Makes sense. Wonder why less field action then?
One things for sure, they roost lower in the hollers here.
Makes sense. Wonder why less field action then?
One things for sure, they roost lower in the hollers here.
Not sure if its the cold mornings and windy afternoons but Ive been experiencing very quiet mornings. They seem to be lock jawed in the woods I've been hunting. Hunted till 11:30 Monday and stayed close to a bird that gobbled once from the roost and less than a dozen times (not at calls but just shock gobbling) the rest of the day. Changed positions yesterday and he only gobbled once at 7:30, frustrating but still a great time of the year to watch it grow in the woods. I'm on nights this week so I plan to hunt a different property today for a couple hours. Good luck to anyone that gets out today.
Couldn't stand it any longer, had to get out for the last hour and a half. I hate afternoons LOL.
Well that was a fun hunt. Got in the blind at 10:40, at 10:55 I had 7 Jakes in front of me. Messed with them for a little bit til they went back out into the cornfield.
Buckslayer
*Supporting Member*
I heard the most gobbling this morning since season started, hearing a minimum of 6 birds; I also had some success.
yotehunter
Member
Planning on getting back out tomorrow for my second bird. My partner and I have been hunting a huge bird for two years now and still haven't pulled the trigger on him. We are going to tag team him tomorrow the bastard hasn't done the same thing twice in the 12 day we have hunted him. That pea brained bird has us scratching our heads.
PA Bandit
Junior Member
My experience with turkey hunting is that they have a phase similar to most animals but for sake of discussion lets use deer:
Stage 1: "Pre Rut" (excuse my comparison but it is somewhat logical) in which the spend a lot of time searching for hens, staging breeding zones, etc... This is the time that you will hear them very vocal and very responsive in that they are working on gathering there hens.
Stage 2: A few weeks of Stage 1 they transition into a phase in which they are almost on lockdown. They have their hens gathered up and/or within range that the hens know his strutting/breeding zone. From here he is very quite nor does he move much throughout the day. This always seems to fall near the end of April/Early May. This is typically why you here hunters complain that the birds are less vocal and do not come to calls very easily. The only birds that are really killed during this time frame are (2) year olds and jakes in that they are trying to find hens or by getting in on his very small roaming range and setting up for the ambush/calling his hens in.
Stage 3: After a week or two of breeding the hens will begin nesting. This usually falls in the Mid-May time frame. At this point you will start noticing the Tom a little more vocal but still very limited on his movement until mid-morning. At that point the hens are on nest and he is still looking for more action. This can be representative in that during this time frame from mid-morning to noon hunts usually prove to be very effective in calling in what was once a "henned" up tom.
Stage 4: Towards the end of May when most have given up hunting you will start to experience what I call the second hatch. This is typically when hens who have not been bred and/or lost their first hatch almost start a second cycle of what I just described. Towards the end of May and early June you will start seeing the males create their "bachelor" groups again but are still very ornery and interested in breeding. This to me is what a lot of guys miss out on by hanging up early, I have killed many birds on the last day of season in that by grouping back up they are easy to locate and move in on and very aggressive to calling in that they are competitively looking for hens like at the beginning of season. Many times have I called in groups of 5+ toms during this time frame.
Took my buddy Dave out this morning to try and get him one.
No gobbling early but got on two at 8:30 and he came close but no go.
No gobbling early but got on two at 8:30 and he came close but no go.
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I still believe turkeys are the dumbest animal in the woods. With that being said, Mason is trying his darndest to kill one that on occasion acts like he has the ability to reason, and he is LUCKY. We called him to 35 yards again today, and somehow he managed to keep his head. We have had this bird within 40 or 50 yards every time we've went after him, and Mason still has not had a clear shot. We are going again in the morning with another plan.