How often do hens mess up or have helped your hunts?
Several years ago I was hunting a popular WMA in Mississippi. Up in the morning I had a Tom come gobbling by me down a dry slough and he was absolutely uninterested in any of the sweet lust that I was promising him and just kept on going. In a little while, a hen came yelping down the slough going straight to him. I figured that this morning was a complete bust and just sat there. Suddenly I spot that same hen (?) coming back up the slough right to me. She would go about 20 yards and stop to look around. Who do I see right behind her, you guessed it, that original tom. When she would stop, he would hustle up there to her and bust into a strut. She would then take off and he would be right behind her again. She stopped at about 20 yards from me and I could just see him strutting behind a water oak. She took off and he stepped out from behind the tree and lovingly I ushered him into the Great Glorious Hereafter. Nice 3 year old bird that literally had a woman lead him to destruction.
Cheers ;D
FC
I would rather see hens than not. Yes it is extra eyes to bust you, but if they are around, then so is the big boy. Z
Forgive me for intruding here, but this is a subject that gets far too little discussion.
Over the years, I have found that the more hens a gobbler has with him, the less likely they are to be CALLED in. For me, the question is "why is that?"
Again, to me, the answer lies in the fact that the more hens there are, the more likely there are older hens in the group that have "rid in this rodeo" enough times to know not to come to unknown turkey calling they hear. The explanation, as I see it, is that those hens have very likely, at some point in time, gone to turkey calling, dragged a gobbler along with them, and have watched that gobbler get mowed down by a hunter. Anybody that thinks those turkeys do not "learn" from those experiences is fooling themselves. The more hen turkeys in a group, the more likely one or more of them has "been there, done that".
I live and hunt in places where turkeys tend to often be visible while hunting them. I can't tell you how many times I have watched a group of turkeys hear unknown calling in the distance and deliberately move away from that calling...almost always led away by what appears to be the older hens in the group.
Now, on the other hand, I have also had those times when a hen has come to my calling and brought a gobbler with her. Invariably, however, those instances have always been a single hen...maybe a couple...but NEVER a larger group. ...Just food for thought...
My best calling job, probably luck, was calling a tom off 10 hens 200 yards out. They started to leave so I "insulted" the boss hen and confused the tom I think. By the time the verbal altercation was over, he was alone and confused. I purred and he ran to the decoy. My best friend shot his first turkey right then and there. It was a good day. Z
Around here most Tom's have a few girls and it's rare to catch them alone. I have had some good hunts calling in the whole flock sometimes.