How do you start?

[jshively]

I do much the same as Gobbling Buck.  And with surprisingly similar results.

[guesswho]

Personally I seldom ever call until his feet hits the ground.

Pretty much sums it up for me too.  I won't call until his feet is on the ground and I've found that spot I think I can kill him at.  That might be at flydown, or it might be three hours later.

[TrackeySauresRex]

   Good Post..
I usually break out a 27 sequence squealing hen call. That gets them to run right to me...

On a serious note there some great tips here. What I do, Like some mentioned allready. Tree call,soft yelps,see if I get his attention. I don't call allot when he is on the roost. When I know he thinks there's a hen I'll wait, hit him with a fly down cackle and a couple of yelps. If he gobbles I'm hoping he's interested. Wait for him to fly down and give him self away,before I make my next move. If he is commin in my direction it's soft feeding calls and clucks with some scratching followed by more waiting and Patience. If there are some hens to compete with who are vocal I'll kick it up a notch and call aggressive. If he hits the ground and goes the other way. I might do some cutting hard yelping followed up by a quick GOBBLE!(depending Ware I am) and shut it down and play the big waiting game for while. This has all SOMETIMES worked for me.

[Shotgun]

Personally I seldom ever call until his feet hits the ground.  The only instance I ever do is when I know for sure he has hens with him and even then my calling is at a very minimum if I call at all.

So you make your presence known and then just wait him out? Has experience taught you to be patient when he hasn't gobbled in "a while" and just to wait him out?

I do not call while he is in the tree, becase my experience has taught me that calling to him in the tree typically does 1 of 2 things.  Delays him pitching down or causes him to pitch down in the other direction.  Now once he is on the ground and Like Guesswho said You must be in good position for the kill, then the game begins.

[gunnerj]

Set up at 100 to 150 yards like you said. Don't call until you know they are on the ground. They'll stay in the tree longer if they think your coming. Know where they like to go and set up where they want to go and try not to call them back to you. They are conditioned.

[gunnerj]

I always have trouble figuring out what to do when a bird has been answering my every call but doesn't commit.  It appears he is coming in on a string but shuts up and not to be heard from again until he a hollow or two over, presumably with a hen or two.

Do I go and try to cut him off? Make his lady friends a bit unhappy with my calling? Or patiently wait there until he decides I'm "good enough"?

Mimic the boss hen with your closest sounding call(box, slate, mouth) note for note and cut her off on her yelps. Otherwise it's to wait out the hens doing business.

[turkaholic]

When I have roosted birds I try not to call, but get the message out with my wing and scratching. You need to be sure you don't have birds roosted where they can see you move. I hunt hilly areas so its pretty easy to stay hiddin over a rise. The agressive wing stuff gets them wondering. Once he hears all that on the ground, get ready. It doesn't work all the time but does anything? I killed a bird the last day of the season a few years ago on state land in NY. I never made a call. I believe had a made a call, I would have never seen that bird.