Tom trouble?

Scenario 1: Tom won’t leave his hen(s) Do this Step 1: Try calling the hen(s) as much as the gobbler. Use a raspy-sounding call to imitate a mature hen. Mix in some aggressive purrs and hard cutting. Step 2: Still no luck? Wait the tom out. Stay in close contact but let him do his thing with the hen(s). Eventually he’ll lose interest, or she will go to her nest. If you’re close by when this happens, he should still be willing to explore your plaintive pleas. Revert to regular calling with yelping sequences and soft purrs until the bird dictates it needs more. Step 3: If the above didn’t pan out, break out the gobbler tube and imitate a male bird which has come to the hen you’ve been imitating. Or this Step 1: Henned-up birds are tough. If they are moving in a specific direction, can you get around them without being seen? Make the move and resume calling when they get close. Step 2: If step 1 doesn’t work out, make a racket! Mix aggressive yelps, cutting sequences, and fighting purrs to sound like there is a turkey royal rumble about to go down. Use a mouth call with a handheld call, to imitate multiple turkeys. If you have a dried turkey wing, use it here to make it sound like a true fight. You could even mix in a gobbler tube for added measure. Scenario 2: Tom is hung up outside decoys Do this If he’s hanging up on your decoys, it’s time to explore a different set up. Some birds are not in a fighting mood so you could swap in a jake for the strutter decoy you’ve been using, or go to a single-hen decoy. Or this Pull your decoys and retreat into the bush a bit. Deploy your decoys just inside the bush, to give a bird an obscured view of them, perhaps offering enticement. Call as before. Last-ditch moves If the above two options don’t work, try to add motion to your decoys. By tying heavy fishing line to it, you can create just enough motion to add life to the set-up and pull that tom into range. Another thing to try is to ditch the dekes altogether. Call just as before, perhaps even a little more. Birds often become decoy shy for a couple of reasons, and this can cure that.