KYDeerHunter03

This spring was the first time I went turkey hunting. One morning I had 3 toms interested and after 3 hours of calling they would not come within range for me to shoot, but were still gobbling at my calls like crazy. What should I have done to get these toms to come in?

mohunter82

Proly not call. Remember that in nature the hen goes to the tom not the other way around. A tom will hang up from to much calling. Then the best thing to do is quit calling. Also you can grad a stick or use your hand and scratch around in the leaves to imitate a feeding hen. If you have set up on the bird while he is still in the tree give a couple of tree yelps and then shake your hat up and down quickly to imitate a hen flying down.(practice this before you get to the woods.)

Arrowmaster

You probably could have done a few different things. But first how close did the come to you. Were they in a strut zone. Did they have hens with them. Its hard to say what you could have done differently. Sometimes they will gobble their heads off and if they dont see a hen, sometimes they dont come. Let us know about the above questions Ive asked and we can probably help you out...

KYDeerHunter03

Well they were not all together in the same area. The closest one was probably about 40 or 50yards but was not in view, and the others were at the bottom of a hill at probably 80-100 yards. I couldnt see any of them...all I could do is hear them gobble.

Earlier that morning I did have one hen come about 6 feet from me and walk over to one of the toms, but she would yelp at my calls I guess to try and get the tom to go to her instead of me.

Arrowmaster

Ok

Arrowmaster

OK the first thing is they couldnt see a hen. Were you down hill from them? You should have set up where they had good visibility. If you had a decoy out in site of them that might have made a difference. A lot of times the gobblers want the hen to come to them. They were probably in their strut zone. They could have had hens with them as well.

mohunter82

If they have hens with them listen. Hens have a pecking order too. There will be a dominant hen. Imitate her every sound. She will break away to come look and then the tom will follow. Thats what i did this year when my birds flew down on the wrong side ofcreek.

KYDeerHunter03

Thanks that helps a lot.

Do you have any fall turkey hunting tips?

TEmbry

my suggestion would be to single out the closest bird, by doing some real real soft purrs and clucks or else just stop calling, because if there is silence, curiosity kills the cat. also, pitch the sound out towards the bird, then change it up and point away from the bird, sounding as if you are loosing interest and walking away. sometimes it just cant be done as well. just wait till they move off, cut them off and setup again.

as far as fall goes, my buddies and I have always had the best luck by hunting the food sources, leaving the decoys at home (maybe put out a jake deke), and most of all, be patient. locator calls such as gobbler yelps and kee kees usually get a response for us. just keep in mind that gobblers wont be gobbling, the gobblers more often than not are running in bachelore groups similar to what bucks do in the summertime, so its not uncommon to see 5 toms if you see 1. dont really rely on calling because it is hit and miss at best during the fall, just try and put yourself where the turkey are, will be, or want to be and you should be able to bag a turkey. if your looking fora hen for meat (if legal) its not that hard at all because they are everywhere. if your holdin out for a gobbler then it may take a while to pattern the bachelor groups, so this fall get out and scout before hand.