deercrazy1

I went turkey hunting for the first time this morning. To my supprise I had one call back. He would gobble about once every five minuits, but he never got close enough to see, then he just stopped gobling and the hunt was over. How do I close the deal and make him come closer. Also I was using an H.S. strut diaphram. Any Suggestions would be appretiated.

StrutnBPS

Theres no telling and w/o actually being there, its hard to say.

Remember this. When you turkey hunt. You are trying to reverse nature. In nature the tom gobbles and the hen goes to him. Turkey hunting, you reverse that and try to get the tom to come to your hen calling.

Probably the #1 problem I had when I started and sometimes still catch myself doing is OVERCALLING!!! When you do this, the tom will "hang up" b/c he thinks the hen is coming to him.

If you call to a tom and he cuts you off. By this I mean, he gobbles before you even finish your cadance of calling. HE KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE AND HE WANTS YOU!!!!

Maybe call one more time to let him know where you are. Judging by the distance, get ready. Scratch the leaves. If it gets quite, maybe a soft help or purr to see where he is. If he is hanging up. Look the other way and call. Make him think the hen is leaving.

If he was only gobbling once every five minutes, he wasn't really hot. What you heard was probably more of a shock gobble.

Its all trial and error. Don't give up. Get back out there and do it again.

deercrazy1

Thanks, thats good advice. I will try calling a little less next time.

deercrazy1

I also have another question, how long to you usually stay in one area (if you don't get a response)before you decide to move on?

StrutnBPS

All depends on the bird my man. Patience is always my downfall. So, I don't think I will answer this one for ya. LOL.

huntnma

with each hunt comes a learning a lesson, lol.......good luck, he gave great advice.......

mauser06

strutnrut gave good advice......turkey hunting is one of the wonders of the world.....more times then not something goes wrong....frustrating.......but fun as heck aint it??? i agree new hunters tend to call a good bit too much....i dont know how much you called.....but im willing to bet you called dang near every time he gobbled....that could have shut him down...when calling less can be more.....a few calls and they already pinpointed your tree.....last year on the opener i was working a longbeard...flew down off the roost and strutted 45yds away.....i didnt call after that....then a jake ran right to me right in my face....i could have strangled him no problem with a quick move from me...starring in my face...he knew exzactly where i was...he musta thought the "hen" was inside the tree lol....sometimes theres a creek....big fence....or other land obstical that gets in the way and they wont cross.....sometimes they know better then to come the whole way in and stay 100yds out strutting and gobbling waiting for the "hen" to goto them.....sometimes another hunter hears the bird coming and trys to move in and spooks them(had that happen...had a big ole bird 75yds away coming in on a string...soon as he rounded a bend in the trail he would been in range and done.....next thing i know he shut up....2 mins later i see a guy...no orange(required when moving here) running across the trail!!) sometimes hens steal them before they get to you.....sometimes they gobble but really dont want to come in.......frustrating......but i love it....and am sure your hooked!....stick with it.....youll connect sooner or later!!! good luck!

JW

All good info for ya -

But I need to ask these questions.
1. Did you go to the area and see where he was? Might be a fence, a creek, an obstacle he was reluctant to cross.
2. Did he already have hens with him? He won't leave his hens - but if you hear a hen call back to you mimic her. Piss off the hen and she'll come looking for you and guess what follows?

JW

BuckAlley

I'd like to add to all the upper posts. The worst mistake I hear many hunters do is call, get a gobble right back, and immediately call again to get him to gobble more. Thats a HUGE mistake, and goes right long with calling too much. Plus when you respond directly back to a tom like that he believes your answering him, and he's telling you(the Hen) to come to him. This hangs them up all the time. Then the hunter can't figure why the tom didn't come. You need to do just the opposite. When a tom answers your call. Wait awhile before you call again. I like to wait a good 15mins or better. This way if he has any interest in you,it'll stand a better chance of coming in, and not hanging up. I also like to use a good crow call to locate birds. I know alot of hunters walk around, and call trying to strike up a tom. Then once get a tom to gobble, they'll move in closer if needed, and setup, and begin calling. We'll the hen just made a move towards him, and he thinks she's coming. So I like to get them to shock gobble with locater calls. Then setup, and see if he'll come in w/ hen talk.

deercrazy1

There was a creek in between me and the tom, but I crossed it to get a closer shot. After I set up he gobbled a couple more times then quit. I now realize my mistake. It was over calling. I did respond pretty much after every gobble.