Awwwww, so close! It`s got to feel great that you got him in, and nearly closed the deal. Bad news is, when they`re Put, Put, Putting as they leave, they`ve made you. But you`ll get another opportunity, just learn from this minor setback. As you amass these experiences, you`ll grow as a turkey hunter, and you'll close the deal more often.Using a box yelper, took about a hour to get him to commit but got him to come over a rise I made a slight shift and he left puck puck puck...
Your best chance to kill that bird now is to try to bushwhack him: set up where he`s likely to pass by and not call at all. Or, call with a different call, and very, very sparingly.Thanks for the info, he started gobbling again but continued heading away. Went out later he was still there until I hit the box yelper again... he gone!
It`s a toss up whether he might roost in exactly the same area on any given day even without having been spooked. I cannot answer that, but, he will stay in that same general area, and he still is killable, but it will take a much more subtle approach now. Much less, if any calling, and you have to just be where he wants to be anyway.Do you think he will come back and roost in the same area, if so it’s him that I want!
That all depends...I almost never call and always use a hen decoy out in the open.
Might call three or four times total all morning. Once every 45min -1 hr. They hear it. They know the general area. And if they catch a glimpse of the hen sitting out lovingly, they want to come check it out.
In my area I would suspect that the turkeys have seen decoys once or twice - all from me. I know the neighbors don't hunt turkey.That all depends...
I think you`re exactly correct on how little you call, and hopefully, you call quietly too. I have indeed heard wild hens calling like they were screaming at the world, but that`s a very rare event, they`re normally much more subtle, as all prey animals are.
But decoys are far from a silver bullet. At times they can work, and at other times, they can cause older toms to shy away. It all depends on the area you`re hunting, how much they`ve seen decoys, what experiences they may have had with decoys and therefore assigned bad associations with, how late in the season, and oftentimes, just the mood and temperament of an individual tom.
That`s awesome! You know your area and the way the birds behave there, that`s for sure!In my area I would suspect that the turkeys have seen decoys once or twice - all from me. I know the neighbors don't hunt turkey.
For me, a single hen decoy has worked almost every time. To be fair, I could probably bag one almost every year without a decoy where I hunt.
I will say that for me, turkey hunting is almost turkey shooting. I have a spot that I know the turkeys will be. Has never failed once. I've put friends/relatives there and I would guess that the success rate each year has been over 90%. Only my older cousin who can hardly walk, smokes like a chimney and cannot sit still has failed to bag a bird. And that was probably 10 years ago.