registration is free , easy and welcomed !!!
Started by YoungGobbler, October 31, 2023, 09:45:52 PM
Quote from: TRG3 on March 08, 2024, 07:12:04 AMIllinois allows a hunter to fill three permits with gobblers during the five short spring seasons. Typically, I use the gobble call to take at least one and sometimes two while hunting on private ground. I hunt with either a full strut or jake with a couple of hen decoys. During the early seasons, the response to my gobbles is often one or more gobblers coming in to establish dominance. My gobbles represent a newcomer and the resident gobblers come in to challenge the newcomer, very often attacking my gobbler decoy. In the late seasons when many hens are on the nest and gobbler dominance has been well-established, I often take my largest gobbler of the season when only the most dominate bird is still looking for willing hens. Typically, my hen yelps followed by an occasional gobble will entice the real gobbler to come on in after he has tried unsuccessfully to lure the new-to-him hen (me) away from the newcomer gobbler. Sometimes I double gobbler back at his response, trying to challenge him and get him worked up. At some point, often after a couple of hours, the real bird will decide to challenge the newcomer, generally only gobbling once or twice as he comes in, running up to the decoys in a fighting demeanor. Encounters of this kind require patience but are very exciting as the end results often develop rapidly.