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Should i stay or chase?

I think this is a question all turkey hunters face... you're in your blind. Your in a well traveled spot and you feel pretty good.

Now, you repeatedly hear gobbles from about 200 yards away. He won't come to you?

What do you do?

Try to wait him out and hope that he or another Tom will come to your decoy?

Go after him with you whole setup. Blind, decoys, etc

Go after him with just a DSD jake and try to get him with a natural setup?

Go after him with a heads up decoy?

Mad, when I've been in this situation I've found that the tom is usually henned up if he is staying in that one location or close to it. I've had good luck two ways in that scenario, waiting him out until the hens wander off then calling him in, and moving in as close as I dared with my set-up and calling in the hens by getting into an argument with the boss hen. You really could try any of the tactics you listed and have success on a given day. One thing I've learned about turkey hunting over the years is that it never hurts to keep trying new tactics, you never know when one will pay off!

The other possibility is that the gobbler is in his "strut zone" that he frequents daily to call in hens. Make a mental note of his position and come back the next day and set-up there and kill him. I've had that work quite well too if that was the case.

Patience, patience, patience. You can be one of those guys that HAS to always be out and chasing something, or you can be a successful, all-around hunter that uses the best tactic for the situation and can sit tight when that is the best option. Like Brotsky said, if he's in that same location two days in a row, move your set up there. Otherwise just be patient, if he's within 200 yards, your in a good spot.

Couple years ago I had a similiar situation. I would hear him all day long gobbling with his hens about 200 to 300 yards away. I sat in my blind and called to the hens and called to the tom but they wouldn't budge. On the second day I made a move and did a recon. As a result of the recon on the third day I said heck with this and moved my blind to the edge of where they had been ! The next day I killed a good tom when he was the first to come to the area to my calling from the roost ! So sometimes patience doesn't work and you need to make something happen. After I killed him I checked the area a little better and found a strut zone and several dusting bowls. It seemed the birds went there from the roost and just hung out. I would never have killed him if I had stayed put ! Also now I go to that area ever year and usually get a bird because for some reason they just love that area. If I kill the boss a few days later another tom is in there to replace him !

I would move at a 45 degree angle to his position. Not getting closer but not getting farther away. He will think you are leaving and chase you down.

What Brotsky said.

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