When you are setting up for wild turkey hunts before the daylight you shouldn’t get too close to a roost. Regarding the distance that hunters should keep it varies from hunter to hunter but as a general rule, you should try and get within a range of 100 up to 150 yards if you can. With other words, you need to get as close as possible to the roost without scaring it off. The closer you will get, the fewer the obstacles that the bird will have to come around to get to you.

Many of the wild turkey hunters have experienced a tom that hangs up which basically means he stops out of range at about 60 yards or even more, is still gobbling and refuses to come close enough for a deadly shot. He may be hung up for some reasons, one of these reasons might be that he could be behind some obstacles like a creek or a fence or he could be in his favorite strutting area or another possibility would be that he has some hens with him. The stubbornness of the bird is also a possibility, for example you call the turkey a long period of time but the bird will just simply stay there, waiting for the “hen” to approach him.

When this situation occurs, you should try using very soft “purrs” and “clucks” to entice the bird that last 20 yards. Another way would be to lightly scratch the leaves with your own hand, imitating the sounds made by a turkey that is scratching the ground. If none of these methods work, we recommend that you stop calling and wait for the turkey. As most of you know, wild turkeys have their own sense of time and it is nothing unusual for a gobbler to stand and strut for approximately 60 minutes in the exact same spot before they finally becoem curious and walk the remaining distance.