I hunt turkeys in Iowa and they are not responding to a call at all, i mean they gobble but wont come in to the decoys. I got a bow tag this year and my season goes to May 15 but i think im about to give up. Saw 10 different gobblers today and not one of them would come in. They are henned up really badly, anyone know when they usually break free from the hens. Any help is greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.

Thanks,
deerhunter18

d-h-18;
if you hunt the tom's later in the day they might be away from the hen's.
Otherwise once the hen's start to nest the Tom's will be looking for new lady's to court.
set the Decoy's up so they are facing you that way the Tom's think they don't see them and they Might come in closer.
Usually if they are henned up if you can get the hen's to walk your way the Tom's will follow.
I would suggest you post your Question on the Turkey forum,You should get more reply's(answers or suggestion's) that way
I do wish you luck.

Later in the day might work but I would say later in the season. I love hunting the last couple weeks of the season here in Iowa. The birds will become easier to call in and will pay less attention to the hens. You might try making gobbler noises when hunting them later in the year to as the toms will start to group back up.

deer-hunter18,

I'm in Indiana but have hunted Iowa once, takin my biggest gobbler off public land. I agree late season hunting is better for aggressive cruising toms, but Early season is more challenging so I like it too. I took my early season Iowa tom in the afternoon. This is the only one of my 7-10 birds ever taken in then. He was gobbling his head off like no other tom I have ever heard in my life, by a longshot. And he was alone.

I would highly recommend you try in the afternoon. In the early season the toms are tight with their hens in the mornings. Later in the day you might find a straggler tom who got pushed out, or one that is cruising after a morning breeding. Take a morning off, especially if the weather is poor. Sleep in, and save your energy. Then go out about 11 AM and set up in a strutting or dusting area if you know a good one. Make sure your decoys are visible from a distance. Call occasionally, but make sure you can see around you, as the birds are highly likely to come in silent at this time. Don't get discouraged if you don't hear a single gobble.

It was with a similar set-up that I scored in Iowa, when a tom unexpectantly began firing off immediately right behind me. He would not cross a creek to get to my decoys, and after exhanging calls for 1/2 hour finally he went away from me and over a ridge. I could tell by the sound changing. I knew the lay of that land. At that time I got up and went straight for him, then peeked very carefully over the sharp ridge, calling occasionally to keep track of his location, until I saw his head. I thought my chances were very slim of taking him with this method, but it worked.

Be flexible when they are behaving as you describe. Do whatever the topography of the land allows.

BTW - I just noticed you said you were bowhunting, so I know the stalk deal is out. I'd still try the late day strutting/dusting area. However, I believe if your tag is good until May 15th you will have much better luck by simply waiting until May 1st to resume your efforts. I can't count the number of toms I've actually had race to my decoys at that time of the year. Many don't even take time to strut. Pretty wild.

Another option is to scout what fields the toms are using and at what time then sneak in and just sit close to where you usually see the birds and hunt them like deer, they are creatures of habit like deer and will often use a certain corner of a field for a strut zone. Even though its tempting dont call as later in the season some toms will be call shy only call if they start to move off. This tactic worked great for me in Kansas 2 years ago, I watched 2 toms come off the roost and go to the river and drink for 2 straight days and on the 3rd and final day I set up where they had been exiting the field and both came with in 20 yards of me and only one left! The only draw back is missing the excitment of fooling a bird with calls its the main reason I turkey hunt but when nothing else works do what ya have to do- Good luck!

hey thanks for all of the help guys. This turkey hunting is kicking my butt. I have been up at 3 am for the last 16 days, and the last three i thought i had them patterned so i stayed all day but they always did something different. Im taken tommarrow off.

Lay off the high pressure hunting. Use one very good decoy if at all. Only call when nessesary to get the gobblers attention. Stop using the shock calls.
At this point in the season the birds may be so pressured their walnut sized brain could've figured out the difference between a real hen and some guy scratching slate. Most hunters do everything they can to get their money's worth out of their calls and decoys so you should try to do something different. This past year I decided to scout the hens more than the gobblers and I noticed just how quiet they are. All I heard was an occasional light clucks and purrs.
My advice is to get along side of a typical turkey pathway and call as little as you can. Just enough to let the birds know that you're there, not enough to tip them off you aren't a real hen. But no matter what be prepared, they could be coming to your calls but not letting you know it. A wise old bird won't gobble much and will be wary of anything. He will still investigate your calling but might come in from an unexpected direction to check you out first before calling back. Those noises you hear behind you that you think is a squirrel could actually be a turkey.

Where are all you Iowa turkey hunters at? i'm in Iowa county.

im in clinton county right on the mississippi.