Bird gobbles alot, but won't come in? Help....

[NeilWit716]

So last year I had the following problem occur, and I've been thinking about it all year. What to do? Me and my friend were hunting opening day after I already tagged my bird I thought I'd try to get him his. Public land in the Allegheny region of New York. We were on top of a nice flat hill calling down hill in all directions. We finally got a bird to answer to hard fast cutting, and aggressive yelping from about 200 yards away. Not being quite the "turkey calling expert" and taking from past experiences we sat down and waited ten minutes. I called again, but this time less aggressive not wanting to scare him off. Nothing, waited ten minutes, called again, nothing. Ten minutes later I called aggressively again, and he opened right up, double gobbling and everything. So I kept calling aggressively, and he kept gobbling like crazy. We went through this for twenty minutes to a half hour but he never got closer. So we tried to back off a bit, making him think the hen was leaving, he kept gobbling but would never get closer. So a half hour later, we moved closer to get a gauge on where this bird was. There was a lot of thick brush, and we couldn't see him, but we were withing 100 yards and he kept gobbling like crazy. We never heard a hen at all either. After dueling with this bird for around 3 hours it finally hit noon (NY has a 12:00 law) so we had to leave, we came back the next day and the exact same thing happened. I'm pretty sure we literally tried everything. I heard him off the roost, got within 100 yards, and never saw him. Never heard a hen. My only two thoughts are he was prevented from coming in somehow, maybe the brush was too thick? Or he was henned up, and we couldnt hear them? Thoughts, and strategies if this happens again?

[WillowRidgeCalls]

Chances are if he was not henned up, the thicker brush may have been keeping him from coming, but more then likely it was a bird that would not leave his comfort zone. A couple of years ago we had a bird that was in an wide open hay field from flydown to noon, that would answer every call you threw at him but would not budge out of that 50 ft circle. For two days he was there in that same spot and wouldn't budge, no matter what you tried. We took him on the third day, we set a blind up in that circle, no decoys just the blind. When he came into the field I made one call and he came on the run. Some birds are just like that, they have a small comfort zone and they won't leave it.

[Everyday Hunter]

I agree with Scott. The numero uno key to killing a gobbler is to know where his comfort zone is.

Neil, it sounds to me like you've discovered his comfort zone and you were asking him to come out of it. He was refusing.

My take on your case is that when you called aggressively, he thought he had a hen interested, so he gobbled to encourage her. When you backed off on the calling, he thought she wasn't very interested, so he didn't waste his breath. This is the classic situation -- he's expecting any interested hen to come to him. So, go to him. Go very early. Go very quietly. Once he gobbles on the roost, call very lightly because you want him to trust his comfort zone and fly down in range.

Steve

[Kawboy888]

Either he was henned up or he was lazy. Think of it this way, a hot chick is yelling to you acrossed a restaurant, she is screaming about how bad she wants you. You have your all time favorite food and drink in front of you and there is a game on the big screen, would you rather get up and walk over to her, or let her come to you? In your situation, which I also run into hunting Alleghany county in NY and PA is changing my calls do a different sound. He is probably henned up so I need to find the sound that he likes enough to committ his adultry right infront of his girl friend.
 
IMPORTANT - If I can not pull him to me or make a move on him I leave him alone! I would not battle a bird for more than an hour. That bird will remember the sound and cadence of your calling. Don't give him the opportunity to get wise to you. If it's not there, enjoy the moment for what it was and move on. Maybe tell him you will see him next weekend or in a few days once his current girlfriend gives him the cold wing. Let him be, no pressure, no mistakes.