Gobbler ignored me this morning

[allan]

Hunting this morning, had a decoy jake and hen out front of my blind. Yelped once just before fly down. Crazy bird flew over my set not ten feet over the decoys landed uphill bout 80 yards, gobbled twice and proceeded up the mountain?
What happened?

[rocksteady]

Simple... GHEY turkey !!! You should have shot him on the fly down :)

[goatdancer]

Yep. Wing shoot him.......

[allan]

If I could shoot that well with my bow, I would be rich, famous and be cooking turkey for dinner tonight. Alas I am none of those..... Sigh.

[braggadoe]

sounds like a typical turkey hunt, it's great eh!!!


probably watched/heard you setting out your decoys/blind? Decoys can work, but they're an over rated tool.

try making turkey sounds........flap your hat against your leg a bunch of times and then down onto the ground, to imitate a hen flying down. then after a while scratch in the leaves/duff....scratch-scratch-scratch pause scratch-scratch-scratch.....sounds like a hen feeding.

good luck!

[rocksteady]

They have a brain the size of a pea, hopefully yours is bigger :) Just cause your big brain thinks they should do this or that, their pea brain will confuse your big brain just about every time :)

[.330 Dakota]

phone her back

[bcbrez]

Haahahahaha. Isn't turkey hunting fun.

[doubled]

We had so many gobblers respond and start coming only to hold up that last 40-50 yards. Almost all we could see had hens and would follow them. If we could get the hens pi$$ed off and then the lead hen to come up, then we were in business but it played out the other way time and again. It was frustrating but exciting at the same time. Need to work on my calls and research this damn addicting animal more. Definitely a learning experience.

[Lil Bow Pete]

At least you saw one. That will feed the addiction. I've been hooked since the first time I heard one gobble. Now I'm a turkey huntin junkie.

[The Dude]

When my Gobbler ignores me I kick her out of bed and tell her to make some coffee.......

[GoatGuy]

When my Gobbler ignores me I kick her out of bed and tell her to make some coffee.......

How long is the beard on that gobbler?

[The Dude]

How long is the beard on that gobbler?

Trust you to thrust your sick beliefs on others, you pervert. :P :D

[huntwriter]

Hunting this morning, had a decoy jake and hen out front of my blind. Yelped once just before fly down. Crazy bird flew over my set not ten feet over the decoys landed uphill bout 80 yards, gobbled twice and proceeded up the mountain?
What happened?

Go find out why the tom walked up the hill. Maybe his food source is up there or the hens walked up there before him. Since animals do nothing without a reason you should find out what it is and then adjust your set up accordingly.

There is also the chance that he has seen your blind or heard you setting up and going uphill is his escape route. The usefulness of ground blinds is overrated. Unless commercial blinds are well camouflaged they are often seen by turkeys. Try setting up behind big tree trunks or dead fallen tress, bushes and the like instead.

Good luck.

[Brez]

Think of turkeys as little feathered elk. Apply the same strategies. Remember, they probably hear and see better than elk - they just don't have the nose..........and they can fly!

[allan]

Well I found him again this morning. I set up higher and the crazy bird came in from way left to where I was set up the day before. So after an hour of hearing him gobble I went down to try and put the sneak on him. I got to 20 yards watching him strut and gobble his head off. Answering to gobbles across the slope to private property. Try as I may I could not see a beard!! At times with my 10x binoculars I thought I could see a tiny tiny tuft there but not enough to loose an arrow. DANG IT!!

[huntwriter]

Well I found him again this morning. I set up higher and the crazy bird came in from way left to where I was set up the day before. So after an hour of hearing him gobble I went down to try and put the sneak on him. I got to 20 yards watching him strut and gobble his head off. Answering to gobbles across the slope to private property. Try as I may I could not see a beard!! At times with my 10x binoculars I thought I could see a tiny tiny tuft there but not enough to loose an arrow. DANG IT!!

Not all mature toms have long beards. Some loose them in fights with other toms. You say that you saw him strutting. Did the tom display a full fan or where the 3 middle tail feathers longer then the rest? If it's the later then it was a jake and yes they have tufts too. Hope you have better luck in the days to come.