Had one gobblin at 8:00 Saturday morn. started at about 100yds worked him to about 50yds. Then I shut up hoping he would find our decoy. After about 5min heard some clucking froma hen who went straight to him and started taking him away in the opposite direction. I tried some excited clucks (didn't work) so we moved and tried to cut them off but it wasn't to be. We prolly could have moved deeper in the woods but my idea of moving quietly trough the woods and his are two separate things. Good thing is that he had a great time and I think he's hooked now.
My problem is after every bird I don't get I play the what if game with myself. So I thought I'd ask some of you old pro's what I could have done differently when we heard the hen coming in. We were at one end of about a 50yrd open field and he was at the other end just inside the woods. I figured my nephew was good out to about 30yds but I wouldn't let him shoot any further than that.

If a hen if going to take your bird, do a few cut series. Show that hen who is boss, and it might tick her off enough to come investigate. As soon as I saw that hen going to steal your bird, I would have began to call with some emotion.

I know the feeling, my 9yo braved Sunday morning and stayed long after he was bored because they were gobbling. About 9am we had two fat jakes walk right up on us at about 40yds, see out strutting deke and kept on moving. I'd have taken one at that range, but I just didn't think it would be right to have him try to shoot his 20ga at that distance. I have to believe that if we'd have used the jake deke they'd have walked right across in front of us within about 10yds....lesson learned. Next time we'll save the big boy for the last couple tags.

i play the same what if game too, often. but at the same time u dont want him to pinpoint the sound and kno for sure the sound is coming from that tree or what ever u r sitting by. so u cant beat ur self up over it. i kno its a lot harder takin a young person hunting. but its also alot of fun getting the youngsters out there to get to experience what you have got to see.

Like fingerz42 said, you could have tried some fast cutting to try to make the hen mad enough to come over by you. The other approach you could have taken is to have tried to make yourself sound like a group of feeding turkeys. I've found that one of the best ways to call turkeys to you is to purr and scratch in the leaves. Good luck.

I think you did exactly what you should have. some times after hearing a few calls and not actually encountering the hen its hard to convince the old tom that you are real. Then if you throw a real live hen in the mix your odds just decrease. you opting to pull back and try to intersect them both was one of the few options you had and if I were you I would do it just the same. I've went home empty handed before. Well not completly empty handed, I left with a brand new experience and a choice to make if it happens again. I have a son and can simpithize about moving quickly. Who knows.

thanks all for your comments, looking back maybe I should have tried some cutting. What I did was tried to duplicate what the hen was doing. I was going to try scratching the leaves but as I looked around we were sitting in a line of pines that separated the field from the 4wheeler trail. (the other three sides of the feild were hardwoods just my luck) My nephew had an awsome time, he's still talking about it, and can't wait to go back. It gave me a chance to start my season early. I can't wait til my boys (4yrs and the other is 2months) to get old enough to go with me.