first off, you cant stalk a turkey. no matter how stealthy you think you are, their eyesight and hearing are way to good. you might be able to stalk and get close every 1/1000000000000 times.

now as for leaving the tree. sometimes if a bird is hung up, i will move away from him and call. sometimes if he thinks the hen is leaving he will come in. sometimes i will cut the distance and get a bit closer so he doesnt have to come as far. but never so close as to the point where he can see me and take off.

a majority of the time however, i will just sit and wait, eventually he will move off and then i will reposition myself and call again. but sometimes, his patience will break and he will come looking. it all depends on the bird.

Come to Alabama and try that, but bring a lot of bologna because you won't be eating turkey.
I guess if your not good or smart enough to call them up, you gotta do what you gotta do. Pardon my disdain for your tactics and your total disrespect for the sport.

maybe by stalking you mean to get around them and cut them off. walking up on them is foolish because they WILL hear and see you coming. i find your claims of sneaking up on them especially with a bow, a little hard to believe. one little thing will send them into the next county.

I hunted western south dakota this year with my bow. My friend, his wife, and I all had double tags. In three days we killed all 6 of our turkeys and stalked everyone of them. Meanwhile we were not just hunting we also filmed the whole thing. So it can be done its just a matter of knowing the landscape and using it correctly. It takes alot of patience and practace to learn how to use everything to your advantage. Stalking is way more fun than using a blind or just sitting and calling. You will never get them all and you will have some birds outsmart you or simply get away but the adrenline rush of knowing you did all that by yourself is great. Best of luck and I would not give up on the moving around.

Well it may not be safe on public land or land where others are hunting but when you are the only one on 5000 acres it is safe. And I really do not care who believes this because I do it with my dad and friends every year. I actually even shot two Toms stalking with a bow. Plus its all on film. I am just saying its possible and in western South Dakota that is how 90 percent of people hunt and it works. Maybe in the trees and terrain where you guys hunt it is harder but in the prairie that how it is done. Even in central Illinois when I hunt eastern's with my dad we call than move. This year between 4 of us hunting we killed 7 turkeys and all 7 were stalked. 6 in South Dakota and 1 in Illinois. Also my Girlfriend and her dad stalked 1 out of the 2 they killed. So all I am saying is it's possible and how I hunt.

As surprised as you may be they were not in a pen but rather on 10,000 acres of wide open prairie. Second I was the only three turkeys were stalked with bows and three shotguns. Just like Deer, Elk, antelope, etc. is all stalked out here. In Illinois I stand hunt but here we stalk. Lastly I do not think there is book saying that there is correct way to hunt anything it is personal preference as long as it is ethical and follows the law. And I really doubt the game wardens that we hunt with would also stalk turkeys if it was so bad because they would lose their jobs. Not saying you can stalk in the terrains which you live just saying that is how you hunt out here. It's not like I am the only person to do it. I have nothing against people who like to call. I like and find it more interactive to stalk them. To me that is just more fun. And I have never "Bushwacked" anything in my life considering a was raised in a game wardens household....

Why did he hang up? Did the hens lead him off, was he even with hens? The oldtimers told me "If a turkey answers your calling first thing in the morning, he is coming to that spot sometime during the day," so wait him out. If you move on him, you chance doing exactly what you did, run him off. For God's sake don't try to sneak up on him. Back off and try to get in front of him (like where he's going) and call from that spot.
Do not despair, rookie mistakes aren't only made by rookies,,,

Stalking isn't the best tactic for Turkeys due to several reasons. Safety is the most important one. You don't want to be sneaking around calling and have someone mistake you for a Turkey. With that said if you are on private properity that may not be an issue but Turkeys can hear and see very well and once you educate a Tom he will become very weary. Patience will produce more birds than stalking anytime but making the correct move takes experiance, spending time in the woods and LUCK. Don't get discouraged just keep at it and get a good, padded turkey vest that will help you set it out.

I recomend walking away calling, so he thinks a hen is walking away, then come withen gun or bow range of the first calling spot. When using this tactic, use the enviornment to hide you, hope that helps.

I personally do not try to stalk a bird for a couple of reasons. Short of a sense of smell, they have the best set of senses in the woods so you stand little chance of slipping up on one, and two, it being turkey season, gobbler is obviously close, and there may be some fool closeby willing to shoot at sound or movement, forget that. Instead, move on him, try a different direction, if he's moving try to cut him off, whatever, but stalking is just not realistic or overly safe IMO.

I stalked a turkey last sunday and got to 45 yards before he flew to roost. I was just about to shoot but he was behind a tree. I stalked one to 100 yds today but he hung up in caving yard. Last sunday was my first time stalking a turkey and im only 15.

PS. That was my girlfriend who commented she hunt's east river while I hunt West. So She does it on Eastern's and I do it on Merriam's

because you cant call...how is stalking more interactive then calling to a turkey? the turkey is not interacting with you at all, other then seeing you and running away. and your claim that there is no right or wrong way to hunt is incorrect...calling is how you hunt them. thats like shooting ducks that are sitting in a pond.

Decoys!!! Who uses decoys? Scratch, Will Walker is the only person I know who can kill a turkey with a bow without a ground blind, but he ain't your average bear when it comes to bowhunting.
Buckmaster909: Orange hat? You better stick to mastering bucks and leave the gobblers to us,,,

Echoing what FiddleJim and Scratchgolf said, strait trying to stalk a turkey in my experience is next to impossible, however it can depend on the situation, I had a bird come in, hang up and drop down off the top of the ridge i was set up on and I stood up stalked to the edge and popped up and got him. The best thing to do I believe is figure out where he wants to go and then get in front of him.