This morning I had a bird gobbling hard but knew he had hens. He was gobbling well enough for me to get a good idea where he was and set up in what I thought was a good location, on one side of small saddle with the bird gobbling just below the crest at 60-70 yards. As soon as I started calling both he and a hen lit up. She and I cut back and forth for 2 minutes or so with the bird gobbling at every call. I was hoping either he would take the short walk to investigate, or the hen would come with him in tow.
As it turns out, she started walking away across the opposite bottom, yelping the entire time, and he immediately shut up and followed.
Getting to the point, how aggressive do you call to hens in hopes she'll drag in a gobbler? Can you be too aggressive? Generally I try to mimic what they do, progressively trying to get her more excited
Like everything else with calling turkeys what works today may not tomorrow. Getting the hen fired up and cutting back at her, like you did, is sometimes all it takes. But the hen answering you may not have been the dominant hen and while y'all were talking she was walking away and then everyone else followed. I think you can get to loud or aggressive and the hens will leave, I try to keep the hen answering without over doing it.
I mimic what she does and a little more, I want her mad at me. At times she is going to leave with "her" tom, she will take him away from the competition. I will sometimes leave the area unless I have heard another bird gobbling, It can payoff to play the patience game, that tom knows where that hen (you) was and after breeding the other he may come back looking.
MK M GOBL
I start easy and see if she is agreeable to play nice. I only get aggressive as a last resort. My observation is that hens tend to respond to calling better early in the season. Once peak breeding hits they tend to drag the gobbler the other way.
I've never been successful calling in hens unless I'm in a pinch or travel corridor that she was wanting to travel through anyway. And at that point I have had the best luck clucking or staying silent.
From experience i could of told you the odds of you killing him with hens is very slim.. Most always the hens will take the gobbler away from you ... I would of gobbled at him and done a lot of scratching in the leaves ... I would of tried working him , not the hens .... in my opinion ....
I played that game last weekend. I was setup on the edge of a field. Had a hen clucking/cutting in cypress head behind me. Wanted her too come out into the field. No dice, she would wonder off, I kept calling her back behind me. She would not leave the cypress.
Did she have a gobbler with her or was she alone? I'll never know.
If she is talking to me, I give her what she gives and a little more. If she's aggressive, I ramp it up. If she takes the gobbler and leaves, you haven't lost a thing but if she comes to fight you'll have a gobbler in your lap. I do my best to mimic her calls and give her a little more.
I call aggressive
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I call over top of her calling if calling after doesn't work.
I give her everything she gave me and more.
Like most, I'm very aggressive and try to assert dominance over her. I have had it work out both ways. Sometimes she leaves and pulls the gobbler away. Other times, I'm giving her boyfriend a ride in the truck. I have also had the hen or hens come in and the gobbler stays back out of range. I have also just got up and flushed them to get them scattered. I've been successful doing that but I've failed a bunch too. It doesn't bother me to not kill, if I'm getting to fire up some vocal birds I'm happy.
I always start with non aggressive calling when I first make contact with a hen then proceed to ramp up in aggression as the situation dictates. I just don't see the downside in this approach. Some hens are "softer" than other and will just lead him off if I start to aggressively with them. If they're passive, I'm passive. If they're aggressive, I'm aggressive.
In the scenario that's been described when a real hen is verbally accosting me with my increasing confrontational calling and with the gobbler responding to everything with neither coming in, that's an ideal time to introduce an equally aggressive gobble response. This new gobbler would indicate that everything that's going on has caught the attention of a nearby tom and he has joined the fracas. This now incorporates the peck order which further involves the real gobbler. As the caller, you hope that either the real hen will come in to chastise my aggressive responses to her, dragging in the gobbler with her, or the gobbler will make the first move since now his peck order status may be challenged and it needs to be checked out. That would indeed be a very exciting position to be in as the hunter! Things often happen fast when they unfold, so be ready for the shot.
Quote from: TRG3 on March 28, 2019, 11:19:33 PM
In the scenario that's been described when a real hen is verbally accosting me with my increasing confrontational calling and with the gobbler responding to everything with neither coming in, that's an ideal time to introduce an equally aggressive gobble response. This new gobbler would indicate that everything that's going on has caught the attention of a nearby tom and he has joined the fracas. This now incorporates the peck order which further involves the real gobbler. As the caller, you hope that either the real hen will come in to chastise my aggressive responses to her, dragging in the gobbler with her, or the gobbler will make the first move since now his peck order status may be challenged and it needs to be checked out. That would indeed be a very exciting position to be in as the hunter! Things often happen fast when they unfold, so be ready for the shot.
