Henned-up gobblers? Know your land

William Peagler of Moncks Corner said that more than anything else, knowledge of the land he is hunting is the key to consistently taking “henned-up” gobblers.

“Excellent calling skills are great, but they often will not overcome the calling and gentle clucks and purrs of hens in the immediate and visual vicinity of a gobbler,” Peagler said. “I feel the key is position, in combination with calling and other woodsmanship skills.

“While occasionally I can get a boss hen mad enough she will come to my calling and drag the gobbler with her, I have found that it’s still usually best to be in a position that the turkeys will readily want to approach. If I can’t get the hen to come looking for a squabble and drag the gobbler along, then I must position myself almost in the path the flock of turkeys will be moving and use soft, subtle calls to entice them close enough for a look.”

Peagler said that the key to this tactic is thorough knowledge of the property being hunting.

“I have to know all the shortcuts and how to get from Point A to Point B in as short a time period as possible,” he said. “Once I make contact with a gobbler — and it’s not unusual for a gobbler to respond to calls even when he’s henned up — it doesn’t take long to determine if he is actually working your call or just honoring it with gobbles inviting the perceived hen to join his group.

“Typically the group will stay in one area for a while, then begin migrating in a specific direction. If the hen doesn’t want to approach for a conflict, then the chosen direction is usually away from my calls. I make a quick decision on where I believe they are going and use my knowledge of the woods to get ahead of them and set up before they arrive. I will sometimes call as I move, to track the gobbler’s progress if he’ll respond. That helps me know I’m picking the right setup position. It’s not an ambush setup because I usually have to make a couple of quiet seductive calls to get them to gently wander my way. If I’m close to them and not much out of the way they are already going, I can often get the gobbler to move within gun range.”