I'm coming to get ya!

[Life of Riley]

 
Day number 3 and I'm coming for you. Day 1 sat almost perfect for the fly down but was 10 yards too far and the birds walked away. Day 2 adjusted morning spot and worked great if I could shoot hens but somehow the gobblers were smart and flew well past me. 3 hours later when the birds were coming back around a coyote ran into the field and pushed the birds away from me. Day 3 I'm skipping the fly down and setting up by the strut zone which is where the birds have been spending the majority of their mornings.

[Life of Riley]

One more pic taken through the binos

[Dr Juice]

Good luck and provide him a dirt nap

[Ozark870Hunter]

I killed more in strut zones than right off the roost this year. Bet you get him. GL!

[TRG3]

I'm a believer in sounding like a gobbler, challenging the peck order. At this late date when most of the hens may be on the nest, a new hen (you) being courted by an intruder gobbler (you again) could just be the reason reluctant real birds come in to investigate. A hen decoy on the ground with a tom decoy immediately behind her is a sight that local gobblers may not tolerate. It worked for me in filling all three of my Illinois tags this spring. Let us know how it turns out.

[guesswho]

Sounds like you have a solid plan.  Good luck.

[Life of Riley]

I was out in the field before 5 hunkered down in the weeds on the south end of a corn field. An hour after sunrise and waiting for the birds to come from the north as they have the previous 3 visits I looked to my left and saw the 1st Tom entering the field 90 yards to my left.  I guess they had used an alternate roost.  For the next 3.5 hours the turkeys zig zagged around and once I had one come 60 yards from the decoy, and I learned what a hung up turkey looks like. The first two trips I didn't use any decoys, just trying to mix it up and see how the birds react. Everyday it is the same 3 toms, so I got my hands on a strutting gobbler decoy to see if that will fire them up. Not sure if I'll go back tomorrow or let them rest. I had to get out of my spot and go to work at 1030am and they were 150 yards away. Thankfully they didn't fly or run, just melted into the trees.

[TRG3]

That strutting tom placed directly behind a hen on the ground may just do the trick. It wouldn't hurt to give a few gobbles in response to their gobbling to let them know that there's a new hen being courted by an intruder gobbler. The urge to breed accompanied with an invasion of their peck order are two things going for you in this set up. Try not to shoot your decoy when the real birds come in ready to fight and they get nose-to-nose with your strutter! Let us know how it works out.

[Sevenyearsandcounting]

Hey Riley I had the same issue. Birds strutting the field and not working to anything! So we left that area and hunter other places and came back for the first time yesterday. He just started going crazy and was gobbling 2-4 times in a row every 30'seconds or so.

So today we went in at 4:10 am and walked as slow as possible. I knew more or less where he was roosted. We got within 125 yards and we hear a hawk screech and then "gobble gobbble gobble gobble" old boy was fired up again!

It was 4:45 by then and I used the darkness to slip within 50 yards and had a great hedgerow in between himself and I. At one point I thought he busted me but nope. I didn't know which way he'd drop down. I was pointed in the wrong direction until I heard "fwush...crack bang smash" three hens hit the ground cutting. My dad was 200 yards up the draw cutting like mad trying to get him away.

It worked. Just about 6:05 I hear again "fwush fwush crash:..GOBBBLE!" Big boys 60 paces from me. Sticks his head up. Aimed for the beak bam dropped him dead.

Moral? Stick him out. You will get your chance. And slip in way early. That's the only thing we changed. And it worked.