Gobblers Back Together

[Lee Creek22]

I heard from a friend of mine that the gobblers are already back together. He said he seen 5 or 6 in a group over the weekend. Over the past 10 days I have heard very little if any gobbling. What is everyone else seeing or hearing?

 

[mathews338]

all the ones i have been seeing are still alone and not gobbling much

 

[spitndrum]

Heard both ways!

 

[easy45]

Hadn't been seeing or hearing anything

 

[muddyboots]

Not gobbling much here.

 

[bvoss]

Havent been hearing much, until this past weekend. Found two birds that gobbled all the way into the gun.

 

[adamf5353]

they've been gobbling like crazy the past 3 mornings in claiborne county. to be honest, the birds never broke up out of their groups here that i saw. There was 1 or 2 dominant birds that were solo, but I seen several 3+ gobbler groups all season long.

 

[droptine]

the bird i killed last week was with one hen and goblled over 100 times up until he ate a face full of lead at 0930

 

[big B]

Gobbling like crazy here all alone and looking for love,watched one breed hens Friday and Saturday.

 

[Beekeeper]

Gobbling here. Heard two besides the one I killed Sat.

 

[TurkeyBurd]

We were hunting a farm Fri. morning and saw 11 gobblers in the same field.

Gobbling on roost and ground was out of control.

3-4 yr olds chased the younger burds back into woods.

Those 6 strutted,gobbled,fought,drummed and spit for about 30 minutes. Not a hen around.

Great show!

Killed one.

 

[Buckblaster]

Ive been hunting every weekend and a dozen weekdays since the opener. Last year I heard anywhere from 6-12 any given day, I went 4 days and never heard a gobble at one of my places. Havent been back, went to my other lease. I have heard a total of 5 birds since first week in april.

 

[Setterman]

I would say that some two year olds never broke up, and still are together today. This past Sunday I called in a a pair of birds for a friend which still had around a dozen hens at 3:00 in the afternoon. Most of our birds still have hens, in fact almost all have hens, unless they are subordinate birds.

It is a little early for the bulk of the gobblers to rejoin, usually that won't occur until months after poults have hatched.

The 2yr. old birds this year have acted very strange, most will not gobble, or gobble and go the other way. Which is a sign IMO that there is more mature birds around keeping them scared.

This is the latest I have seen yet for hens to start nesting and sitting, I guess it was the longer and meaner winter then in the past which delayed things. All of my buddies in West TN are still dealing with henned up birds. Go figure.

 

[cruff10]

This past weekend I had 2 gobblers together fighting. Putting on a good show. The weekend before seen 4 longbeards together, and 1 single.

 

[Lee Creek22]

Thanks..everbody..Its seems most people experienced what we did with gobblers in full rut & strut alot earlier than normal this year. This year is the earliest I have ever seen birds chasing hens.

 

[Setterman]

Thanks..everbody..Its seems most people experienced what we did with gobblers in full rut & strut alot earlier than normal this year. This year is the earliest I have ever seen birds chasing hens.

I know you are speaking in broad terms, but gobblers don't rut, and don't literally chase hens. They might follow them, but generally the hens go to the gobblers.

Also, breeding takes place usually the same time every year, it is based on photo period, and not on temps or anything else. If it was based on temps then the high elevation birds would be way behind, and best I can tell they are right on schedule. We saw birds as always strutting for hens in February, and just like always most birds here are henned up. From friends in Miss, AL, and West TN things are normal there as well.

If breeding shifted every year it would result in drastic consequences, they generally breed and start sitting within days of the previous years, which gives poults the proper time to mature before winter.

 

[Lee Creek22]

Drastic consequences? What?

Thanks..everbody..Its seems most people experienced what we did with gobblers in full rut & strut alot earlier than normal this year. This year is the earliest I have ever seen birds chasing hens.

I know you are speaking in broad terms, but gobblers don't rut, and don't literally chase hens. They might follow them, but generally the hens go to the gobblers.

Also, breeding takes place usually the same time every year, it is based on photo period, and not on temps or anything else. If it was based on temps then the high elevation birds would be way behind, and best I can tell they are right on schedule. We saw birds as always strutting for hens in February, and just like always most birds here are henned up. From friends in Miss, AL, and West TN things are normal there as well.

If breeding shifted every year it would result in drastic consequences, they generally breed and start sitting within days of the previous years, which gives poults the proper time to mature before winter.

 

[cruff10]

Thanks..everbody..Its seems most people experienced what we did with gobblers in full rut & strut alot earlier than normal this year. This year is the earliest I have ever seen birds chasing hens.

I know you are speaking in broad terms, but gobblers don't rut, and don't literally chase hens. They might follow them, but generally the hens go to the gobblers.

yes and no, during mid day if they are lonely, they will "SEARCH" for unbreed hens. This time of year the search can start 1st thing in the morning. This is where you will get the "2-3 year old non-dominate bird groups". They have been searching and found each other, and they are staying in groups.

If they weren't willing to search you would never call one in.

Generally yes they do stay in one spot and let the hens come to him.

Also, if you consider deer hunting and a deer chasing, and getting a doe alone, the RUT. Then yes gobbers would then rut and chase. I have seen many times a gobbler will push a hen away from the group, or the hen will leave and he will chase that hen to breed her. So they kinda do chase and rut in a way......

 

[Winchester]

Im still seeing some Gobblers with Hens as well, but their are definitely more lone toms out there now vs. a few weeks ago when they were all henned up. Turkey breeding isnt that much different than deer in that the Photo period is what triggers it, but just like deer, depending on the population and the gobbler/hen ratio, as to how long it gets strung out and how much competition there is for breeding rights!

 

[Setterman]

Drastic consequences? What?

Thanks..everbody..Its seems most people experienced what we did with gobblers in full rut & strut alot earlier than normal this year. This year is the earliest I have ever seen birds chasing hens.

I know you are speaking in broad terms, but gobblers don't rut, and don't literally chase hens. They might follow them, but generally the hens go to the gobblers.

Also, breeding takes place usually the same time every year, it is based on photo period, and not on temps or anything else. If it was based on temps then the high elevation birds would be way behind, and best I can tell they are right on schedule. We saw birds as always strutting for hens in February, and just like always most birds here are henned up. From friends in Miss, AL, and West TN things are normal there as well.

If breeding shifted every year it would result in drastic consequences, they generally breed and start sitting within days of the previous years, which gives poults the proper time to mature before winter.

If you had breeding shifting all over based on weather or whatever, then having hens trying to nest and raising poults too early would result in lost hatches. If you had hens trying to nest and raise poults too late, then the young birds would not be mature enough to survive winter.

Timing is everything, and turkeys that hatch too early have a smaller chance of survival, and the same goes for birds which hatch too late.

The timing is set to give the young birds the best chance to survive, post cold snaps and pre fall/winter. That is why breeding is set based on photo period (length of days), and has nothing to do with temps. Breeding takes place within days of the previous years.

Just how nature works.