I was at it again this morning. This time, I tried to set up in a spot that I thought they'd like to go to, rather than start from.
I set up in the dark and waited till the first gobbles at about 550am. I heard about 5, and they were from 3 different directions. The other 4 ignored me, but I had one calling back, but he was below me about 150 yards, with some thickets and a small stream between us. But his calls started to get more distant.
So I decided to move spots, to get in front of where (I thought) he was heading.
As soon as I get up out of my spot to collect my decoys (about 6:45am), I flush two birds right above me. Damn! They probably saw me and didn't want to fly down till I was gone.
My question is, do Toms gobble when the get spooked out of the tree? Neither of these birds gobbled, so I assume they were hens. God I hope they were hens.
I have found they generally don't want to fly down if they are spooked... they wait until the "coast is clear" But yes, they can do anything. Either way it doesn't really matter in your case... sounds like you are right in the thick of all the action. Get back out there tomorrow...
^^^ Sound spot on to what I was gonna say. Hard to tell what those birds were, but with all the birds you had gobbling around you I'd get right back after them. I used to beat myself up over spooking birds, and believe me I still hate it, but it is going to happen from time to time.
In crappie fishing; if you aren't hanging up, you aren't fishing close enough to the fish. Turkey hunting is a lot like that. Get over the fact you had a few spook, and keep going. I've been busted bad by hens, but had the ruckus of putts and wings set off a gobbler just a short distance away. Remember, turkeys are scared of everything, and they're used to hearing other turkeys putt and run/flush. It's happening around them every day. They get over it quick.