Everyone always blames weather every year. I've hunted every day in TN except last Wed and Thurs. To me weather seemed WAY better this spring so far than most in middle TN. Fri/ Sat were the toughest due to the wind, but birds still gobbled great on the roost (but I was on a farm that I've saved for this past trip and was hunting unpressured birds). Sunday was the most perfect day weather wise and gobbling wise. Monday was awesome before the rain, and Monday afternoon was even better after the rain stopped.
My biggest complaint this season has been how far behind the birds have been socially compared to years past. Winter subflocks are just breaking up, and just now those hens are headed to areas they want to initiate nests (pulling the toms with them). Daytime gobbling was terrible last week, but not due to weather... just because toms followed the hens around strutting all day. Now that they are starting to actually breed, daytime gobbling activity (even if it's just a courtesy or shock gobble) has exploded since Sunday.
Maybe just bad luck, but I haven't been able to stumble into any bachelor 2yos roaming. All the birds we've killed were probably 4yos or older, with a single 3yo (assumed age based on spur length... I know not a perfect correlation).
Also strange that the dominant toms are still tolerating the jake offspring of their hens to stay with the individual flocks. Once breeding really gets underway, the toms will push those jakes out.
i know i wasnt out in the wind,ice, sunshine,snow,wind etc
