This season

[MickThompson]

I had a question in my head when the season started if the decline in gobbling would be the same around the first of May or would the late start push gobbling into the first two weeks of May. Well, I got my answer. The gobbling is affected by hunting pressure but more so by the timing of the strut. They pretty much acted the same this year and stopped gobbling around the first of May. The two gobblers I saw yesterday never gobbled or broke into strut. They were just hanging out. I blame the lack of gobbling on the late start as much as anything else.

If you look at the harvest numbers though, we were almost 2 weeks ahead compared to the same numerical day of the season last year. Dead gobblers don't gobble and gobbles can't be heard nearly as far with leaves on. Those are the 2 biggest things I attribute quiet woods in May to.

 

[Bone Collector]

I had the same experience in MS... hunted 21 days, covered 6 different counties on public, never heard a single bird. Thank goodness I had one get lost and end up on my private lease as he was the only bird I heard gobble this year. Just aren't very many turkeys in south MS.

Now on my private farms in middle TN, population is up from 5y average due to good hatch 2y ago. And those birds have been WAY more vocal this year due to the increased competition from later start date. It's quite simple... more gobblers creates exponentially more gobbling as they compete against one another on the roost. Just a single gobbler who never hears another gobbler doesn't have to gobble, he just drums to his hens on the roost.

And they are STILL going at it just like April 15th. Got a pic this morn from a cell cam aimed at a salt lick for deer. In the field behind the salt lick, there is a tom in full strut, head colored up with 2 hens 15 minutes ago!

Just send the coordinates to the MID TN farm. I have half day of vacation this afternoon. I will head over and check on him.

 

[Andy S.]

It's quite simple... more gobblers creates exponentially more gobbling as they compete against one another on the roost. Just a single gobbler who never hears another gobbler doesn't have to gobble, he just drums to his hens on the roost.

So true, that is oftentimes lost on so many.

 

[Gravey]

Just send the coordinates to the MID TN farm. I have half day of vacation this afternoon. I will head over and check on him.

I'm in Memphis and hope to be heading east by lunchtime. I'll meet you there.

 

[Southern Sportsman]

What baffles me is the apparent disparity in gobbling activity from area to area. I don't think it can all be blamed on the delayed start. I'm certain that Setter and others in his boat ordinarily hear some gobbling the last two weeks of April, and this year turkeys were unpressured when April 15 arrived. And several people claim to be seeing plenty of turkeys and sign, but hearing no gobbling, which I have no explanation for.

I know I'm on the opposite side of the state, but I've experienced almost the opposite of what you're describing, on both public and private. If I only thought about what I've seen personally this year, I would say (1) we had a good hatch two years ago, and (2) 4/15 is the perfect start date. And I know/know of several others who have had similar experiences.

 

[TDW05]

Complete silence this year for me as well.

 

[CHRIS WILSON]

I know I'm on the opposite side of the state, but I've experienced almost the opposite of what you're describing, on both public and private. If I only thought about what I've seen personally this year, I would say (1) we had a good hatch two years ago, and (2) 4/15 is the perfect start date. And I know/know of several others who have had similar experiences.

My experience has been the same as yours in my area of middle TN. I hunt public land exclusively. The areas I've been in locally have had just as good activity or better than last year. I've only had one day that I went out and didn't hear or see anything. Other than that one day, it's been a really good season from my experience.

 

[PalsPal]

If you posted, I missed it, but are you seeing sign that there are birds there?

 

[TheLBLman]

In Stewart County where I'm doing most my turkey hunting, the gobbling & Tom linear distance movement normally drops off dramatically in early May. Toms start grouping back up, much like bachelor groups of buck deer post-rut.

IMO, the main reason the statewide kill is as high as it is is because of an above average statewide hatch & poult survival 2 years ago. But instead of 3 or 4 weeks of "prime" spring hunting, we had 2 or 3 weeks. This should help the turkey population, as the slaughter would have been much more dramatic if the season had opened @ April 1st (as in the past).

Seems to me, the birds are much like most years, but we just started hunting them a couple weeks later. That said, for whatever unknown to me reasons, some days they don't gobble, some days they do, and this year has been a year of much less gobbling.

One more thing:

Our perception of less gobbling may be at least somewhat a false perception.
When the season opened 2 weeks earlier, a turkey gobble could be heard many times farther than it can typically be heard in late April.

 

[Shag]

Here I sit basically 4 weeks into the TN season with two tags left to fill. I've heard exactly one bird gobble in the state of TN and he was amazingly happy to walk away tossing a few gobbles over his shoulder as he left.

I've hunted TN for essentially 30 years, started here when I was 18. I've never seen anything like this nor dreamed it possible.

I don't hunt a single farm or tract of land, rather the endless mountain ranges in Eastern TN. So it isn't just "my place". This misery spans thousands upon thousands of acres and makes zero sense.

I'm lucky to be able to cherry pick "perfect" days to hunt so the weather when I go is ideal. Still, it's complete silence every hunt.

I don't get it. There were plenty of birds at seasons end last year, enough sign to keep me in the game, and no one hunting anywhere near me. There's part of me that's terrified that what happened to our grouse has hit the turkeys. Part of me that thinks it's just a weird year. And a growing part of me that is about to say screw it and go fishing.

Thank god for KY where I killed my two birds relatively quickly or this would be really ugly and frustrating.

