1234hunt

i hunt in mississippi and the season starts march 15th.. (10 days) and i'm already seeing groups of hens with one tom. i have heard of people taking early season birds here using full strut toms as decoys. is this a reliable tactic?

zubba

Call to the hens. This will be more effective that a strutting decoy. Do a lot of purring and soft yelps...it shows contentment. If you can get the hens to come over, the tom will follow. Good Luck

MikeVT

I've said it before, but fighting purrs will usually call in the hens and the tom will follow, or if you can get close enough, sometimes the tom will run over for a quick peek. Has worked for me many times.

r33h

When I shot my biggest tom (1.625" spurs on both sides, approx. 27 lbs, 10.25" and 6.5" beards) I was calling to the hens. This worked out really nice becuase the hens came and the gobbler followed...."flirting" with one of them (they were circling each other constantly). His attention was solely on the hen and he never knew what hit him! Don't try to pull the tom away, use the hens to bring him to you....

maytom

Try to pattern their movements, and then try the ol' "head them off at the pass" routine.