Great post and i agree 100 percent ....
I usually start out mimicking her and it seems like a lot of times this will get an old hen fired up. The more aggressive she gets the more aggressive I get. Some fun times having a heated conversation back and forth with a fired up hen!
Quote from: Happy on March 28, 2019, 08:51:11 PM
I start easy and see if she is agreeable to play nice. I only get aggressive as a last resort. My observation is that hens tend to respond to calling better early in the season. Once peak breeding hits they tend to drag the gobbler the other way.
I would agree... I have killed a few toms calling hens in, and it has generally been early in the season. More often, I have had hens steal away a tom that is coming my direction.
If I am calling at a hen, I tend to mimic them... And call aggressively.
If that is not working, I might try gobbling at them, hoping to either drag the hen in for a look, or make the tom come looking for a fight. If that does not work, I try to imitate a fight myself (purring and ruffling hats and/or wings).
Generally I end up sitting there while the birds go off in a different direction and wonder what I could have done differently? Henned up toms are a decent challenge (at least for me).
Last week scouting, I took the kids with me... Not seeing birds, I gave a couple calls to see if there was anything in the area... A hen immediately answered, and came towards me, bringing along a group of multiple hens and 2 toms. Wish I had not taken the call out...
Like others have said, I try and mimic her with a little extra. I also have had good luck with cutting her off when she starts talking. Sometimes this helps but I only do it if she is aggressive.
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I love talking / interacting with hens. I like to try and bring em on over. Listening to them improves my calling. Listening to aggressive cutting sometimes makes my day.
BUT ......the scenario presented is difficult at best. I've tried it all and the result with hen talkis usually " syanaro". I've found that strategically hitting the gobble call is usually my best option.
Quote from: Delmar ODonnell on March 28, 2019, 08:11:35 PM
Generally I try to mimic what they do, progressively trying to get her more excited
:z-winnersmiley:
Try to call her in, Mimic her in hopes to pizz her off plus 1. This does work..... sometimes ;D
As hunters we do what has worked in the past whether it from experience or passed on by other successful hunters over time. Certain hens as some toms can be aggressive or docile.It is a coin flip whether they come in I have had more mouthy hens come in witout the tom in tow.He stayed in the back ground I suspect with other hens. Our first inclination is to throw the kitchen sink at her if anything it satisfies our urge to call something. I agree with a previous post this might of been a prime time to gobble as a challenge and it might peak another hen to check you out.
I rarely get aggressive. I mainly purr and cluck and scratch in the leaves. I want it to sound like something good for breakfast over here. It works for me pretty well.
Like others, I have had mixed results calling to vocal hens. I kind-of agree with the theory that if you are set up where they are wanting to go, then your chances improve considerably,...and if you are not, then you are generally screwed.
The gobbling idea presented intrigues me. I have done that a few times as a last resort attempt but I can't remember ever having it result in turkeys coming to the call. However, there are enough comments here stating that it works on occasion that I will likely try it more often in the future. :icon_thumright:
In my experience, and I've called in quite a few hens in different states, if you hear a hen that is yelping with a Tude then don't be afraid to call to her. She may or may not have a gobbler with her but you won't know until she arrives. My advice is to mimic her note for note and add a little extra. Calling hens are a lot like calling gobblers. Take their temp as well. If she gets agitated then pour it to her. Try to get the last word in (and for most of us we know that is hard). If she has turned and heading your way but you can't see her keep talking. Once you see her, cut back your calling and she'll be in your lap real soon. I was hunting Wisconsin a couple of years ago with a buddy and called in 2 separate hens where we had sat down to do some cold calling. One came in to 5 yards and stared us down for about 5 minutes then walked off and the second came in looking for us, walked away and I called her right back. Don't be afraid to call to hens, you don't have a thing to lose. GOOD HUNTING!
I've called to hens a few times and really made them mad. I called to one years ago and she beat up my decoy. Strutted like a little tom.
I don't think you did anything wrong. It's just one of those situations where she's going to get mad enough to come or do exactly what she did. I'd say I get as aggressive as the hen i'm calling to just by mimicking her response. Can't win them all. Good luck the rest of the season.
I like to clobber them, get ole boss mad and the whole crew is coming!
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I try to mimic what ever they are saying.