What to do with with a bird that's hung up

[Gooserbat]

17 HMR + Hen = Callable Tom.  Or you could just be dirty and pop the Tom and let her live.  Just a thought.

[Greybeard11]

If he comes to a certain point and won't come any closer I will go quiet and let him move off. Once I'm sure he's far enough he won't see me I'll move up to where he came to before. Sometimes they will come back to that spot. It will appear to him that the hen has come to the spot where he gobbled. This has worked for me. If this doesn't work I'll try him later in the morning.

[Farmboy27]

If he comes to a certain point and won't come any closer I will go quiet and let him move off. Once I'm sure he's far enough he won't see me I'll move up to where he came to before. Sometimes they will come back to that spot. It will appear to him that the hen has come to the spot where he gobbled. This has worked for me. If this doesn't work I'll try him later in the morning.

Good advice. I've had this work for me too.

[Bowguy]

Lots of ways to deal w it n none work every time but what you were doing wasn't working so more of that isn't the answer. You can try gobbler/fight sounds n he could move. As stated leave em alone til later, just go quiet n see if he comes lookin(not my choice btw, but it works). Comes a time he's not the only game in town so if all else fails go find a "good bird"

[ilbucksndux]

First off I shut up. I think that sometimes to much calling is the reason he stops. He goes to that point and wants the "hen" to cone the rest of the way. I have walked straight away,say 50 or 100 yards and that has caused him to break. Other times I have cut a wide circle around him and got behind him.

[GobbleNut]

There are a hundred different things you can do.  Maybe one of them will work and the other ninety-nine will not.  Hope you guess the right one out of those hundred and you can kill him.  If you guess one of the other ninety-nine, after he shuts up and disappears, go look for another gobbler.   

[Tailwalk]

If someone had a definitive answer they would probably make a ton of money...

[boatpaddle]

I've taken notice, that some springs, this happens allot more then others...The further along in the season, the more it seems to happen...

     The older dominate gobblers usually want the hen to come to him, so are/were you dealing with a dominate gobbler ?

     Was he in his strut zone ?   Was he with hens?? Was there something, that was keeping him from coming ?? Ditch, fence, water....??   What kind of ground are you hunting? Mountains, rolling hills or flat....??

      What calls were you using...Friction, box, mouth calls & loud, soft or mixed ??

     Lots of variables/ unanswered questions to deal with in a situation like this...

     Most times, I'll let the action play out from right where I'm at for awhile......I've bumped allot of birds moving to reposition in my younger years.....My bad back has taught me to be much more patient.....

    His back and knee's are way better then mine, so he's coming to me, if he's still interested...LOL!!

     
      Lots of good advice given by other fella's on this topic.....Try different things and see, what happens....He'll be there tomorrow, if nothing works & remember, it still beats the heck out of being at work...

     

[stinkpickle]

BOOM!  click, click  BOOM!  click, click  BOOM!   

[quavers59]

I had gobblers hang up on me 2 days in a row. Just let them walk off and move.

[Happy]

Dig him out. Hook a chain to him, whatever it takes. Duh.

[Will]

Like I tell my buddies, if you were at a night club sitting with a pretty gal or two or three, and some other gal across the room wanted you to come over and talk - would you leave?
[/quote]

Well said.
But I hope he has the young bull and old bull approach if you know what I mean.
I like the circling idea. I've done that and it works. I've also had the hen come in first sometimes mad at the decoy if I'm able to set it up.

[WildTigerTrout]

 Go home.