What did I do wrong?

[BaseballStud20]

So I located a bird this morning about 9 am and he was probably about 200 yards away. I worked my way down a little closer and he was sounding off like every ten seconds. I set up on a down slope and started making some soft calls. He replied immediately every time and started to sound like he was coming in pretty fast. I think he was about 70 yards away the last time I heard him and every time I called after that I heard nothing. I figured he was coming in silently so I just quit calling and decided to wait. I kept hearing this weird noise that sounded like a deep whooping sound, it started out slowly and then got faster and faster, kinda like an old generator starting up. I had no idea what it was and then it started to rain. I got impatient and it was only about 30 minutes since I heard him last. I decided to work my way out slowly and call a few times as I went. I got absolutely nothing from that so went to a different area. My question is...what should I have done differently in that situation? I kept second guessing myself and really did not know what to do.

[Wayne1]

I kept hearing this weird noise that sounded like a deep whooping sound, it started out slowly and then got faster and faster, kinda like an old generator starting up

  That was grouse you heard...  thier in thier breading season also

[BaseballStud20]

I was wondering if that's what it was. Have never heard anything like that before though. Thanks Wayne.

[Tom Tamer]

My opinion in the way the season is right now, one if anything you did wrong you had him gobble too much and another hen you could not hear interceptd him. The hens where I'm hunting have not been setting the nest so every time they hear a gobble they run to it. Yesterday I had a big tom that hung up at 150 yards and would gobble and strut, th hens would come to him and about an hour after that they slowly dissapeared on him. SO he'd gobble and they'd pop right back into his view. Give thm another week and a lot of these hens should be on the nest for good.....let's hope

[OneHorn]

It is hard to tell what you did wrong if you did wrong. with it being this late in the season he could have played this game many times and has been called to and sometime when you get fired up and they are to you might have called to much to where he hung up and figured if you were that intense that you should just come to him.

[BaseballStud20]

Yeah, thinking about it now I probably did call too much. Dang it.

[fishunt247]

Like Onehorn has any room to talk about calling too much, hahahaha, inside joke. But could be lots of things. When you think you think you are calling just enough, call less...most of the time. If he was gobbling every ten seconds, were you firing back with hen calls every ten seconds? If he is gobbling that much to begin with, shut up and give him the silent treatment, maybe earlier than you did. But who knows? Gobblers are irrational.

[Machias]

After they answer me like that I call maybe once every 10-15 minutes, if he cuts me off while I'm calling I shut up.  You get them so fired up they figure hey she wants me she can come and get me...like she would if she was a real hen.  Wait a while....45 minutes or more.  Then slip out backwards circle around and try it from a different location.  They will rarely cross creeks, fences, heavy brush, etc...  He could have been hung up and not able to cover the last yardage.  Coyote or bobcat or lion made have tried to put a sneak on him, lots of things you have no control over could have happened.  Go right back after him, you know where he's hanging out, you got half the battle won.  This is the FUN part, doing battle with one.

My first year up here, I thought I kept hearing little motorbikes start up and head towards me.  Took me a while to figure out the grouse were drumming.   

[BaseballStud20]

Yeah, hopefully I can get on to another bird tomorrow that will just as vocal as that one. And this time I wont screw it up. I'll try to call less and see if that get's him to come in.

[Machias]

Hey if you were up in the area I told you about, make sure you cover your back with a nice sized tree.  A few years ago I was up there calling and got done, stood up and there was a very respectable tom lion crouched down about 30 feet away.  Once I stood up he stood up and just stood there for about 30 to 45 seconds.  Never was worried, turned and walked away.  I was blown away at how quiet he was.  Watching him walk away he never so much as rustled a leaf.  I can only imagine what would have happened had I kept on calling.   

[BaseballStud20]

Yeah I was up in that area. Did not see any sign of lions but ill be careful next time im up there.

[fishunt247]

I called in two lions in a turkey setup 2 years ago and I was surprised how loud they were. You could hear them walking 80 yards away. But I was also surprised how once we stood up they weren't afraid at all. Actually, they put more of a sneak on us once they figured out what were were rather than when we were "turkeys."
Keep at it though, the best way to learn is to screw up and analyze what happened. It will click eventually.

