OK I know there is no way to know for sure why a turkey acts the way it does but I wanna hear your opinions on why this big Tom acted this way Red line: the path he took Yellow : our position Blue: the decoys Black X: where he hung up Orange X: where he proceeded to kick several Jakes butts I called him in from 200+ yards (the bottom of the map) Used minimal calling, there was a good breeze so every few minutes one or the other of my decoys would swivel a little producing what I thought of as very realistic movements I'm trying to figure out why after hanging up at 65 yards, disappeared into the treeline for a bit but after I called twice and had some Jakes further down the field respond with gobbling then he reappeared, but he mad a wide (65-67 yard) circle around us (not strutting just walking) he procceded to kick some Jake butts and then moved back across the field to disappear into the woods behind us again (in full strut again) Did he smell something funny abt my decoy setup? Did he come back simply to whip those Jakes and then continue on his way? Why the wide circle? a straight line to the Jakes would have put him in range. If I would've had my Jake decoy out would he have come and kicked his butt as well? I know there is no sure answer to some of my questions but I'd like to hear your theories and opinions
Walk his path to where he stopped and held up, take a good look at your blind and decoys. At the same time of day if you can, could be the angle of the sun back lite you or a broadhead, did you move in the blind when he got to that point ? What do things look like from his point of view at that spot ? Look around and past your blind from there, could be something behind you spooked him. About 2 or 3 years ago I had called in 3 small toms at the same time from 3 directions, the first and closest to come in came from the north side of the blind. All were following logging roads toward the clearing intersection where I had my blind setup. The closest one hung up at 45 yards gobbling consistantly, the other two held up like 60 or so yards. I kept the close one talking for a long time, the other two gave up, from time to time I could see a glimse of him out the back window, the blind was burried in a triangle of cedars and had a knee high burm of dirt in front (was hard for me to find and I put it there). I had 3 hen decoys set up and that bird had visibility to one of them but not the blind, there was a curve or bend in the logging road just at the begining of the clearing. So even though that tom could see the hen decoy and not the blind from his view angle, he would NOT walk furthur down that road (because he could not see around the bend ?). He never came in, around 11:00 or so he circled, and off he went.
It's hard to say what a turkey is thinking, and why they do the the things they do sometimes. Keep in mind the hens usually go to them, so sometimes they get stubborn if that doesn't happen. My guess is he got suspicious of something after the hens didn't come to him. The fact that he made a circle around you tells me he didn't like something. If you had a tom or Jake decoy out he may have came in, but again every turkey is different, and some toms are timid. Keep trying, but don't keep doing the same thing. Less calling, and a different set up on him with maybe a male decoy may just do the trick. Good luck!
We were in the shadow of a treeline with the sun behind the ridge we were sitting at the base of so I don't think he saw us... I'm guess it was prob the decoys, do you guys normally face the hens towards the gobbler or away? I had a feeding hen and a upright hen but I made a mistake when placing them and had them facing towards the tom since I was expecting the gobbler on the other side of us, I've always thought that if they are facing away the gobbler will come in faster than if they are "looking at him" but I could be totally wrong, its just a theory I have And yes bonescreek I like the idea of retracing his path and looking at my setup from his point of veiw
OK this is driving me batty! Started out a big gobbler and 4 hens roosting at this one spot... After a couple days the gobbler disappeared an there were only 4 hens, a day or two later only 3 hens, now this morning on my way home from work I stopped an checked the field an there are only two hens... What's going on?!
They are probably starting to stay on their nests more which is why you might not see as many hens. As for the gobbler, he may have moved on to the next group trying to find some lovin
The fact that the jakes wouldn't commit to your decoys might have made him weary. Also as mentioned, in the wild hens seek out the big boys he may have been presenting him self but not giving in to them, I find if they won't commit to him it's almost like the hens are saying "we're done breeding, move along" sounds like a couple jake decoys alone might have been the ticket. I'm hunting a similar bird right now. First encounter he was hened up (45 yards) second encounter I brushed the inside of my blind with the riser of my bow with him at 15 yards, he moved off behind some brush at about 30 yards and drummed and hissed for 45 minutes... The following Sunday he saw my decoys at 45 yards, strutted a little and made a loop around me and never stopped. Time to re-evaluate and change it up a bit!
What do u guys think of a Jake decoy and a single feeding hen? Or mb a Jake standing over a submissive hen? The other thing I've been reading u can try is to increase your decoy spread... I have 3 feeding hens a Jake and a upright hen, should I use them all? Its kinda a pain to carry em all but if that's what it takes I'd crawl to my blind!!!
not really sure about the decoys all together. I seem to kill all my birds using no decoys at all. if that bird can't see you then he has to look for you. and in your situation maybe when he sees the decoys he knows what was making the calls and hangs up to evaluate the situation. granted I have killed a few using decoys and are currently using them. but my track record shows I have done better without them. I also do mostly all my hunting in the woods, so maybe that is the difference for me. try just one lone hen, he might not like competition. just some ideas that you might want to consider.
I do all my hunting in wide open fields since that's mostly what I have around here separated by little brush lines an things and I've heard ever since I can remember if a gobbler can't see the hens he's coming in too on a big field he's gonna know something is up A quick update: the 4 hens were back in the field this morning, hopefully the gobbler shows up tomorrow! Not sure if I'll be able to hunt at all this weekend with a wedding I gotta go to an stuff but if the gobbler reappears I'll sure try to get out at least once!!
Any luck? Me and my brother went out this morning to a field by his house. set up our dekes and got in the blind. Called in a two toms and a hen. They walked within shooting range but did not have a clear line of site b/c of some tall weeds/brush, they literally were coming right at us and then banged a left and kept walking. We hunted the pack for two more hours but they got hung up on some private property. Walked back to the truck and were driving home and we could see all the birds back in the field! We turned around an went back out but still no luck. Damn turkeys are tricky bastards!
