What to Do When a Turkey Hangs-Up
Don’t Call
Editor’s
Note: You won’t take a proud, mature gobbler with
conventional calling tactics. These bronze barons have
attitudes. They consider themselves the finest birds
any hen ever has seen. They feel so sure of their masculinity
and superiority that they believe every hen in the woods
will come running to them. They won’t exert any
extra energy to go to a hen. You also can recognize
a proud gobbler by his extreme caution. A proud gobbler
will stop about 50 to 60 yards from where you call,
gobble, strut and drum — but not come any closer.
When a tom takes this position, most hunters say he’s
hung
Don’t Call
Editor’s Note: You won’t take a proud,
mature gobbler with conventional calling tactics. These
bronze barons have attitudes. They consider themselves
the finest birds any hen ever has seen. They feel so
sure of their masculinity and superiority that they
believe every hen in the woods will come running to
them. They won’t exert any extra energy to go
to a hen. You also can recognize a proud gobbler by
his extreme caution. A proud gobbler will stop about
50 to 60 yards from where you call, gobble, strut and
dru
-up. But you can take a bird that acts like this.
You also may defeat a proud gobbler by playing with
the bird’s mind. Think about the most-popular
guy in high school. Girls constantly flirt with him
trying to get his attention. Often he’ll find
himself most attracted to the one pretty girl who pays
him the least attention. Proud males — both human
and turkeys — can’t stand for females to
ignore them.
When a tom comes in to your calling and begins to gobble,
strut and drum just out of gun range, act like a disinterested
hen. When you quit calling to a gobbler, he thinks one
of several things, including, “perhaps . . .
*”the hen left before I got to her,
*”another gobbler has come in and picked her
up,
*”something has frightened her off, or
*”she just can’t see me, and if I move
closer, she’ll come to me.”
Many times when you stop calling to the gobbler, he’ll
break his strut and move to find you. But if he doesn’t,
scratch in the leaves with your hand to sound like a
feeding hen. Then he will break his strut and move straight
to you. You’ve ignored him and led him to believe
the hen prefers to eat rather than mate with him. A
proud gobbler can’t stand that pressure and will
walk closer. Then you can take him.
Tomorrow: Walk Off When You
Call and Circle the Bird
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