what to do after a turkey shock gobbles

[leaf shaker]

This morning I got a turkey to shock gobble got 80 yards from him in the woods and started calling. the bird never answered and drifted off across the property line. QUESTION: what did i do wrong, should i have come from another direction once i pinpointed him? also do turkeys think it weird when a crow holler and then a hen starts talking from the same place.  anything is helpful, kind of confused here.

[Greg Massey]

You didn't do anything wrong he just wasn't interested. As you know it more natural for the hen to look and follow him.. Good luck , just keep trying , persistence pays off ...

[turkey_slayer]

Usually if they shock gobble but don't answer a call they have a hen

[Turkeyman]

A shock gobble is just that...a shock gobble. That doesn't necessarily mean he's going to respond to a hen call...particularly if he's got company. But you at least know he's there.

[leaf shaker]

cool, thanks was kind of worried but makes sense now

[Mossberg90MN]

Yea I will try to get a shock gobble in the am and then get set up best I can and wait for him to naturally start to go off. Yelping to a shock gobble is a little unnatural.


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[Uncle Tom]

I usually cluck and purr if a gobble off a distance....not a shock gobble. Seldom use yelp anymore because I do not hear yelps very much where I hunt and I know they can hear what I throw at them a long, long ways off. Scr

[Uncle Tom]

I usually cluck and purr if a gobble off a distance....not a shock gobble. Seldom use yelp anymore because I do not hear yelps very much where I hunt and I know they can hear what I throw at them a long, long ways off. Scratching leaves can be heard long ways and have drawn them in using that as well. Most of the time I can tell a hunter using a yelp and if I can a gobbler can too...just look at the times you hear a hen yelping and think about it. A shock gobble I usually try to close the distance on him and then try clucks, purrs to get him to respond. All people are different in there approach of hunting this ole bird, and what works for me is not for everyone, so you have to try different calls, tactics, etc. and over time you will discover your go to calls and what you have confidence in. Good luck.

[silvestris]

Yelping to a shock gobble is a little unnatural.

Why?

[Mossberg90MN]

Yelping to a shock gobble is a little unnatural.

Why?

Well I guess I missed the context of my post. If you show up and it's still dark out, you hit an owl hooter and get a bird to gobble a good 10-15min before first light and try to to Yelp back immediately to that bird. I find that to be unnatural. In my experience (limited at that) I don't hear hens yelping at gobblers on the roost until all the birds are chirping, light is breaking through and the gobbler has gobbled on his own personal schedule a good few times at least.


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[silvestris]

You are on the button now.  A gobbler answering your good owl imitation in the dark has told you all need to know at that moment; following that you just to need to make an immediate decision of how and where you you are going to engage him.  A well executed owl imitation in the dark should not have an effect on your hunt.  Continuing to owl is another matter similar to making another turkey call to a gobbler who has already committed.  At that point you have to decide whether you want to kill him or hear him gobble.  As Charles Jordan said, "I had already put in my call and the gobbler understood it."

[Marc]

A bird that gobbles (on his own for whatever reason) and then shuts up when you call???

Maybe you bumped him?  Maybe he did not like your calling? Maybe a coyote went slinking near him?  Maybe he joined some hens?  Could be he is gay???

My favorite time to hear birds gobble on their own is mid-morning...  I do NOT call back until I am where I want to be, and I gain as much ground as I can before calling....

I know I have bumped birds on the roost before daylight...  Birds gobbling away, and I try to get a smidge too close, or stumble, or something I have done (cough, sneeze, fart or make some unnatural sound) alerts or makes that bird nervous...  Maybe the gobbling changes, or the bird turns the other direction, or he stops gobbling all together...

[redleg06]

Its really hard to say what you should have done without knowing the details of the situation.  If he had hens (sounds like that could have been the case) it's not unusual to get a shock gobble and then not be able to work the bird afterward because he wasn't planning on leaving the hens anyway.

One of the mistakes a lot of folks make (we've all done it at some point) is hearing that gobble and then instead of taking a second to look at our options, we just set up and start trying to work a bird...often to somewhere he's not going to be willing to come to.  And, like I said, if he has hens, it's an uphill battle in almost any situation until you either manage to get in front of where they are headed anyway OR you hang in there with them, without bumping them, until his hens leave him (which you couldnt this time as he crossed property lines). 

If it were me, and without knowing any more about the situation, I would have used what I know about the area you were in to try and figure out A) exactly where he currently is (is he on a bench off the side of a ridge, down in a bottom, etc, etc... ?) and B) where is he likely heading?  Then make a plan from there.   

[GobbleNut]

Well I guess I missed the context of my post. If you show up and it's still dark out, you hit an owl hooter and get a bird to gobble a good 10-15min before first light and try to to Yelp back immediately to that bird. I find that to be unnatural.

You are absolutely correct,...bad idea under these circumstances to turkey call at all.  Furthermore, even if you were talking about getting a shock response to a locator from a bird on-the-ground at 80 yards, it is questionable to immediately call to that bird. 

As has been suggested, it would be a good idea to take stock of the situation in terms of terrain and circumstances, make some calculated decisions on where to set up, and then proceed from there. A hurried response is unnecessary and could definitely be counterproductive.   

[g8rvet]

More times than I can recall in the swamps where I hunt, I owl hooted just a tad early and got the owls started.  They then do the work from all directions while you stealthily move in.  Then you treat him like any other bird that gobbled on his own.