Dealing With Henned up Toms


Weekend Woodsmen

Recommended Posts

It's a lot of our worst nightmares, but last year we had a successful hunt on a henned up tom. It actually was a few different hunts before it came together, but sometimes that's just how it goes. It was a neat hunting video, and we thought we would repurpose it as a "how to" video. Check it out if you are looking for ways to get the whole flock in range! Hope it can help some of you!

[video=youtube;Tn4pAhEsspE]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember seeing that video last spring. I've dealt with henned up birds a lot in all the years I've been turkey hunting (close to 40 now). If they stick with the hens in hand, the only option is use some tactic to lure the hens in. What you did is one of the things I've done in the past. Other than luring the hens in, the other option (if you have time) is try to get back on him when his hens get away from him or wait him out to service them (done that too). Also, if they are moving in a certain direction and you're able to outflank them without getting busted, get between where they are & where they want to go. I've also used a gobble call to lure them in too. Nothing works all the time...that's why they call it hunting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember seeing that video last spring. I've dealt with henned up birds a lot in all the years I've been turkey hunting (close to 40 now). If they stick with the hens in hand' date=' the only option is use some tactic to lure the hens in. What you did is one of the things I've done in the past. Other than luring the hens in, the other option (if you have time) is try to get back on him when his hens get away from him or wait him out to service them (done that too). Also, if they are moving in a certain direction and you're able to outflank them without getting busted, get between where they are & where they want to go. I've also used a gobble call to lure them in too. Nothing works all the time...that's why they call it hunting.[/quote']

Well said! You are right we repurposed the "Hunting Video" from last year to try to teach a few of the points that helped us. We have had success waiting for the hens to leave the toms too. This is a place we hunt before work so we typically have to go with a more aggressive approach since we don't have enough time, but when we are weekend hunting, that is certainly one of our top options! Thanks for the comment!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have any of you guys ever tried using a tail fan? Heard it works' date=' and will actually bring the tom off the hens.[/quote']

We have tried it some, but it hasn't worked yet. A lot of the birds we hunt have a good amount of pressure on them, so many times we are just using a single hen decoy, if any at all. We had one hunt last year where the Tom flew down and came out into the field and took one look at the decoy and took off full speed. We later found that 2 other hunters were hunting that area. One of which was using a full strut tom decoy with 2-3 hens, so he had seen it before! Something to always consider before using decoys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.