Help: How to get turkeys to finish

[Tally Turkey]

Hi all,

I was working some turkeys on a lease this past weekend in Southeast GA. Never been to the property before, so was hunting it blind, but I quickly discovered it had a lot of birds. I hunted it hard both days and got 4 different birds within 100 yards, but each time, I couldn't get them to finish. 2 of them hung up in thick creek bottoms whereas I was on high ground over a little hill. The 2 others hung up in very dense woods and would not step out into the opening. I tried soft calling, louder aggressive calling, calling on pot and mouth call simultaneously to mimick hens fighting, I tried being silent...to no avail. Each spot they hung up in was far too thick to sneak in on them without making a ton of noise. The farmer who owns the property said there are so many hens out there that it's always been hard to pull birds.

I am by no means a great caller but have called in enough to know that I'm not terrible. Any tips for getting gobblers to leave their comfort zones and finish?

[PNWturkey]

Food for thought:

The creek bottom ones - if possible, I would have crossed the creek and repositioned on the other side.  Possible that they didn't want to cross the creek or valley.

Thick timber - again, I would try to reposition and call them in from a different angle, using a different call from your arsenal.  It is possible that they didn't see the hen they were looking for and got nervous.  Did you hear any clucks from them when they hung up?  That is a sign that they are looking for the hen they have been hearing and won't be sticking around much longer...

I killed a bird last weekend that wouldn't cross a ravine (that to me looked very reasonable to cross).  As soon as he left the area and crested the ridge I repositioned where I last saw him on the ridgetop and called him right back to that spot...

[Tally Turkey]

Thanks for the input. I would have crossed the creek and tried him from over there since that is where he came from, but the creek was the property boundary. Also didn't hear them cluck at all. Only gobbling and drumming at 70 yards and the other about 100.

[GobbleNut]

My first question would be...how much hunting pressure does this property get?  Quite honestly, it sounds like the birds you are dealing with have been hunted hard enough that they will only come so far to a call and then expect a real, live hen to close that final distance.  That is a typical, pressured-turkey response.  At some point, the light-bulb in a hunter's head must come on when he recognizes that killing a turkey under those circumstances is more about positioning and less about calling. 

Now, if those turkeys have not been hunted enough to develop that "I-will-not-approach-any-further instinct", then there is something else preventing them from coming on in to your calling.  Could be hens,..could be terrain barriers,...could be turkeys just being turkeys.  In those situations,...and especially in situations where there are a lot of gobblers,...it may be a matter of just keeping after them and trying the successful tactics you have developed over time to finally catch one of them "in the mood" and in the right place. 

Often, it these situations, success is a function of perseverance, patience, and gradually learning the land and the tendencies/patterns of the birds.   

[g8rvet]

Or have a buddy call 75 yards behind you!

[Tally Turkey]

I'm not sure how pressured they are, but 3 of the 4 birds that hung up were in spots that birds had been killed at several days before. I understand why they hung up - they stayed in the safety of the cover and expect a live hen to go to them. Heck, they could have had hens with them for all I know, except I would have expected the hens to call back at me if so. I just need figure out how to get them to leave the safety of the cover and step out in the open...proving to be easier said than done. Maybe I'll throw in a gobble next time and see if that gets help. I can't gobble on my mouth call though. I have to use the primos gobble tube. Not sure if people have had success with this.

@g8rvet - I was about 70 yards from hung up in the trees and tried walking the opposite direction and calling. I walked 100 yards opposite direction and called away from the bird. He fired off in the same spot. I closed the distance again and stayed silent and he gobbled again...from the same spot.

[DumpTruckTurkey]

too much calling.

[Marc]

Some great advice given, and I love these threads!  I have put that advice of GobbleNut and others to use plenty of times for increased success!!!

Very few of the birds I have killed did not hang-up at some point.  We are asking these birds to do what is NOT natural.  In nature, the tom gobbles, and the hen comes looking...  You have to make him come looking for the hen.

Personally, I have had more birds get within 70-100 yards and hang up, than I have had come all the way in.  The super fun and satisfying aspect, is getting them to finish.

Most of us call too much, and too aggressive.  While there is a time for aggressive calling, I have had more luck with quiet clucks, purrs, and the occasional contented yelping.

A bird that is almost there, but will NOT come closer (then keeps wandering off, and coming back)...  I stop making him answer me, and wait and let him gobble a couple times before answering him...  Or, get around him and call from the other side of him.

If they are on the other side of a creek, I want to be on the same side they are.

Never call at a bird you can see, cause he will expect to see a hen at some point (even if he is a looong ways off)...  Wait till the bird is obstructed (and cannot see you) before calling.  I like to pick saddles in which, when a bird comes over the top, he is in range...  Or wooded areas where he will keep coming forward to search for that hen...  As soon as a bird gets to a spot where he should be able to see a hen, and does not, he will often get nervous.  If a bird is coming, I am more likely to call at him below a saddle, than in a wooded area...  Bird in a wooded area is coming closer, I shut up and let him come (and do some light calling if it sounds like he is changing direction).

While moving closer to a calling bird, I try not to call as I am moving in on him, cause I would think he would expect that hen to keep on coming.  Hear the bird gobble, quickly/quietly make your move, and then call.  (I have bumped plenty of birds).

Last weekend, I  had one below me, off the property.  I was on a ridge.  Several times, I went to the edge of the ridge, and called while walking away from the bird towards my spot (sounding like a moving hen, moving away from him).  Just as I was about to give up the ghost after 30 minutes of silence, I gave one last call, and there he was...  He showed himself about 40 yards away.  Stupid me, thought he would keep coming, but he did not see a hen, and got nervous.  (Although I did tag out later that day)

Patience...  Two of the birds I took this season, I worked for hours...  First bird of the season would almost come in, but kept getting hung.  I moved up and around him, he gobbled a couple times and went quiet...  and then I saw him at 100 yards, going in and out of half-strutt and never gobbling.  Took him an hour to come those next 65 yards....  Never gobbled coming those last few yards.

[g8rvet]

Reminds me of one I called in for my son many moons ago.  It was just over an hour before the cut off time (I think it was 12 on WMA back in those days).  The bird was gobbling and going crazy on his own.  He was in short pines, but thin enough to see. We walked away from road and he just hung up.  There was about 50 years of turkey and scrub oak between us - it was all wide open.  He was in the pines across from us, we were back about 30 yards in the pines.  He would gobble and strut for an hour.  Would not budge.  With time winding down, I waited until he gobbled to be sure he had not closed the distance.  We backed out and circled into the scrub oaks and moved toward him.  Did not call until we had sat down.  He double gobbled to some soft calling.  next gobble closer and I told son to get gun up.  He was in our lap in 10 minutes after not coming for an hour.  He just broke and came right in.   Still had 10 minutes left.  Sometimes it is just about repositioning or getting in a very slightly different terrain.  Turkeys being turkeys.