sitting for gobblers

[haftard]

so im pretty dead set on killing my first gobbler this year. last year was a wash since my only partner was my wife and her attention span and amount of suffer she can handle is about the same. had 3 birds within 100yards but never could see them. the last bird we set up on. got all set up with the deco and just called for a few minuets, sat and waited for a few. after about 10 min into the sit a bird fires off. glalelelalbbbgglglgleeed ( thats a gobble for those of you who cant read turkey) off in the distanced. i gave him some pretty sexy hen calls and he would gobble back almost every time. we sat for at least an hour on this bird but never did see him. about this time my wife is tired and i would like a nap. so we packed up and headed for the truck. then tried to find an easy one off the road. figured they are just an over sized grouse so might as well give it a shot and the wife likes to road hunt. well that actually almost worked and we had a tom give us the slip.
but back to the point of my whole post. do you guys think that if we would have just sat there till the sun damn near went down that the bird would have came and checked us out? or should we have moved 50 or so yards closer and set up again?

[Dan-o]

I've had Tom's come in on a string from probably 600 yards away, and cover that ground in almost no time.

I've also had Tom's hang up for an hour or two and gobble back.
In some cases, they never came in.
In some cases, they finally came in after an hour or two.

Sometimes they come in hot.   
Sometimes they come in halfhearted.

I will never leave a gobbling Tom to find another, but that's just me.

[Iveexcaped3]

I’ve come to the conclusion it’s a battle of stubbornness until someone gives up. My bird last year came straight to me. The bird we tried to get a buddy of mine we got him to actually fly across a creek to find us. Pretty sure he spotted us as he got quite after he flew over head.

[Russ McDonald]

Big thing is don't over call.  Don't go back forth with him.  If you get him to gobble and you think he is closing im shut your calls down.  Just have to remember in nature the tom does not come to the hen, the hens comes to the tom.  That is why toms strut snd show off.  When they come in to hen calse is because they are horny and thinking with their other brain also they are also thinking what is that lost women doing.  Sometimes you just have to play hard to get and that might really spike their interest. 

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[ghosthunter]

Buddy and I called to one few years ago for a couple hours or more. About four times in that amount of time. He would gobble every 15 minutes. We sat, at times we were sure he was coming than not.

He finally walked away gobbling. We went to see the area he was, it was a L shaped creek bed, which half came toward us. He would not leave the steep bank creek bed, just paced up and down it.

[bearpaw]

There are all types of birds out there as far as mood and how they will respond to a call and every day that can change, a tom that had a hen with him one day most likely won't come to your calling unless the hen comes and brings the tom along, in a day or two after that hen goes to sitting her nest that same tom may come running in to your call. Every day and every bird can be different. There is no "exact way to do it", you have to judge each situation when it happens and try to do what you think will work in each given situation.

[Mfowl]

A good trick on a hung up bird instead of moving closer is to back off and circle all they way around to the opposite side of his position. Make him think his hen passed by and he missed her! I have found that closing the distance on them results in a spooked bird more often than not.

[phildobaggins]

A good trick on a hung up bird instead of moving closer is to back off and circle all they way around to the opposite side of his position. Make him think his hen passed by and he missed her! I have found that closing the distance on them results in a spooked bird more often than not.

Ooh, that's a good move. 

[hunter399]

Call and locate ..... That's step one
Keep calling....close the distance......step two.
When you get to 100 yards or close.....you decide if he is on his way .....or holed up.
If he is active and on the way,I find some kind of cover and keep calling.
If he is holed up ,then it's time for a stalk.

[baldopepper]

I get to see a lot of birds around the house and to play with them quite often. Often those vocal callers are henned up. And while they'll call back, they have no intention of moving.  Often around noon-one o'clock , if the weather is warm, the flock will shade up but the Tom will wander around a bit and is vulnerable to a call.  Trying to sneak up on those henned up birds is pretty tough as those watch dog hens will usually bust you.  Over calling and too much movement are the biggest mistakes most hunters make.  While you might get one to come in, I've found that if he's not on the move your way within the first 10-15 minutes of calling, he's not coming.  I've called them on the hill below my house off and on all day and watched them gobble back but just keep feeding with not a thought of coming.

[salish]

Wow, some tremendous advice here.

[Russ McDonald]

Something I forgot to mention is that the flock is not run but a tom it is run by a hen which I usually call the boss hen.  If you can call the flock to you it will bring the tom's with to.  Also keep in mind tom's follow hens while they are on the move.

[ASHQUACK]

Pretty much all if the above given what the bird/s are doing. I have called and then stopped and had a bird come on a string. I have called and called and called an had birds circle me and never present a shot. I've had many an argument with a boss hen and won a few and lost a few. I live it when I hear a boss hen talking. I will cut her off and copy (at least try to) everything she does. But mostly I will call in the middle of her calling. I've never met a woman who likes to be interrupted and those hens will most often come in hot and drag a Tom with them.

[WaltAlpine]

I've had Tom's come in on a string from probably 600 yards away, and cover that ground in almost no time.

I've also had Tom's hang up for an hour or two and gobble back.
In some cases, they never came in.
In some cases, they finally came in after an hour or two.

Sometimes they come in hot.   
Sometimes they come in halfhearted.

I will never leave a gobbling Tom to find another, but that's just me.

Exact same here.
The last one I got I saw from a looong way off. He just turned and ran to me. 10 yard shot.
I have also sat for 3 hours on one that responded to every call but just milled around but never got close.


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