Well, having tagged out 4/21, I spent the last chunk of the season going out w two other new hunters. Calling for em and showing em the ropes. Didn’t get out a lot cuz these guys work all week so we only had the last two days to hunt.
Got out w my nephew on Friday. We had a bird gobbling his head off at sunrise. He continued to gobble like crazy and we were able to call him w/in 40 yds, but never got a look at him in the thick woods.
So, after over an hour of him hammering everything I said from 40 yards, even scratching the leaves, I decided to break out the gobble shaker (we are on private). Did a short gobble and he fired back w a double gobble. I figured that was the ticket and sat back waiting to hear my nephews gun any second. After fifteen minutes of nothing I gave a few soft clucks.
He hammers back…150 yards away. We moved up on him and cut the distance in half and called again. He fires right back from 150 yds and off the property. He continued to gobble for the next hour, but kept moving off.
Oh, well, worth trying, but now wish we had just gone silent and waited him out instead of using the gobble shaker. It’s worked a few times for me on birds that hung up like he did, so thought it was a good option at that moment.
Nothing else singing so we called it a day and a season.

Saturday went out w a buddy who hasn’t hunted in about 20 years. Just got a new place and said he hears turkeys every morning on the back side of his 18 acres.
Sure enough at sunrise we hear four birds just off his place. We set up near a field along a wide trail just inside the wood line next to the field. Birds are answering me sporadically and nothing hot. By 0615 we got one bird circling behind us in the woods gobbling to crows and another coming across the field covering about 300 yards. Field bird enters the property below us and I’m thinking he’s gonna hit the trail we are on and come up to our set up. Twenty minutes later he’s gobbling about 50 yards from where we parked. The other bird moved off and eventually went silent.
We tried to move on the bird by our cars, but he moved off property and went silent.
Great couple of hunts to end the season and I know I got another place now to hunt next year to boot.
Hope all had a fun season.

Reads like a couple of fun hunts , and you have inventory and places to hunt next year.

Agree with GN, you were in the game and have potential birds for next year.

I've had some luck with the Gobble shaker, but I think less than 50%. My best was a bird like yours, double and triple gobbling to all I said. My friend tried to sneak up on him and got to around 50 yards. I said let me try something, I called and followed with the shaker. The bird came so fast it almost ran my friend over. He shot and missed at 10 yards. Was quite funny.

Next year.............
V

Vic, that’s a funny story. I’ve used it three times. Birds broke and came in first two times, but not the third. Still not a bad average.