[turkeydancer]

Agree with the other replies:
1) We all tend to call way too much even though we don't need to ... call only as much as you need too (seldom) and let his natural curiosity and sex drive work against him.  My general rule is as he comes closer to call tons softer and a lot less often.
2) Highly propable that a hen intercepted him as TT mentioned. Or might have been some of his buddies.
3) With your first calls he had you pegged to within 1 sq ft of area.  It's also not natural for him to continually hear calling coming from that same square foot or tree since turkeys do move around a lot.  Did you try "throwing you voice" at all?  Did you try "raking the leaves" or a hat "wing flap" for realism? You also mentioned you moved ... was there a chance he spotted you?
4) Just the nature of the beast ... 

[squeege]

that pretty much sums up my whole weekend they did that the hole time we would locate call try and cut the distance an they would stop answering man it was frustrating. but in colville the weather would change every hour and it was clear skys at night with a full moon and I think that really screwed them up. but we saw a ton of birds just to far away to get a shot.

[wastickslinger]

You'll learn that sometimes everything right ends up being wrong. Persistance and practice is about all you can get right with those things. Keep at it, it will work out for ya.

[Intruder]

You'll learn that sometimes everything right ends up being wrong. Persistance and practice is about all you can get right with those things. Keep at it, it will work out for ya.

That's pretty true.  You may haven't done anything wrong per se'.  Sometime turkeys have their own agenda.  You may have over called.  Maybe you didn't call aggessively enough to keep him interested.... always a lot of 2nd guessing when there's not 1 floppin on the ground.  Just stick with it and concentrate on being stealthy and your setups.   

[SpokaneSlayer]

They will rarely cross creeks, fences, heavy brush, etc...  He could have been hung up and not able to cover the last yardage. 

Dang!  I should've known that.  Maybe that's why it seems that when the birds I hunt get to a certain position heading up the ridge they won't come in.  I know there is a fence but the part of it I saw it was down.  Matter of fact, I almost crossed it without knowing.  I need to check that out next time before they get there to see if that section is up or not.

[fishunt247]

Yeah I'm not sure why they won't cross these at times, you know they have to in "real life" sometimes. Earlier this year, we had 2 birds fired up like crazy but they hung up. Come to find out there was a tightly strung fence where they hung up. 2 days later, went in on the same birds, set up right at the fence, called them in and I killed one. So learning the area (fences, creeks, etc) will increase your chances as well.

[SpokaneSlayer]

I can't set up on the fence.  The other side is private property.  But good to know in the future.

[fishunt247]

Set the dekes 10 yards or so on your side of the fence maybe and set where if he steps through the fence you can shoot him... worth a shot.

[wastickslinger]

I can't set up on the fence.  The other side is private property.  But good to know in the future.
[/quote

Get in a clearing as tight as you can to the fence. He'll come across if he is horney enough.

[yelp]

Put your right foot in and put your right foot out now do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around...LOL  

[furbearer365]

That sound you heard could have been a grouse but i would think with a turkey that hot it was probably him spitting and drumming.  It is a really unique sound if you haven't heard it before but is sounds exactly the way you discribed.  One thing with calling in animals, no matter what kind, they all seem to get cagey and tend to shut up the closer they get.  Animals have a very keen sense of knowing how close they are and in what direction the calls came from.  When they shut up, that usually means they have the sound pin pointed and will come in but on their own time and in the direction they feel the safest, so that should have been the time to be patient and wait him out.

[bearpaw]

The hen goes to the tom in the turkey world.

The tom has strutting zones and the hens in his area know where they are. Those are meeting places for turkeys. He gobbles and struts saying I'm here, come and get it......Some Tom's simply will not come all the way to you.....I like to keep em excited myself, however you need to give him time between gobbles to advance toward you.

It is hard to know when exactly you should try this, but the next time a bird hangs up, if you feel safe that he is definitely out of sight, move toward him and then set up again....it will most likely excite him to hear you move since he expects the hen to move closer to him....this has worked like a charm for me on many occasions.