There have been two different times that I KNOW I gobbled in turkeys.
The first:
Hunting in a somewhat thick swampy area, the only turkey I heard gobble that morning gobbled right at flydown time a pretty good ways off. I went to him and when I got close I could tell he was already on the ground. He would answer me every time I called so it was easy to keep up with him and I got to within 150 yards before I ran out of dry ground. There was apparently a high spot out in the woods that he flew down too, but there was nothing between us but thick viney stuff and water, and no way to get any closer. It was a terrible setup, but he was gobbling pretty steady and I didn't have a better option. He stood in the exact same spot and gobbled at me for nearly an hour but wouldn't budge. I tried everything I could think of: walking back and forth while calling, fighting purr, scratching leaves, silence. He would gobble but wouldn't budge. I was ready to leave him on his god forsaken island and search elsewhere, but before I did I cut at him and when he gobbled I gobbled back on a diaphragm. He double gobbled instantly. I sat down quietly waited. About five minutes passed where gobbled on his own several times, and then he quit. Another few minutes passed and I heard flapping, then he landed right in front of me and started craning his neck looking around. It caught me off guard but fortunately he stepped behind a big tree and I got my gun up and killed him the second he stepped out.
The Second:
Me and a buddy walking down a logging road mid-morning and we struck a turkey up ahead of us. There was a bend in the road which we couldn't see around and we sat up where if he came down the road to us, we could kill him when he rounded the point. I put my buddy in front and I sat behind him about 30 yards. Called softly and the turkey answered about 100-150 yards away. Every so often we would hear hens yelping with him and he would gobble, and occasionally he would gobble at my calling. 30 minutes of this and it became clear that he had hens with him and wasn't moving. Remembering the events of the above story, I thought I would give it a try. I call loudly and then gobbled on a mouth call (as if I was answering my on call). He gobbled back, and literally 1 minute later the bird came trotting around the bend in the road with his head low -- exactly like you see them do coming across a field to a strutter decoy on TV.
I haven't kept a record of all the hung up turkeys I've gobbled at since the first time it worked, but I'd say my success rate is something like 2 for 30. Which is enough for me to believe in it.
