I’m at a loss…

My turkey season has taken a turn for the worse.

Opening morning my buddy and I were hunting the same piece of land, but about 300 yards apart. We were in the woods early ready for the fun to begin. It was clear and the gobblers soon started sounding off from the roost. About 7:00 a.m., my buddy dropped a 23 pound bird with an 8.5 inch beard. He had three toms in front of him and he took the biggest one. THe other two hung around for a while, then made their way back into the woods. I didn’t get a shot as nothing ever presented the opportunity.

Now the last two mornings I’ve been out and haven’t heard a single gobble anywhere in the river valley I hunt, nor have I seen anything. The last few mornings have been slightly overcast, but it has been calm enough that I should be hearing birds, even from distances well beyond where I have permission to hunt.

So my question is…what the heck happened? Is it normal for them to suddenly go silent? I’m assuming birds are still there. We’ve seen lots of them on our scouting trips, but I have no idea where they have gone or why I haven’t seen or heard anything the last two days. I’ve gotten no response to any calls from a number of different locations. I know there are at least two toms left that frequented the area not to mention any jakes. But other than some activity early the first day, my last two days have been a bust.

Any insights? It’s getting harder to drag my sorry butt out of bed at 4:15 when the activity has been discouraging. I’m certainly not giving up, but if any of you can help a relative novice get smarter, I would certainly appreciate it.

Marbleye…don’t get too down about this. It happens to the best of them, trust me! Lip, Brad and myself have been out 3 mornings in a row now chasing turkeys with the bow. We have hunted 2 different peices of property and at both spots the birds have been very quiet on the roost. In fact we hunted one peice Wednesday morning and didn’t hear a single gobble. We went back there this morning and heard two different birds gobble 3 times each and that was it for the morning. Right as we were getting ready to leave they entered the field 350 yards away from us and believe it or not 4 Toms proceeded to cross that field! I know there are a lot of birds on that spot they just aren’t going right now. IMO the birds are very henned up right now and the breeding cycle is just getting started. Let’s not forget that up until a week and a half ago it was still extremely cold and we were looking at a very late Spring. This warmer weather has not been around that long!!

Like I said, try not to get too down about it. I’m feeling the blues right now too but LIP and I will be back out again tomorrow morning to give them !! Some times tags go unfilled but if you give it your best shot at least you can be happy with yourself and learn from it for the future . You have 2 more days to try and fill that tag. I would suggest hunting the same area since you know there are birds around. You never know what the next day will bring .

Good luck and go drop the hammer on one of those other birds tomorrow morning !!

Thanks for the encouragement and sorry you’re not having any better luck. I’m far from giving up, but puzzled why on our scouting trips and opening day birds were gobbling, then nothing. I had kind of assumed the same things you were asserting, so its encouraging that maybe I’m still doing the right thing.

Good luck in your pursuits…and thanks for making me feel better. By the way, I’ve considered writing a book about 101 ways to eat your deer/turkey tag! Goodness knows I’ve had plenty of unfilled tags to pick from.

Very good post Live4PassThrough

Marble it just isn’t you. We have heard only one Gobble from a bird on the ground. Keep at it and drop da when you can.

Marble – See the report I just posted. It’s my birds too. Like it was mentioned earlier, spring came later than normal this year and the birds are responding appropriately.

Hunt them off the roost to the best of your knowledge. If you lose contact with them, start runnin’ and gunnin’, but do so conservatively. Sneak your way to each spot and actually “set-up.” Stay at each set for up to an hour. You’ll have alot of quiet birds come in silent during this time of year. There’s a big difference between hunting your way too and from a place, and walking there.

If you’re willing to take a jake, your odds are good now. They’re wandering around in my area without a home, shunned from group to group. Those longbeards are really putting the smack-down on the jakes right now.

Overall, do whatever it takes to get a tom to sound off, which may include cuttin’ and fighting purrs.

With birds in front of you now, it gets even more frustrating as the hens will naturally want to lead their toms away from you. If you can purr with a mouthcall, I’ll sometimes get really agressive with the purrs, and take my hat and make it sound like wingbeats and hens fighting. This can be a real attention-getter.

Lastly, if you can strike up a conversation with a hen during this time, she might have a gobbler in tow. Start by just mimicking her. Get her going, and when her calls are starting to break on the high end, step on a few of them. You have to be careful, as you’re not trying to urine her off to the point of shutting her up……you’re doing it in a controlled manner to get her fired up and to come and look for you. You’ll know when you’ve found a hen that’s willing to play.

Otherwise, hunt proud, and remember that it only takes one.

Joel

Try hunting afternoons if you can. I’m no expert on turkeys but I’ve had good luck cutting n running in the afternoon. Usually from about 3:30 on. I’ve also had good luck sitting in one location where I know there should be birds and where they can hear me from a long way off. I would start out soft and keep getting louder and stick to it until something answers back. If you can get them to gobble you can usually get them to come in!

Thanks for the posts…I’m going to ditch work early and hit it again this evening. I’ll take my newfound knowledge with me…I’m also taking my buddy that has the horseshoe up his keister and the already filled tag. He seems to have all the luck. Maybe it’ll rub off.

I really do appreciate the tips. I’m still learning this game and most of what I do know came strictly from being out there myself. When you don’t know much to begin with, it’s hard to be self-taught.

the biggest key is be PATIENT if you dont have a big chunk of land to run and gun on like me just stay put when i run i end up bumping silent birds but stay out as long as possible trying to catch a tom between hens and looking if you can strike a bird afternoon theres a really good chance to kill him i take books and food to the blind and stay there all day if i have to good luck

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I’m still learning this game and most of what I do know came strictly from being out there myself. When you don’t know much to begin with, it’s hard to be self-taught.

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It don’t matter if it is Fishing or Hunting, I think the above is the very Cornerstone or Foundation of what this website is all about. Sportsman helping others cut the learning curve by sharing information and knowledge they have gained through past experiences, the good along with the bad. This in my opinion is what sets In-Depth Outdoors above the others. This can not happen if was not for such great participation and sharing of information from the members of In-Depth Outdoors. With that I just want to say THANKS to everyone who contributes here and makes this website such a great thing to be a part of.

This is an excellent post with a ton of excellent information. And it all started with you Marbleye2! As many of us already know, there’s always something more to learn when it comes to turkey hunting!

I agree its a great place to come for information. If I learn something worth sharing after all the info you guys have given me I’ll make sure to post. I want to give info, not just get it.

Thanks for all who are willing to share.