What else could I have done?

[ars1234]

Saturday I ended up seeing 21 bird including 3 longbeards with 1 strutter and a few jakes. Every time a jake got close to hen he would attack them. They were about 200 yds away and stayed there until a car drove by and stopped which I think caused them to fly onto the neighboring property.

Sunday I go back and set up a ground blind as close as I legally can to where they came of the neighboring property into the fields I have permission to hunt. They came back the strutter in front with 2 jakes and 2 hens. I had a jake and hen decoy out and would cluck and purr a little. The tom was strutted the entire time and would act mad at my decoy and would take a few fast steps toward the decoy and then would just turn in circles over and over. The jakes and 1 of the hens worked my way and got to 70 yards but one of the hens wanted to go the other way and he wouldn't leave her. The closest he got was about 80 yards. After an hour and a half of him being strutted up the lead hen went back to where she came from and the rest all followed. From what I have seen the property I can hunt is a major nesting area.

My question is, is there anything I could've done to have sealed the deal and bring the mature strutter in to my decoys? 

This is my first year seriously turkey hunting and I could've shot jakes in the past so I feel like I should hold out for a mature tom. Our season ended Sunday so I am okay not getting a bird since this year was a learning curve for me. Especially since I see and hear a lot of mature toms in the area.

[SteelerFan]

Tough to compete with the real deal.... Simple as that. No magic formula, no hocus-pocus. Mature gobblers, or even immature jakes are tough to pull away from live hens.

[Bowguy]

 Shoulda gobbler yelped at him. Tried to annoy him into coming closer. There's a time to be passive but I mighta been more aggressive.
If what you're doing ain't workinh n you can see something acting on him, Id have played the hand n tried something.

[perrytrails]

Shoulda gobbler yelped at him. Tried to annoy him into coming closer. There's a time to be passive but I mighta been more aggressive.
If what you're doing ain't workinh n you can see something acting on him, Id have played the hand n tried something.

X2

Sometimes you have nothing to loose, hard to call him away from his ladies so you have to get to his jealous side.
A gobbler Yelp might have helped.

Even some aggressive purrs when he took steps toward your decoy might have changed the out come.

Sometimes you gotta take chances...

[ars1234]

Thanks!

[gobblerman87]

Coulda shoulda woulda is how the old saying goes right?? But like these guys said just remember if what your doing isn't working and you kno it's time to do something or he will lose interest that's the time to throw some stuff out that maybe he hasn't seen or hasn't heard like raking leaves with your hands like one other guy said gobbler Yelp if on private land name gobble maybe try to kee kee to him try all the tricks in the book and hopefully it will happend but like said before the best of the best have a hard time competing with the real deal just the way it is and sometimes it works in our favor some not good luck out there 

[GobbleNut]

Although I am a firm believer in the idea that most turkeys will be called in using nothing but basic calls,...yelps and clucks,....this is a prime example when knowing more complex turkey language may actually play a role in success or failure.  There is a whole host of "stuff" you could have tried in this situation,...and since it was your last opportunity for the year, you might as well have tried it all.  As others have stated,...what did you have to lose?

Personally, once the regular tactics had failed, I would have hammered those birds with everything I could think of.  You never know what might trip their trigger.  Having said that, I always have a progression of calling tactics that I run through in situations like this,...from conservative, to more aggressive, to very aggressive, to "no holds barred". 

While it is true that you will possibly scare the hell out of those birds and send them running for cover, there are times when something that you would never consider trying in a "normal" situation will bring them on the run. 

Hence, my suggestion is to take the time to learn all the turkey language, what it means, and how to make it realistically on a call.  You never know when it might come in handy,....and this appears to be one of those situations where it might have meant the difference between success and failure.  Then again, it could also have hastened their departure,...but if nothing else, it would have been a good learning experience for you. 

[ars1234]

Thanks for all the replies! I definitely need to improve my calling beyond the cluck, yelps and purrs. This year was a great learning experience for the properties I can hunt.

[jims]

If you go through the same call time after time you will loose a group of turkeys interest in a hurry.  As mentioned above change things up.  This may even mean being super quiet and not making any calls for a while and suddenly do something different like a couple regular yelps followed by a string of excited yelps.  I bet you anything the tom will at least gobble if you do this.  You may also try to upset the lead hen and cut her off if she is making noise.  Upsetting  or persuading a lead hen may move the entire flock in your direction rather than trying to coax a tom that is super happy with hens....which is often nearly impossible!

A group of turkeys may be tied up because they don't see movement in your decoys?  Try a string on a decoy to move it around or something else, gobbler remote tail, etc  (if legal).  When they first see your decoys they may be somewhat excited but if the decoys are just sitting there they may loose interest fast without movement or something to catch their attention.  They may also not like something in your set up (a jake instead of a strutting tom, no toms or jakes in the set (just hens), a decoy that looks out of place, a blind that sticks out and spooks them, etc.).   Where I hunt the turkeys don't like blinds AT ALL...so maybe try without a blind?  Turkeys may not come close to a decoy set up because they may not like coming in close to a row of trees, feel vulnerable to predators, hidden hunters, a blind, or have a regular spot where they tend to hang out each day.

There are so many tricks to use if you are willing to think outside the box!  Try to put yourself in the place of a lead hen and/or tom and figure out what would excite you....and what may bore or spook you to death if you were a turkey.

[g8rvet]

When you are looking at them in the field, you have the added bonus of seeing how they are responding to your calls.  I start out calling at arses and elbows (just like duck hunting) - if he is coming, let him come.  If he loses interest or locks up, first I shut up.  If that is not working, start pulling out all the stops.   The other thing to do is let them feed off and then wait for a good long while.  If the hens go off to nest, Tom is gonna remember where those pretty ladies (your decoys and or calling) was earlier in the day.  I had one this year that strutted and gobbled but would not come in. I pulled the jake decoy and left just the hen. An hour later he came back and was in the mood. 

[Marc]

If what you're doing ain't workinh n you can see something acting on him, Id have played the hand n tried something.

Yep...  Sometimes a gobble, or a fighting purr will make them come running towards you and sometimes away...  But when a bird obviously is not coming, you have to try something different...