Walking down a lane out of a food plot and call and cutt and get a bird to fire off a pretty good ways away. No way to get to him by road other than go straight through the woods. I'd walk a little ways toward him and have to stop and cutt again to get him to answer and see how far he was. I'm pretty sure that by doing this a few times he thought the hen was coming to him which ultimately let to him gobbling and hanging up just on the other side of a thicket. How do you handle this situation when you strike one mid morning and keep location on him?
Crow Call
Quote from: WAGinVA on April 04, 2016, 08:25:34 AM
Crow Call
I'm in the ms delta on the river. We have a few crows around but I don't hear birds shock gobbling to them very often. I've wondered if a crow call would work too
You have two possibilities,...either he is going to come, or he is not. Gobblers will come from a long ways off if they are of a mind to, so never assume one will not come to you just because you think you are too far away. Always find out if he is on his way or not before heading towards him. This is especially true if instances like yours where gobblers are likely expecting to hear hens at the food plot. He may well come all the way to you due to that.
If you determine that he is holding his ground, then the best bet is to start working your way toward him, being sure to use terrain or other obstacles in your favor. Remember, turkeys rarely move rapidly through the woods when traveling, so there is no real reason to hurry. Move a bit and call naturally to him to see if he responds and where he is. If he continues to hold his ground, just keep moving toward him and calling until you reach a point where you cannot safely go any further without risking being busted.
At that point, you just have to try a variety of tactics to see which, if any, might "flip his switch". When you "hang up" he might decide to come the last bit of distance to you by just continuing to call to him. If he doesn't, you can quit calling, or go into "cluck/purr mode" with some leaf scratching and wing beating, and see what happens. If that doesn't work, you can throw caution to the wind and just cut/yelp aggressively and see if that works.
Any of those might work,...or none of the will. All's you can do is go through the possibilities and live with the results.
The final point to be made here is that if he just gobbled one time to your calling and you cannot get him to respond again, you may as well assume that he was just giving you a "courtesy gobble" and is not really interested in you one way or the other. Over a lifetime of turkey hunting, we all run into lots of those kinds of birds.
Thanks. He started out gobbling just about every time is tell at him. Then I feel like between me calling and sounding closer each time that's what caused him to hang up. Once I got in close to him and set up, he'd stay in one spot gobbling. Hung in there and tried calling and going quiet for a little while then tried to cut and yelp aggressively and even mixed in two calls trying both ends of the spectrum to get him to break and come the rest of the way.
After walking and looking where they were, I was in some thick stuff and he was just on the other side in hardwoods hanging out with two other gobblers. Prob just strutting and such, found a bit of fresh droppings in there at that spot. This was about 11:15 too.
Can't say for sure without being there and knowing the ground, but my first thought is I would have moved to one side or the other pretty quick when he wouldn't come. Depending on the woods, it might be 15 yards or it might be 100 to go around him. It's surprising how often a small move, without getting closer to the turkey, will cause on to break and come.
Two possible reasons the lateral move works. First, is it often removes whatever obstacle was hanging him up (sounds like a thicket in your case). Second, the hen he's responding to suddenly moves in a direction other than his and he panics. Or maybe it's neither of those, but it's worked for me often enough to know it isn't a fluke.
I called to a bird in thin pines for an hour. I was in thin pines and between us when thin Turkey/Blackjack oak. He would not budge. Had about 45 minutes until stop time and we moved around him, walked 500 yards to get into the oaks and started calling. He came in very quickly then. No idea why he would not pass through them.
Did the exact same thing with another bird, 10 years later, thinking I knew how it was gonna end. He just stayed in the pines and would come no closer. Dang turkeys!
But I am with Bill. Without knowing, sounds like you needed to make it easier for him to get to you, if at all possible. Good luck. You got one located and that is more than half the battle.
If he answer you, give him 2 minutes, then call again. if he answers again, shut up and sit down.
