Maybe some of you more experienced turkey hunters out there can help me fiqure out what went wrong.
I got into the woods this morning pretty late. The sun wasn't up yet but it was light enough for a bird to be on the ground if he wanted to be. I gave out a few owl hoots, and thought that just maybe I heard a gobble a very long way off, practically out of audible range (forgot I had on a wool beenie under my facemask that was covering my ears-didn't help my hearing). I didn't give this "possible gobble " much thought, as for all I knew it could have been a dog barking, it was just too far off to really tell. As I was setting up, 2 geese flew over honking to beat the band, and were headed right for where I thought I had heard the turkey. I listened hard, and sure enough I heard what sounded slightly more clearly to be a gobble, but a hell of a long way off, like I said, practically out of audible range. Not thinking there was much chance for that bird (who knows what kinds of fields, fences, creeks he would have to cross), I set up pointed in a more likely direction for a hopeful turkey to approach (dumb). Just for the hell of it, though, I let my first few series of yelps rip loud enough that I knew this far off bird could hear them. Anyhow, didn't give it too much thougt. After about 15 min, I heard some really loud clicking/clucking noise back behind me that really seemed to echo around, it kind of sounded like a woodpecker pecking really hard, but only like twice a second, so I decided to give a purr and a couple of clucks, and GOOOOBLE, directly behind me, within 100 yrds, DAMN, PINNED DOWN! Couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't breath! gave a couple of soft clucks and shut up, waiting to for further clues, none came, no noises, no leaves crunching, no nothing what soever, waited a while, nothing, gave a few yelps, nothing, 45 min later, nothing. Why did this bird beat it his long distance, so fast so readily, just to give up immediatly upon reaching his love date, and by the way, I had great camo, and was almost completelyhidden by the deadfall I was against-from his angle of approach. Just hoping somebody might have a little knowledge that could help rationalize this for me , thanks, Robert

Well Robert, I'm no expert, but you may be making too many assumptions. Just because a bird sounds barely audible doesn't mean that he's that far off in reality. A lot of that's going to depend on specific acoustic conditions regarding your location. Another thing.....you can't be sure that the bird you heard directly behind you was the same one from before. And maybe he had a hen already and went off with her.

Why did you set up blind if you had a bird gobbling? Why didn't you try to close the distance a little and set up on him?

Robert.
1) A gobbler can be down in a hollow or facing away from you and sound a looong way off, go to him but appoach carefully sound is decieving.

2) purpose of going toward a gobbler is to eliminate as many of those creeks,fences ,fields as possible. use locator calls to keep track of him if he isn't gobbling on his own.

3)Turkeys WILL cross creeks, fences, fields, even rivers ,roads,lakes and thickets and come a mile doing it, some will not walk 50 yds in open woods. you never know what they will do so you play the odds.

4) The sound you heard as a loud cluck sounds like either an alarm putt or a gobblers cluck. Alarm putt means he saw something he didn't like or some hen w/ him did. What you describe sounds like a gobblers cluck, ( a loud sharp almost metal sounding ringing cluck) its a gobblers way of demanding a hen come to him. It means here I am show yourself NOW. When you called again he answered but when he didn't see a hen where the sound was from he bugged out.

Sounds like you ran up on a gobbler who knows how to play the game, come in silent, make the hen come to him. Thats the kind that make you a turkey hunter! As niell said it may or not been the bird you heard to start. As to whether you should have called when he got the drop on you, in hindsight probably not, let him walk off and reposition he probably wasn't spooked at that point. did you ever go towards where the first gobble came from ? He may have still been there.

hope some thing in here helps Good luck!

what you heard with the "alarm putt"may have been a totally different bird than the one you heard gobbling. It is hard to say whetehr you heard theclucking from a hen or a gobbler. But many times , especiallly in the stage of the breeding cycle in lower elevations in Va right now, there is not gobling from every bird out there...a hard lesson(and I have to relearn it myself it seems) is that you have to realize that there can be birds everywhere i nthe turkey woods and you have to move catuiosly and use you eyes and ears to proceed carefully in all your movements. Sometimes the biggest gobblers come in without making one gobble. It is a challenging game.

You didn't mention a time frame, so I'm guessing it was another turkey.
Keep em Gobblin!
Struttinbird

Good stuff. As far as whether or not it was a cluck or an alarm put, I have had first hand experience with a few alarm puts from a hen last season, so I assume it was this gobbler clucking (only my second season in the woods so far, and have heard only precious little of the turkey vocabulary first hand from a turkey!-so, still trying to to pay close attention and learn what all sounds I hear are)
As far as moving in on the distant gobble- I have permission to tread on only 3 acres of this area. Saw turkey cross through here several times while deer hunting in the fall, so I figured it was worth tring out, especially my lack of private land permission slips, plus it's on the way to work!
Thanks for the help, I'm gonna give em a try tomorrow mornin too, I hope I see him again, but just to recap, After he clucked, I purred, he gobbled-then nothing, waited, nothing, nothing, how long should I have waited before making any noise, and what should that noise have been?
Thanks, Robert

Hey robert since you couldn't see whether he was coming or going, had hens or not, who knows what might have helped. there is no magic bullet. I would suggest reading old posts and the tip contests in the archives and arm yourself w/ some tricks and insight. I know it will help. Please keep asking your questions alot of more knowledgable guys on here than me will help you out its just this time there's not enough to go on to really help you much. Good luck!