin drawn on a big group of birds. Try to catch the tom strutting away from you and draw on him quick. Even if the other birds see you they shouldnt run/fly off really fast. It will take him a second to realize whatis going on and thats all it takes!

Good point Mike, thanks

Yes. Just like whitetails do after the rut, gobblers bunch back up after the peak of the breeding is done. There is still the dominent bird (and he needs killin to get the gobbling going again). But he is now with his buddies. Competition gets fierce when receptive hens get few and far. The hunting usually gets better as the season goes by (likely as not too because the fair weather blow hards aren't afield blowing crow calls in the dark anymore either).

As far as the decoys go....there ain't nothing like the real thing. Don't think you can lure him away from those hens, because you won't be able to. There are rare exceptions when it does infact happen, but I wouldn't put my money on that bet. He will likely skirt the decoys because he wants the hens to come to him, so if he is walking the woodline in bow range, do without the decoys. Late in the evening, hens are not receptive anyhow, so the yelping is to a minimum. Gobbling is mostly shock or dominence gobbling, and not really breeding related. The tom is going with the hens because he wants to roost near them, so he has first dibbs on them in the morning, when they are receptive before going to nest.

Purrs and clucks and scratching leaves are all good stuff...just use your head, you have done it before and you can do it again shed.

I scored this morning on a tom that had been "henned up". Yesterday afternooon while I was hunting this place with the girlfriend (first time we had been to this block of land) we flew two hens out of the corner of a field. There was gobbler poop everywhere. Lots of sign. The hens apparently didn't roost where they normally do last night. This morning, I put out two hen decoys, and called softly. He never gobbled, just showed up. He did gobble eventually and a heck of a lot as he worked his way back. First time hunting turkeys with a bow. Doesn't seem all that hard to me Whole story is up on the turkey hunting sub-forum.

good luck Shed,
my brother and i have been after the same gobbler (henned up and not responding to calls) for three weeks now......

i would suggest putting your natural blind in an area where if they don't come within bow range and leave your original set up you would be able to get out of the blind and do a "spot and stalk" on him...with the timber line that may be a good idea......

have you tried a "tom" decoy? if that is the only tom and now there are two of them with that many hens he may get very upset seeing another tommy boy in his area of "strut"...may make him really upset...just a thought if you have not tried it yet...

sorry to hear about your T2......that sucks[:@]

If you have a jake deke and a hen I would suggest putting the jake right on top of her if you can. Right behind her touching works equally well as I found out last night.