I can't be alone in this, but dang it's brutal getting up at 3:00am driving 1.5 hours, hiking up a mountain side for another 20 minutes only to be greeted by silence day after day.

Same here brother! It's been an absolutely horrible year for me. All of my places have dried up. In years past, it was nothing to hear 20+ birds gobbling in the morning. This year, I've heard one. None where I can actually go and try to kill it.

I'm in eastern middle TN.

 

[JJBraves]

It's been an odd season for sure. Had 54 birds in one of our fields 2 weeks before opener and as soon as the season started, they disappeared for the most part and wouldn't gobble. Not getting any pictures of birds either........ gonna head out tomorrow morning, maybe my luck will change.

 

[fairchaser]

If you look at the harvest numbers though, we were almost 2 weeks ahead compared to the same numerical day of the season last year. Dead gobblers don't gobble and gobbles can't be heard nearly as far with leaves on. Those are the 2 biggest things I attribute quiet woods in May to.

You could be right for the state overall. Our club, 18000 acres has only killed 50% of last year's number. But, the employees which live there saw more turkeys before the season open than the previous year or many years. That leads me to think the timing of the strut for our area had a big impact on the harvest.

 

[Hduke86]

This year has been completely opposite for me. All I hunt are mountain birds. In a "normal" year I would be over the moon IF I heard a gobble in a weeks time. This year every place i went I had birds gobbling their heads off. Either public or private lane has been great hunts this year and I'm not having to get aggressive with calling but they come in full strut hollering the whole way.

The only thing that has really changed for my youngest boy and myself has been we don't get out there before daylight. We took a different approach this year with getting to the woods. We start to slowly and carefully get in the woods about legal shooting time. I started to let the birds gobble on the roost without me making any calls to shock gobble or respond to hen calls. I can't say it's MADE THE DIFFERENCE but it surely hasn't hurt. Even if we don't hear something on the roost we sit still the first 30 minutes without making a sound. I feel like (which may be wrong) that toms answering on the roost on public land have been conditioned to be let the "hen" come to them. No telling how many toms have gobbled on the roost and have been bumped off by some hunter trying to get closer and educated that bird.

 

[Setterman]

If you posted, I missed it, but are you seeing sign that there are birds there?

Sure, I would say about normal amounts of sign.

It's such a weird year. I know birds are still henned, or at
least I suspect as much. But even so a few roost gobbles would be normal.

 

[Boll Weevil]

But instead of 3 or 4 weeks of "prime" spring hunting, we had 2 or 3 weeks.

I'd argue that for many of us in the farther reaches of SW TN got more like 1 prime week due to the very early spring + the 2 week delay. My farm and the hunters in my circle are within just a few miles of the MS stateline. You're 3 hrs north of us. The geographic differences seems to vary significantly.

 

[PalsPal]

Sure, I would say about normal amounts of sign.

It's such a weird year. I know birds are still henned, or at
least I suspect as much. But even so a few roost gobbles would be normal.

Have you had your hearing checked ?

I'm still on a henned up bird. But he does roost gobble a little.

On the Plateau, there have been years where, the last of the season, they were on fire. Maybe the switch will flip.

 

[Andy S.]

I'd argue that for many of us in the farther reaches of SW TN got more like 1 prime week due to the very early spring + the 2 week delay. My farm and the hunters in my circle are within just a few miles of the MS stateline. You're 3 hrs north of us. The geographic differences seems to vary significantly.

Guaranteed, no doubt about it. If you are in SW TN, you better take leave/vacation and hunt every day possible first 10 days of season (with April 15 start date) until you tag out, or your crew tags out.

 

[Boll Weevil]

^This. Already blocked my calendar for next year. Hoping we go staggered zones.

 

[fairchaser]

Guaranteed, no doubt about it. If you are in SW TN, you better take leave/vacation and hunt every day possible first 10 days of season (with April 15 start date) until you tag out, or your crew tags out.

I hunted every good day/morning but with rain and storms, there might only be a few days to hunt. It seems like you have two weeks before everything is done, but the weather has a say as well.

 

[Huntaholic]

Here I sit basically 4 weeks into the TN season with two tags left to fill. I've heard exactly one bird gobble in the state of TN and he was amazingly happy to walk away tossing a few gobbles over his shoulder as he left.

I've hunted TN for essentially 30 years, started here when I was 18. I've never seen anything like this nor dreamed it possible.

I don't hunt a single farm or tract of land, rather the endless mountain ranges in Eastern TN. So it isn't just "my place". This misery spans thousands upon thousands of acres and makes zero sense.

I'm lucky to be able to cherry pick "perfect" days to hunt so the weather when I go is ideal. Still, it's complete silence every hunt.

I don't get it. There were plenty of birds at seasons end last year, enough sign to keep me in the game, and no one hunting anywhere near me. There's part of me that's terrified that what happened to our grouse has hit the turkeys. Part of me that thinks it's just a weird year. And a growing part of me that is about to say screw it and go fishing.

Thank god for KY where I killed my two birds relatively quickly or this would be really ugly and frustrating.

I can't be alone in this, but dang it's brutal getting up at 3:00am driving 1.5 hours, hiking up a mountain side for another 20 minutes only to be greeted by silence day after day.

You arent alone brother. This has been the toughest year since 1989 for me