Break a Tom out of strutting?

[Dan Jackson]

Ok.. you have 2 toms sitting there strutting back and forth... only 80 yards away, and they just won't break out of strutting to come and check you out... what do you do to break them out of a strut?

BTW, there aren't any hens with them.

[Massive Horns]

Make a few cutts and then shake my gobbler shaker.

[Spur]

I try to go quite on them. If in sight you can watch their reaction to the silent treatment. If they start moving away. I'll hen yelp then Jake yelp. Jake yelp a minute or 2 later and go quite again. The quite game wins many a battle for me.

[wgatlin]

I'd sit on them a little while to see what they were going to do, but call sparingly. If they do walk away then walk around and get infront of the birds. Another thing I like to do is if there's cover try to get just a little closer to them without spooking them, and if you do spook them than oh well go find another willing bird. Sometimes just getting a few yards closer can make all the difference in the world.

[SCtrkyhntr]

Purr, cluck, and scratch the leaves or just give him the silent treatment.

[John Maynard]

The opposite of what wgatlin said. I've never tried this but I hear it works well. Move away from the birds and when you get about 20 yards futher on, call very sparingly. Then move back another 20 yards and do it again. Makes them think you are leaving and they won't hang up again.

[hatracked]

First off if a birds at 80 yards its very unlikely Im moving anything but my lungs and my eyelids. Sometimes patience is required.

Second , I start analyzing why they are stopped. Obstacle? They expect a hen that aint there, youve called so excitingly they feel you should finish the trip, and so on. Usually its nothing I can change at that moment .

Set up is everything in turkey hunting and when you get a tom that stops at 80 in a trench digging strut your pretty much exposed a a poor choice of set ups. Try better next time. Use terrain breaks and field edges to make the tom in gun range the second he feels he should be able to see the hen. Thats why toms hang up folks , they know you should be visable so they go to displaying so you'll come. When you dont show they leave.

In the case that movemnt is possible I back away from the bird cutting leaving the gunner where he was at. Kills em 9 times out of ten and I use it very frequently If Im alone I opt for a shorter retreat with an added 30 yard side step.

[maytom]

Seems that in this case a decoy would work wonders, and one that has movement even better. I agree that more patience might pan out in this case, but if there is no decoy, they might hold there ground waiting for that hen to show. If you can sneak away without being seen, I'd move and try calling from another spot that they would have to come closer to see who's doing the calling.

[Bill Cartwright]

At 80 yards, I'd never move. My choice would to play silence. If they move off, move to where they were and try calling them back. Killed more than one bird this way. Just didn't work Monday for me.