Is my calling good or bad?
 

I still consider myself a newbie to turkey hunting; I been at it for approx. 5 yrs and have yet to bag a gobbler. I've had numerous jakes close at hand but didn't shoot (thinking I'd let them grow); and kick myself at the end of each season.
My question is this, every season, with a slate, diaphram or natural voice, I'm always able to call countless hens to me; just not a mature gobbler. Several times I've had a hen run, atleast, 200 yds. to where I was sitting. Is my calling good or bad? Just looking for a little insight.
I hunt in NE Fl on private land.
littlekid

If you can call a jake you can call a tom.

Are yo usure there are numerous mature toms in your area?

and,

Lastly shoot those jakes!

How about making a recording of your calling and posting it here? We'd be able to make a better assessment that way.

I know how you feel about passing on the Jakes and then kicking yourself later. But you'll never get that big Tom if you shoot the first Jake you see.

If you can call in Hens and jakes then you can call in Toms as well. It sounds to me that your spending your time in the area early season and this why your seeing the hens come in for a couple reasons,

1/ The Toms are henned up bad

2/ Too many hens that are not on nest.

3/ to early in the season

Hunting later in the season can change the way your calling works on gobblers. Jakes tend to over take hens in the early season as they group up and take over on the toms. Remember the less hens to work with, the more you'll see gobblers coming to calls.

Thank you guys for the responses and reiteration "if you can call in jakes and hens you can in toms". I thought this was true but in the past several years I've really doubted myself.
I do, however, have to make an admend to my previous post; I've had three mature toms within range last year but didn't pull the trigger due to them being on the other side of the fence (on someone else's property) and I couldn't bring myself to violate the property laws (both ethically and legally).
As for mature toms in the area, yes. I saw two during the last week of ML season, 15 yds from my tree. And several members have spotted others through out the club.
Adrian, your post about early vs. late season has triggered a couple of questions. Since my season, here in NE Florida (Palatka/Interlachen area), typically occurs from mid-late march to mid-late april and Spring Break (I'm a high school math teacher) occurs towards the end, I'm in the woods as much as possible; usually from sun-up to sun-down. Since my area is the "grey-line" between easterns and osceolas what should I consider as early season and late season? And, how should I adjust my calling during each?
SW, I'd love to make and post a recording of my calling; but am not techno savy enough. Any help would be much appreciative.
littlekid

so you should take the hens out?

I think we all know the answer but thanks for the " make yourself clear" reply

The later the season thew more commonly the hens sit on their nests leaving a less amount of hens to hang with gobblers. This makes the gobblers start to look for hens more often giving you a better chance for an adult birds. Most times by this part of the season Jakes have been either shot or have been busted enough at setups that they learn to stay away of setups, leaving the Toms to come in.

littlekid, I spent a number of years guiding in South Florida and have seen this same thing there. The Osceola is known to be a quiet bird on the ground after flydown, but even at the end of the season they still came to the call but most times it was quiet.

Gobblers still want to mate even weeks or a month after the season end. I have seen them here over a month after the season strutting for hens. I find that the later part of the season a caller needs to be much more suttle with their calls and do not get as aggressive. Gobblers will still move into your setups...

Thanks Adrian. I'll keep at it and remember as I've always been told...PATIENCE is the key.