Just for fun and curiosity:
What is the longest time you have had to "work" a hung-up gobbler and been successful? I have had a 1.5 hour episode that ended with a dead tom. That long of time was probably was more attributed to me being a bad hunter rather than a good one. Things just finally went my way in the end (for once).
I have had a few that took 6 or so hours to get kilt.
Good-looking and Platinum level member of the Elitist club
3.5 hours, finally broke and came in.....
A bunch over an hour.
A couple turned into all day affairs.
Off the top of my head ....over 3 hours.
I hear a lot of turkey hunters' fuss and complain about a Tom being hung up and how they try everything for a while and just give up. NOT ME, this is where I get my gobbler rush. I absolutely love the long-heated battle. Our day ends at 1PM so my longest battles have been in the 4 to 4.5 hour range. Getting on a hot Tom that runs in just after daylight to commit suicide is all fine and good but dang if that battle don't bring out the best in me. I've been doing this for about 50 years and I seem to learn something new every time.
Longest match with one in the afternoon was a little over 5 hours before I had him flopping. In the morning, have never played chess with one for more than about 3.5 hours before he presented the shot.
Quote from: sswv on March 14, 2024, 12:39:10 PM
I hear a lot of turkey hunters' fuss and complain about a Tom being hung up and how they try everything for a while and just give up. NOT ME, this is where I get my gobbler rush. I absolutely love the long-heated battle. Our day ends at 1PM so my longest battles have been in the 4 to 4.5 hour range. Getting on a hot Tom that runs in just after daylight to commit suicide is all fine and good but dang if that battle don't bring out the best in me. I've been doing this for about 50 years and I seem to learn something new every time.
There is no better hunt for me than the type sswv is describing. Cat and mouse for the whole morning or afternoon far beats a flash hunt in my opinion, even though others may disagree.
I have spent most of the day with some and ate lunch with them. Sometimes I'm successful and sometimes not so lucky ... LOL..
Longest was over 6 hours, set up tight on roost, and he flew down and went with the hens. Gobbled all morning to calls, and finally stepped into range about 3 minutes after legal shooting hours closed. I'm ok with that, it was a great chess match.
Solo is 6 plus hours, if it was the same bird. With a partner 2.5 hours. Thats being successful. Ive had plenty in the loss column. Z
Counting today, 11 years. I'm about to give up on him. He hasn't gobbled in nine years now. :TooFunny:
Last year I sat down at 6:30 and killed him at 11:30. He was never more than a couple hundred yards away.
Never timed any encounters, but looking back I would guess I may have stayed with a single gobbler that I was "in conversation with" an hour plus a bit over the years. Honestly, I have had very few gobblers in my life that have not fit in one of the following categories: 1) come for a face-to-face visit in a relatively short period of time (an hour or less)... 2) decided I wasn't worth their time and shut up and (probably) left,...or 3) were in an "off-limits" place where I did not have the ability to relocate to find "the spot" and "the sound" they were willing to come to.
Personally, I don't have much patience for silent and/or departed gobblers...and I am fine with having that shortcoming. Fortunately, I hunt mostly where I have plenty of opportunities to go and try to find a bird that wants to play the game the way I want to play it. I repeat my oft repeated slogan: I hunt gobblers for the conversation, not just to kill one of them.
Now, if my situation was not what it is in that regard, I might find myself needing to wait on a bird a lot longer. Perhaps I would develop that level of patience...but then again, perhaps not... ;D :D
If he is answering, not apparently with hens and not there in a couple of hours, you are probably talking too much.
Seven days I worked the same bird.
Probably 3-4 hours in one sitting.