hunting that callshy gobbler

[strutnrut1984]

sometimes we run into this type of bird. hes the one who gobbles his head off on roost, then hits the ground silent. or hes the one who answers and walks the opposite way. it can be very frustrating. ive ran into these buggers many times over the years. especially back east where they r really pressured or perhaps shot at bfore.sometimes these toms are just impossible to call in. so heres a couple ways ive bagged these birds either my self or with a client. ive patterned them after a few days .of frustration i figured out where this bird is strutting. you can tell if hes gobblin going back and forth on a ridge or field edge. sometimes the only way to bag him is to setup an ambush on that strutzone. go directly there before light and wait him out. not even make a call and stick your dekes. another situation as i mentined earlier. if your hunting with a partner ive used this one with great success , the tom that gobbles and walks away. i take my partner in early and sethim up well before light in the direction that tom usualy heads. then ill circle wide into the spot where we have been calling.then i get this bird really fired up. just hammering him with calls. driving him right to my partner. with some patterning if the birds are doing the same thing day after day.  just a couple more tactics i thought id share. and hopefully help a few hunters out this spring.     thanks for your time .    strut

[Machias]

I have a small skoal can slate call and corn cob stricker my great grandpa made me.  It makes the sweetest soft purrs and clucks.  I have killed some very nice toms with this call in highly pressured areas.  As soon as I know a bird is call shy, I'll come back a day or two later and set up.  I will give him a couple of soft clucks and purrs and a little rustling in the leaves and that is all.  Most guys call too loud and too often, nothing like regular pressured hens.  I have killed several nice toms sneaking in looking for the quiet little hen who was just clucking and purring softly.  I had a bird in MO once, I roosted him the night before.  No gobbles the next morning.  I set up and once things got quiet I did a little flapping with my hat on my leg, then a couple of purrs and a couple of soft clucks.  Nothing, complete silence.  Then I could barely hear the whoosh of the wind on his wings when he left the tree.  About 10 minutes later, I see him sneaking through the woods looking for me.  We became good friends and he went home with me.  Very cool hunt!

[Machias]

Another tactic that can work is once he hangs up, have one guy stay put and the other walk away while calling.  I have had birds almost run my partner over chasing after the hens leaving.   

[bowhunterforever]

Thanks strut!   I use this tatic every year and killed a few birds doing this. I have been pattering one for a few days now and i'm gonna go try to get him in a few minutes.

[strutnrut1984]

yes these are all good the hatslap, leaf rake, and the walkaway ive used them all too ater many years of hunting in many different states u develop quite a bag of tricks lol.  i realy enjoy shootin the turkey talk here with u all.     strut

[Wacenturion]

My son had a Merriam's down in Klickitat county a number of years ago that was one of those unkillable birds.  In fact he was working on his second year trying to do so.  Had his eastern first day that year and we had tons of good Rio ground to hunt in the SE.  Rather than just try to get a Merriam's he wanted this bird...was obsessed with it, to the point of giving up a probable single season slam.
Well I hunted with him several times on this gobbler and told him he was crazy...told him you're not going to kill that bird.  Did the same thing as described....gobble, fly down gobble back at you even cutting you off and then go the opposite way.

Late in the season my son called and was at a loss for what to try.  I told him if it were me....when the bird hits the ground....give him a soft couple yelps and do not even think about picking up a call the rest of the day.  Set there and wait with gun in hand, even if it takes all day.  Bird did as usual, responded and kept gobbling going away.   

However at around 11:20 that gobbler appeared in all his glory 20 yards away from my son....game over...dead gobbler.That bird knew there was a hen up there, different from before, only yelped once or twice right at first light and went silent.  Curiosity got the best of that monarch of the canyon....he knew exactly to the sq. foot where that hen yelp came from....and eventually he checked it out.
Problem with this approach.....most folks are not going to be patience enough to do it.  My son only did what i suggested because he figured what the heck, what do I have to lose.  Moral of the story....all gobblers are killable, you just got to creative sometime.      

[rosscrazyelk]

Love it. I learn more and more on here

[yelp]

   Listen when you are in the woods..how many hens do you hear cutting and yelping, purring in long sequences. On TV guys are calling like a banshee...I hear very few hens in the time I have been in the woods that sound that way. I am just saying that sometimes saying very little is more realistic and can be deadly.  One or two yelps.  A single putt/cluck..a "where are you" call?   With that said I sure have a lot of calls in my vest..about 50lbs worth..

[Intruder]

I'm right there w/ Machias.... subtle and sweet. 

[turkeydancer]

My son and I have a favorite new tactic ... leave the dekes in the truck, put up the sign as below, setup against the tree, results in minutes ...

[fishunt247]

Agreed with all that has been said. On pressured birds, cluck and purr is hard to beat. Scratching in the leaves too. I like the walkaway too, front guy shuts up, other guy walks away. But instead of keeping it cool, I like to crank it up a little as I walk away. Also, though it may not be condoned on here, I like a gobble call. I only use it later in the season, and in areas I'm sure that there aren't other guys. Should have killed a gobbler last weekend doing this... I yelped, cut, carried on just trying to strike one. Nothing. So I cut again, and gobbled. He answered back, and gobbled like 8 more times in 30 seconds. It was so thick we couldn't move directly to him, so we wound around, got to where we were across the canyon. I didn't hen call anymore, just gobbled, and he would fire back with multiple gobbles. He hadn't moved an inch in 30 minutes, and it was way too thick to go across the canyon to him, so we moved up the canyon, cut a road, and headed over there. We got to where we were within 150 yards of where he was, gobbled, nothing. Moved closer, same result. Got to where he was exactly, gobbled, and he answered where we were originally, He flew the clearcut and across the canyon to get to us. Why after so long of not moving, I don't know? Silence must have got to him

[MerriamMan]

One other tactic you can try is to sleep in. Hit the turkey woods at about 10:00 a.m. or so. Maybe the old guys hens have snuck off on him and he starts to get a little lonely. Then like Machias says, soft and sparingly. You also might have the whole place to yourself.

[Machias]

One other tactic you can try is to sleep in. Hit the turkey woods at about 10:00 a.m. or so. Maybe the old guys hens have snuck off on him and he starts to get a little lonely. Then like Machias says, soft and sparingly. You also might have the whole place to yourself.

That is actually a very good tactic.  If I get a bird to answer mid to late morning, there is a very good chance we'll be going home together.   

[fishunt247]

Yep, 8:30 to noon is prime time always.

[turkeydancer]

A few years back nothing was working ... my partner and I would see the birds and the minute we started to call they headed the other direction.  So I setup about 30 yards behind him ... when we saw birds, I started a turkey fight     (aggressive purrs with two push/pulls, excited cutting with a mouth diaphragm, occassional hat slaps imitating the beating wings) and the birds turned directly toward us and started racing to see who would get there first.

I have also used gobbles effectively on private land ... it can be effective too if you don't sound like the King Kong of Turkeys. Jake Yelps too.

Bottom line - When n othing else is working, you have nothing to lose! Try a different call on a different device ... add more realistic ... find what will work!