Quote from: Bill Cooksey on April 04, 2016, 11:49:11 AM
Can't say for sure without being there and knowing the ground, but my first thought is I would have moved to one side or the other pretty quick when he wouldn't come. Depending on the woods, it might be 15 yards or it might be 100 to go around him. It's surprising how often a small move, without getting closer to the turkey, will cause on to break and come.
Two possible reasons the lateral move works. First, is it often removes whatever obstacle was hanging him up (sounds like a thicket in your case). Second, the hen he's responding to suddenly moves in a direction other than his and he panics. Or maybe it's neither of those, but it's worked for me often enough to know it isn't a fluke.
This! Buddy and I had two hang up at about 60 yards today when they couldn't see the hens they came to see. We let them wonder off on their own until they were well out of "busting" range. Moved about 100 yards laterally using a creek as cover. Set up and called. Short time later I killed a nice bird. Other bird didn't come in. We waited probably 15 minutes, moved again this time up hill and ahead further down the valley the other bird was in. Set up and called. He answered from where we had first struck the two together. 15 minutes later, he comes in (this time I had set out a strutter and a hen) and my buddy busted a stud of a bird. Can't tell you how many times we relocated over the years and killed a shy bird or birds. My favorite tactic.
My trouble was I thought he hung up bc he heard me coming to him. And once I got in as close as I felt safe I was close enough I could hear the thumping in his chest when he gobbled so I was afraid if I tried to reposition or move around he'd pick me out possibly
Quote from: RiverRoost on April 04, 2016, 11:16:22 PM
My trouble was I thought he hung up bc he heard me coming to him. And once I got in as close as I felt safe I was close enough I could hear the thumping in his chest when he gobbled so I was afraid if I tried to reposition or move around he'd pick me out possibly
I know the feeling.
Quote from: RiverRoost on April 04, 2016, 11:16:22 PM
My trouble was I thought he hung up bc he heard me coming to him. And once I got in as close as I felt safe I was close enough I could hear the thumping in his chest when he gobbled so I was afraid if I tried to reposition or move around he'd pick me out possibly
It is a rare bird that you can move in close enough to hear that sound without putting him on the alert and/or boogering him. I suspect he either saw or heard something he did not like, and snuck silently away. ....Just a guess.
Here's another suggestion. When cover and terrain allows, don't move straight in on a turkey. Move to the side a bit. Seems to help keep him from thinking the hen is just coming to him, and it also leaves you room to back up or further flank him.
Quote from: dejake on April 04, 2016, 05:51:07 PM
If he answer you, give him 2 minutes, then call again. if he answers again, shut up and sit down.
Ditto.
Quote from: GobbleNut on April 05, 2016, 09:05:48 AM
Quote from: RiverRoost on April 04, 2016, 11:16:22 PM
My trouble was I thought he hung up bc he heard me coming to him. And once I got in as close as I felt safe I was close enough I could hear the thumping in his chest when he gobbled so I was afraid if I tried to reposition or move around he'd pick me out possibly
It is a rare bird that you can move in close enough to hear that sound without putting him on the alert and/or boogering him. I suspect he either saw or heard something he did not like, and snuck silently away. ....Just a guess.
They never saw me. Don't think they heard me either but it was pretty thick I was working through. I left that after messing w them for quite a while bc I wasn't the happiest hunter after the way my daylight hunt went earlier. Do you think that if you are moving in straight on a bird that calling softer than the time before would have any affect possibly. Maybe not like you are blowing him away the closer you get.
Again, if at all possible, move to the side rather than straight at him. This will allow you a better chance to reposition if needed, and it also prevents him having the impression the hen is coming to him...maybe. Whatever the case, flanking rather than moving straight in is almost always the best play. After all these years and turkeys, I'm still tempted to move right at him, but I've gotten better, and it pays off.
If you don't feel you can move, try looking to the side or back and calling softly behind you with a mouth call if he's hung up for a while. He'll think you're leaving and will come to investigate. Has worked for me before
Thanks for the solid advice!