Perhaps that's all YOU need to know about hunting tight-lipped turkeys, but in my experience there's a little more to it than what you believe to be true. I've opened up a few seasons in a few places over the last 40 years chasing these birds and they've taught me most of what I know.
BTW, maybe you meant to say "opening morning" rather than "opening day." For those of us who have had to hunt public ground and worn out several pairs of boots chasing these marvelous critters, I'm sure I'm not the only member of the Tenth Legion who has witnessed a marked decrease in turkey vocalization after 10 a.m. on opening day.
Though you didn't say it, "hunting pressure" can be applied by humans prior to opening day and shut a tom up. That's why it's illegal to run a call in the woods in many places prior to actual opening day. The other side of that coin is that turkeys get hunted 365 days a year. Predators kill a lot more turkeys every year than people do, and I've seen predator pressure dramatically reduce gobbling activity.
Best of luck, and I hope that every turkey you sit down to gobbles a hundred times.
Thanks, and you as well this season!
I guess I'm a simple kind of guy. I made it overly complicated with 3 reasons birds don't gobble.
Really it's just ONE... the personality of that particular bird on that particular hour of that particular day.
I'm an optimist... i truly believe 99.9% of healthy birds will gobble at some point in the season. But 100% of silent birds shot won't gobble.
Im NOT a 'holier than thou'. It's just fine by me if someone shoots a turkey sneaking in without making a peep. Congrats to them filling a tag. And I'm like that at times.... first bird of the season, been a while since I've killed him... well, he's riding in the back of the truck. But after the first one, they have to die on my terms.... or live on their terms. So I'll never be one of the folks that kills 10 or 12 birds a season.
For whatever reason, sitting in an area clucking and light yelping for a while, then looking up to see a tom that has appeared in range sneaking in without a sound just doesn't produce any dopamine rush for me. Just point the gun, pull the trigger, and he's dead. Heart rate didn't even get up until AFTER the shot. And I've found I can't even remember half the birds I shot like that 10 to 40 years ago. Just doesn't etch it in your brain like striking a bird, positioning on him, then the anticipation of the gobbles getting closer, the he flanks you and gobbles from behind, then you hear the drumming, and he comes in with that beet red and turquoise blue head.
To me, there isn't any difference between shooting a sneaking silent tom and killing one in fall after busting the flock up (well, fall is a little more exciting because the toms are at least clucking as they gather back up to you, so there is some anticipation).
So for me, the question isn't 'why are they silent'? Cause I don't give a crap about that. All I care about is 'Why do they gobble?' And I already know the answer to that, and that's exactly why I am willing to punish myself looking for THAT bird
Great example this afternoon. I went to the area on my lease at 6pm yest eve and did a fly up sequence on a pipeline close to the area the roosted silent bird that I was on opening morning. Set a trail cam where I called from and left. Got a pic of him in front of the cam at 715 this am right where I called from last night. Got there at 130p and set up in the shaded hardwood drain 150y away. Lightly clucked and yelped hoping he would fire off. After about 45 min, I heard leaves crunching. Here comes a hen crossing by at 45y, and that tom is 10y behind her... just following, head not colored up one bit. The two of them are 'just friends'. I purr and cluck, they both look my way and keep on scratching for bugs. Let him walk off, and once they got far enough away, I bailed and headed to national forest. Got on a fired up bird at 3pm, and worked him till 430pm and he gobbled 15x at least. Even though I could have killed the silent tom at 2p, I had more fun working the gobbling tom I never saw later that afternoon.
Again, I'm not judging those that want to turkey hunt that way. They are better turkey killers than me. But I'm just at that point in my life where I'd rather move past a silent bird looking for the one that gobbles, even if it means I don't fill all my tags. Especially since I know that silent bird is going to fire up and play the game later in the season if he's still alive.
