Need some advice - for hened up birds

[FL-Boss]

Florida -  Today was my last hunt for the year even though we have a week or so left in season. Hunted this morning... heard one gobble for the first hour across the way on some other property..but he keep moving further away. I hunt on only 110 acres of private property.. so I can really chase them far.

This afternoon – birds everywhere. I saw 5 birds all together at different times... I hunted for 4 hours this afternoon.  I was hunting at the end of the property line.. the property ends on at a  power line... birds feeding up and down power line about 30 yards in front of me.  A few hens came on our side.. one walked 10 feet in front of me which was cool as I was just sitting behind a knee high ground blind.

My question – this afternoon a hen was feeding on the power line with a nice gobbler trailing a few yards behind her.  All the gobblers are hened up so it was not surprise.  Make me sick because he was only 30 yards away..and I could have easily killed the bird,   but he was across the property line. I just needed him to come 10 feet closer!   Anyway.. they were feeding .... I hit the call... his head comes up... he stops... then starts feeding again. No sound from him.  He is getting out of view ( but still real close – some thick woods between me and power line)   I hit a different call... and scratched some leave...same thing... he stops for a min and keeps walking until he is out of sight.  I had a few hen decoys out ( no tom decoys)  and he was never interested.  Is there anything else to do in this situation ?

[longspur]

Why is it your last hunt? Is this advise your asking  about for next year? If nothing else is working you might try a jake over a hen. How far off your property do they roost?

[FL-Boss]

 The property is 100 miles away... wont be able to get back there next week.  Yes, they roast about 300 yards away... but they always feed along the same path down this power line.  Sometimes they prefer the woods

jake thing is a good idea.. i bet that would make him mad.

[mikejd]

Is your niebor a turkey hunter. If not doorbell time. Even if you cannot get permission to cross they may allow you to hunt from your land and shoot into the power line. Worth a try. I like to ask well before the season so it doesn't seem like I'm hounding them you know.

[TheTwistedOne]

In that situation you are describing with multiple hens.  Just soft clucks, purrs and scratching the leaves.  No yelp calls!  You want to just sound like a feeding group of contented hens.  That sometimes entices the hens to come crash the party.

When he was following a single hen, however it's super tough.  If she is almost ready to breed, she won't want to be near other hens.  And if she is almost ready, he won't want to leave her.  You did as good as you can do in that situation just to get them in range.

Best bet is to get permission to hunt the powerline.  Sometimes they aren't going to leave an open area to come back in the woods to anything we do.