You'll get all sorts of advice on this subject and some of it will work some of the time. It all depends on the mood of the gobbler listening to the sounds being presented to him. My approach to late April/early May turkey hunting is based on my belief that the later the season goes, the more hens that will be nesting and not responding to the gobbling. Therefore, any hens still responding to gobbling are up for grabs among the toms still seeking. Just sounding like a hen might bring in a gobbler; however, for me I add some gobbling to hen yelps to give the impression that not only is there a hen seeking a gobbler but, in fact, an intruder gobbler has already found her and is telling the other gobblers about it. Hopefully, my hen yelps will entice the breeding instinct to bring in a gobbler and my gobbles will evoke the peck order aspect of rank. I'm incorporating two things, hoping that one of them will bring in the gobbler to the point where he sees my Pretty Boy or Funky Chicken hovering over a hen in the breeding position, all set up in a field easily seen from several position. Having said all of that, I just spoke with a fellow hunter this morning who fill both of his fifth season Illinois tags within the last week. He hunted in a woods with no decoys and only made hen yelps, clucks, etc. So...like I said in the opening statement, some of these techniques will work some of the time. While the gobbler has to win every time, the hunter only has to win once.
