Turkey Hunting: hen chained to a tree

Hi all, I took up spring turkey hunting four years ago, and have managed to kill a grand total of two gobblers, 1/year for the last two years. I hunt in se Missouri. Typically I can find, and slide in on a gobbler at day break ~50 % of the time. What happens next is usually, I call, then he gobbles and gobbles and gobbles, sometimes for hours. Can anyone offer their advice for this situation?

Both of my kills ran about 40 mins between my first call and the shotgun going off, with maybe two calls or some leaf scraping in between. If you call alot, the gobbler will just gobble every time you call. I've also found that you can tell when they fly down from the change in direction of the gobble, and to wait until they come down before calling, otherwise they stand up in the tree, gobbling for hours. Another trick I've tried after listening to a hung up gobbler for an hour is to back away from him, calling every 5 min. or so. I've had them follow me in the woods like this. The goal of this would be to use the terrain to set up an ambush, but I haven't accomplished this yet.

Thanks in advance for any sneaky tricks you can share, good luck and have fun this spring.

be careful when moving and calling. I got shot the last year I did that.

Is there a place where it's legal??

- RR 'Beartooth' Neuswanger, PhD karhunhammas (at) earthlink.net Work is for people who can't hunt.

I'm pretty sure the answer is NO!

- Warren

I don't use live dekes- illegal in all states I think. I got shot while walking, stopping and calling and walking more. This was 16 years ago. My wife would not let me hunt turkeys for eight years after that. It also ruined mothers day weekend that year.

Ken, I think everyone who has hunted turkey knows what a 'hung up' gobbler is. He simply ain't goin anywhere, and you're going to go after him. The turkey's nature is to call to the hens, and for them to come in to the gobbler. We try to entice him to go against his nature, and sometimes it works, especially, I think, if there is competition in the are, for the old boy wants to make out with all the girls he can before the young studs get theirs! So, you've got to get up and go to him. Yes, if he sees you coming, he's gone, but he may expect to hear some rustling. Take it slow and easy, and cluck every so often, and when about 100 yards away, stop and set up. You probably can't get any closer, depending upon terrain. Good luck!