Most people call too much, If a gobbler answers you he has located you. stop calling, all you have to do is wait for him to come to you ... look up hill for him. 90% of the time he will circle you and come to you from the highest spot he can find. trust me on this..good luck
Sometimes...
If a bird gobbles or clucks after moving closer to you he’s expecting an answer and if you don’t answer he’s not going to find you. They don’t always sneak in to gun range because they answer you. I’ve had a lot of birds go silent from several hundred yards out only to gobble just out of sight a half hour later looking for a hen. And you have to answer that bird.
Virginia hunting - not Colorado, but I do call in Idaho when I can. The birds are harder to call than in VA, and they tend to hang up further out.
I'm a decoy fan, but get a good one - Avian X, DSD are good ones, and a couple other companies are starting to compete with them at a lower price point - MidwayUSA has a good selection for reviewing.
IMLE - get something out in front, the bird coming in is looking for "something" and will be hyper-alert for anything - you're going to get busted more than once by those eyes.
Box calls work, but a mouth call is less movement, and less likely to be seen - when I was commuting a distance to work, I called a bunch - and got pretty comfortable with a diaphragm call, it's dead time, so call away...especially at a stop light!
To me - just like an elk - the more you call before a hunt, the more you educate the flock on what you sound like - and they know what to avoid.
Anything that you move is subject to alert the bird - hat brim, shadow, etc - they pick up movement like a wild trout in clear waters.
You'll need to keep checking the spot through the coming year that you found the birds in - they will move as the climate and food sources change.
