Unkillable gobbler!?

[gtrjames]

I hunted the same bird 4 years before I killed him and he was old when I started...He lived primarily in a three hundred acre lowland field surrounded by swamp....he seldom ever roost gobbled and I never heard him ground gobble. He'd just show up in a big field everyday and he never came in the same way twice two days in a row. He would also chase other gobblers out of the field until finally he was the only one left on the farm..One day he saw me get out of my truck mid morning at 500 yds and ran like crazy. I had nightmares about him....come to find out he'd been shot at and missed in the past and was extremely wary. I meant to kill him or die tryin' so last day of season I was sitting in silence in the part of the field he tended to wind up in sometimes....About 9:30 I saw him strutting about 150 yds from my truck (probably 600 yds from me) he strutted down an old railroad bed til I couldn't see him because of an island in the field that grew up because it was too wet to plow...I sneaked/crawled for an hour and a half til I got within 50 yds and gave one soft yelp....a jake that was with him came over to look and the old gobbler chased him down and flogged him....I guess he still thinks that jake killed him...then I laid down beside him and took a short nap....I could have killed several turkeys with the time I spent on this one, but it was so worth it...he only weighed 19 lbs, the beard was worn down to about 8 inches, but he had a good set of hooks on him....1 5/8 spurs....one tough old bird.

[mikejd]

Gtr, love those legendary birds/deer stories whatever. He could have weighed 8 lbs and still would have been the best trophy ever.  1 5/8" hooks now thats a trophy.

[Flydown]

Set yourself up away from his roost tree,preferably around a corner that he can't see from a tree and stay silent until he hits the ground and still listen for hen action then only use subtle calls such as soft clucks and purrs or just scratch in the leaves, hens don't like competition and weather you see them or not hens are around and will drag him away without you ever knowing they were there. Subtle calls are not a threat to them most of the time and he might just get interested in your " I don't really give a crap attitude". 
Good luck with him, I look forward to the pics!!!!!!

[Trevor2]

Well boys I did anything and everything I could this morning. He would only shock gobble on the roost but once he hit the ground he gobble every so often. He hit the ground running it sounded like. I was 40 yards from his roost 45 mins before light. Once it got daylight I never called and once he flew down he covered 300 yards in a hurry the other way. Located him again and got in front of him but he skirted me and started hammering at 8 am. Circled one last time and he answered my calls twice. Never could seal the deal on this ol warrior though.

[Neill_Prater]

Every bird and situation is unique. Try something different. Just from what you have written, I too would suggest less calling, scratch the leaves, etc. If the terrain allows, something else you might try is giving a quick series of calls, then move toward the bird as far as you can without him seeing you and set up. He's apparently figured out that not all calls are real turkeys, so he might cover enough distance to investigate, putting him in range.

The other side of the coin is to call him to death. I've seen a few birds that if you keep hammering at them with yelps and cuts, they will eventually break down and commit.