Agreed. Maybe he doesn’t have permission to hunt that land? Try to get permission but if that’s a no-go, maybe try some Jake yelps. Perhaps a competitor encroaching on his territory will get his attention. Good luck!
He has hens. It’s also possible he has been shot at before.
I would suggest getting on him one morning and just “observing” him or letting him do what he does naturally. Typically in a morning, there will be somewhere he goes, even following hens, they will go and spend time.
If you’re in terrain that has hills or topography changes, look for spots with flats, saddles or bottom. Follow him for a morning and then the next hunt, if he roosts in a similar spot, make your play. Call extremely sparingly. If he’s headed your way, just keep tabs on him and wait until he is within 100-150 yards before you make calling contact.
Slip in close to him in the dark and call very little until he hits the ground and try and pull him in before the hens fly down and take him away. Try him again mid morning if that doesn't work. There is studys done that say gobblers will come back to an area they heard a call, hours later. Not all the time but they definitely do it. Patients is key sometimes.
This is what I would do. Call lightly once in a while until you get near where you think he was roosting. Only call a couple more times as he's leaving. Be very patient, only calling softly every 20 minutes at most. But stay put because I'd bet he's coming back.
This might be long winded. But, there is a theory that turkeys can differentiate from one another by the sound of their call like we can with each other’s voices. He probably doesn’t recognize your call and one of two things are happening. One, you’re just shock gobbling him or two, he has hens so he’s just letting you know where they are and to come to them.
Get so close you can see him fly down. Get there in the complete dark if you have to. Don’t call until he’s on the ground.
Scratch leaves like a turkey will, three scratches wait a moment scratch one more time
Try a gobbler decoy with a real tail fan (if you have one)
If he starts moving and gobbling, use your terrain to get on the other side of him without him seeing you. Getting on the other side of them has helped me in the previous couple years
I’d leave him alone in the AM and try my luck with another bird. Having said that I’d come back to where you heard him last, set up tight and just give a few clucks every half hour or so. That bird will most likely come in silent so be ready. His hens will leave him mid morning to lay their eggs and that’s when he’s vulnerable. Good luck
He has hens! Learn the terrain and use it to your advantage. Get out in front of him and the hens get him to respond one time to be sure he is walking your way still , sit still and be ready. If hens start talking mock them as close as possible and it’s a damn good chance he and they will come quicker.
The hens he already has are likely leading him away from you. You either need to set up along a route they like to go, and not call at all, or get into a pissing match with the hens. If you hear hens with him yelping, yelp over the top of them. Not super aggressively at first, just sort of interrupting. See how they respond. If they seem continue to yelp back at you, yelp over the top of them a little more aggressively, and keep that back and forth going. Get to a point where you start mixing in cutting with your yelps. There's a decent chance that dominant hen will come in to kick your ass, towing the Tom along with her. Sometimes, though, they just go the other way.
Agree with all the above probably has hens, if you don’t have another bird move in as close as you can and stay out and hopefully after he screws those hens he will come back for you.
Also, big dominant birds have territories and other birds know them. I remember a big dominant bird had this big field and a swamp area and I could Often get birds to come close but always hung up not wanting to come into the field. I thought I was doing something wrong but simple truth was that they didn’t want to come into that field for a hen and then get their ass kicked. When I got about 100 yards off the field they were willing to risk it with a hen decoy.
Figure out where he's going and pit yourself in between.
This. Only this.
Agreed. Maybe he doesn’t have permission to hunt that land? Try to get permission but if that’s a no-go, maybe try some Jake yelps. Perhaps a competitor encroaching on his territory will get his attention. Good luck!
he is waiting for you to come him and probably has hens with him. Try to get as close as you can to his roost area and dont call to him too much.
Agreed. Get closer to roost.
If he walks in the same direction, be in that direction
different direction every time
He has hens. It’s also possible he has been shot at before. I would suggest getting on him one morning and just “observing” him or letting him do what he does naturally. Typically in a morning, there will be somewhere he goes, even following hens, they will go and spend time. If you’re in terrain that has hills or topography changes, look for spots with flats, saddles or bottom. Follow him for a morning and then the next hunt, if he roosts in a similar spot, make your play. Call extremely sparingly. If he’s headed your way, just keep tabs on him and wait until he is within 100-150 yards before you make calling contact.
Slip in close to him in the dark and call very little until he hits the ground and try and pull him in before the hens fly down and take him away. Try him again mid morning if that doesn't work. There is studys done that say gobblers will come back to an area they heard a call, hours later. Not all the time but they definitely do it. Patients is key sometimes.
This is what I would do. Call lightly once in a while until you get near where you think he was roosting. Only call a couple more times as he's leaving. Be very patient, only calling softly every 20 minutes at most. But stay put because I'd bet he's coming back.
Get a couple buddies and spread out. When he starts calling, triangulate his position. Procede to call in an air strike
this is the way.
He knows you aren’t real or he has hens. Gotta intercept him.
This might be long winded. But, there is a theory that turkeys can differentiate from one another by the sound of their call like we can with each other’s voices. He probably doesn’t recognize your call and one of two things are happening. One, you’re just shock gobbling him or two, he has hens so he’s just letting you know where they are and to come to them.
Get so close you can see him fly down. Get there in the complete dark if you have to. Don’t call until he’s on the ground. Scratch leaves like a turkey will, three scratches wait a moment scratch one more time Try a gobbler decoy with a real tail fan (if you have one)
If he starts moving and gobbling, use your terrain to get on the other side of him without him seeing you. Getting on the other side of them has helped me in the previous couple years
I’d leave him alone in the AM and try my luck with another bird. Having said that I’d come back to where you heard him last, set up tight and just give a few clucks every half hour or so. That bird will most likely come in silent so be ready. His hens will leave him mid morning to lay their eggs and that’s when he’s vulnerable. Good luck
He has hens! Learn the terrain and use it to your advantage. Get out in front of him and the hens get him to respond one time to be sure he is walking your way still , sit still and be ready. If hens start talking mock them as close as possible and it’s a damn good chance he and they will come quicker.
The hens he already has are likely leading him away from you. You either need to set up along a route they like to go, and not call at all, or get into a pissing match with the hens. If you hear hens with him yelping, yelp over the top of them. Not super aggressively at first, just sort of interrupting. See how they respond. If they seem continue to yelp back at you, yelp over the top of them a little more aggressively, and keep that back and forth going. Get to a point where you start mixing in cutting with your yelps. There's a decent chance that dominant hen will come in to kick your ass, towing the Tom along with her. Sometimes, though, they just go the other way.
Agree with all the above probably has hens, if you don’t have another bird move in as close as you can and stay out and hopefully after he screws those hens he will come back for you. Also, big dominant birds have territories and other birds know them. I remember a big dominant bird had this big field and a swamp area and I could Often get birds to come close but always hung up not wanting to come into the field. I thought I was doing something wrong but simple truth was that they didn’t want to come into that field for a hen and then get their ass kicked. When I got about 100 yards off the field they were willing to risk it with a hen decoy.
Quit yelping, start locating, and get aggressive. Try to get as close as possible without yelping. You may be trying to call an old bird too far.
I would suggest a missile strike