I usually don't get frustrated with turkey hunting as I love it. But man, the first couple weeks of season have been odd for me. Turkeys are very vocal, will gobble all morning long, but will not commit to the call. Now, I realize the first few weeks in PA usually see toms henned up and their very reluctant until later in the morning if the hens separate. However, this morning... baffles me. I saw or heard three different toms that had no hens with them. One in particular came within 70 yards this morning, by himself and hung up after seeing the deke. I had a bird directly behind me gobbling like crazy and was pinned down. I am pretty sure the bird right behind me was close enough to kill, but I was afraid to move with the bird lurking in front of me. Then at 11AM, I had a very vocal bird come within 70 yards, gobble his head off, then leave. He had a hen, but I accidentally kicked the hen when sneaking in to setup on him. He continued to gobble his head off at anything I through at him. Then, like a switch, he started walking away, gobbling the whole time. I'm sort of at a loss. These things have been happening all season for me. Birds will gobble on their own, some come half way then walk away gobbling, or their henned up and won't gobble at all. I know, its turkey hunting. I know thats part of the game, but I just had to vent a little. The tom that I had going at 11AM today really bothers me. I did it all right I think. He was by himself, vocal, and I was in a very favorable position for him to come in. I'm beginning to hate turkeys... LOL
Try being more mobile, and forget the deke. The past few years my brother and I have had great success stalking to within 50-100 yards of strutters, hittin the call once and they are on us before we know it. Just change your tactics up a little bit.
Not pressured what so ever. These birds are as "virgin" as you'll find. Our property is 600 acres and its surrounded by another 2K plus acres of prison property that is off limits to hunting. They've always been a bit decoy shy. One bird will shy away for every 10 that walk right in. I'm not a big deke fan. The only time I use one is when I'm setting up on one of the food plots or other really open areas where I believe it helps since the tom can see a long way and if he can't spot a "hen" from afar, he knows something may be up. I do move around a bit, but probably not as much as I should. My problem is, I can't pinpoint the location of gobbles for the life of me. I've found myself going in a completely different direction than I needed to on more than one occasion.
I'm not a big deke fan either. Game ears. Seriously if you have issues determining direction of sound they can be invaluable. I know a couple of guys who swear by em.
