My calling needs work

[Candice_h]

I had a Tom on one side and two hens on the other. Tom gobbled from the top of a near by hill for nearly an hour and would not come any closer. Hens eventually headed his way and the gobbling slowly vanished into the distance.
Yet to tag my first bird but I'll keep working on it.
My calls got Screenshot_20210426-105443_Video Player.jpgthe attention of a young moose and his mother. Uncomfortably close so I had to yell and throw some sticks to scare the moose off. That was the end of my morning hunt.
Here is a picture of the calf

[Bowjob]

WOW! that must have been a cool sit this morning! you sure you didn't mix your moose and turkey calls up? LOL best of luck

[finsfurfeathers]

Can't do much better than having live hens calling for you. Nature dictates that the hens go to the toms what we do is the converse guess who wins every time.

[GW11]

Sometimes it just doesn't work out. The hen I was calling back and forth with yesterday was the worst sounding turkey I ever heard. It's a little overrated IMO and while it can help you close the deal, calling is secondary to good position.

Being between hens and a Tom is ideal, but unfortunately just didn't work out. In that case, don't compete with the hens for the gobbler, sit tight and let them bring him to you. Another option is to annoy the hen by imitating her calls, sometimes they'll come to investigate, bringing the Tom in tow. I brought a hen to 20 yards yesterday, she was so mad it was funny, but she didn't bring the Tom that time. Luckily he got too close to Dad's blind a bit later.

It'll work out eventually, tagging your first turkey can be so easy it's almost accidental or so tough it takes years, but you'll learn a bit more every day.

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[rick_iles]

Your only chance is to get very aggressive with your calls, and hope you tick off a dominant hen. Many times she will come to you, dragging the gobbler with her. I’ve done that a number of times.

[SongDog]

If he's got hens with him and gobbles to your call.he is not coming over. He's telling you to come join him and his ladies.


As Rick said, piss off his main squeeze and she will come over for a look and he will follow.

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[Candice_h]

I wont get back out for a while but I will give aggressive calling try. How often is considered aggressive?

[rick_iles]

I wont get back out for a while but I will give aggressive calling try. How often is considered aggressive?

listen to the birds. If a hen starts yelping back at you... Yelp louder, cutting off her yelps. She will get more aggressive with cuts and yelps, keep cutting her off. I’ve yelped and cut so hard, I figured I’d wore a groove in my slate call ..all this is of course if you are calling a dominant hen. If she stops calling, I usually shut up too, and watch very carefully for her to sneak in looking for that nasty hen !! Lol sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I once had an old hen so worked up, she literally stepped over my legs when she passed me. I heard a spit and drum, and out walked a strutting gobbler at about 10 feet past my legs.... bottom line is, let the birds tell you how to call. Listen and try to imitate as best you can. Bad calling is better than no calling. I’ve heard birds making so much strange noise, I thought it was somebody learning how to call...then out steps a hen....
Unless you find a dominant hen, normally the quieter and more infrequent calls are best to start out with.....then go from there.

[huntnmachine]

Good advice Rick....you nailed it.
if you can get a hen to respond to your calls and commit , the Tom will follow. He will allows follow the hen into your dekes and he does not pay much attention to the surroundings of your set up so makes it easy pickings for a kill shot

[rick_iles]

Good advice Rick....you nailed it

I started hunting turkeys in NY, before we had a season here. They still teach me a thing or two, every time I tangle with an old gobbler....keeps a guy going back each spring !!! Hopefully my screwed up knee let’s me get out !!!