Barometric Pressure and Gobbling

[redleg06]

It's amazing to me how one morning you can go into the woods and it LOOK like a perfect day for gobbling but then you dont hear anything and then you might go back the next day and they're shaking leaves off the trees gobbling...

Some weather patterns are obvious to us because we can see them (like rain, wind, exceptional cold or hot days, etc) but there has to be something that doesnt meet the human eye, that has an effect on gobbling.  Aside from just breeding phases and "gobbling lulls" I think it has to do with barometric pressure from day to day and maybe even hour to hour if it's changing.

I've never recorded barometric pressure but have always figured it has an effect on gobbling and wanted to get yalls opinions on it.

[zeke632]

I've often wondered about that. I just have figured that somebody has checked it, done research on it or something. Maybe there is information out there on it.

If you knew for sure that turkey were or were not going to gobble, would it take some of the fun out of it?
Those special mornings where the woods seem to explode with gobbling might not be as special.

But if find out or discover something, LET ME KNOW ! 

[paboxcall]

Redleg:  Here is an interesting article from West Virginia DNR, anecdotal data points at the very least.  Like you mentioned, a breaking dawn with bright sun and calm winds may produce little gobbling if, based on this article, inclement weather was experienced the afternoon, evening or night before:

http://www.wvdnr.gov/hunting/WeathTurkHunt.shtm

Quote from the article:  "Hunters participating in West Virginia's spring gobbler survey have provided weather information to biologists for 18 years, and it is evident that the best spring gobbling occurs during clear days with little wind and no precipitation.  Conversely, periods of reduced gobbling activity coincide with cloudy skies, rain and windy conditions.  Research elsewhere on the relationship between gobbling and weather has shown that precipitation and high wind occurring as much as 12 hours prior to the time of gobbling will result in decreased gobbling.  One Alabama study showed that days with dew on the ground were good gobbling days, and that barometric pressure had little impact on gobbling although it is a part of the reason for changes in weather patterns."

It's amazing to me how one morning you can go into the woods and it LOOK like a perfect day for gobbling but then you dont hear anything and then you might go back the next day and they're shaking leaves off the trees gobbling...

Some weather patterns are obvious to us because we can see them (like rain, wind, exceptional cold or hot days, etc) but there has to be something that doesnt meet the human eye, that has an effect on gobbling.  Aside from just breeding phases and "gobbling lulls" I think it has to do with barometric pressure from day to day and maybe even hour to hour if it's changing.

I've never recorded barometric pressure but have always figured it has an effect on gobbling and wanted to get yalls opinions on it.

[Gooserbat]

I have no proof but my hunting experience has led me to believe that barometric pressure has something to do with gobbling activity. 

[turkey_slayer]

Theres no constant variable of what makes em be hot one day and not a peep the next. Generally a calm crisp morning is the best for gobbling here but not always. Turkeys do what they do cause thats what they do 

[wvcurlytop]

If anyone ever figures it out, let me know.  They baffle me how you can go and hear some one day, and the next day will be like the last one and you won't hear any!  They're turkeys, so what can we expect. 

[zeke632]

Theres no constant variable of what makes em be hot one day and not a peep the next. Generally a calm crisp morning is the best for gobbling here but not always. Turkeys do what they do cause thats what they do 

^this^  especially the last sentence

[longspur]

If your fearless enough, or stupid enough, ever which way you look at it, to sit leaned up aganst a tree in a bad storm with lighting poping all around that passed over about daybreak you can hear some hellatious gobbling. And you will be by yourself. A rising barometer is very suspect. I've been watching the barometer for years. Some days when I just know they will be hot they are not. Sometimes other animals may cause them to be quiet, yote or fox. Mood may have something to do with it. Has anybody ever watched moon phase to see if it was related to hot gobblers?

[lonnie sneed jr.]

I am like most on here, if you figure it out let me know. The very best gobbling I have ever heard, is on a clear, cold, frosty morning when the sun just starts coming up. I have heard hard gobbling on rainy mornings, full moon, and dark of the moon. Booming gobbling on thunder storm mornings and mid day. I have tryed very hard to pattern the gobbling for years. The only thing for me is the best gobbling I have heard, (most of the time) is on clear, frosty morning with the sun just starts coming up. The big kick back for me and frosty mornings, is our season opens in late April and it does not frost very much, and I can not count on that.  I am sure there is some kind of weather that triggers something, just have not pin pointed it. I just go every chance I get and take the weather and gobbling that the good Lord gives me for that day.

Theres no constant variable of what makes em be hot one day and not a peep the next. Generally a calm crisp morning is the best for gobbling here but not always. Turkeys do what they do cause thats what they do 

^this^  especially the last sentence

[RussM311]

The reality is simple..... days when I am in the woods.. they gobble very little. When I am stuck in the city... they gobble their heads off.  It's a fact. 

[mommicked]

I finally got a response about 2 silent hours after daylight on a calm, wet, cloudy,foggy mornin After I thought the overnight rain was gone. He came from 500+/' yrds to about 75 and took his time as the sky got darker and darker in a thick floodplain I found myself in after trying to close the gap before the rain I sensed was immenent. I was expecting a shot anytime, he was right there............................then the bottom fell out and a deluge drenched me and I was thoroughly soaked to the bones when I gave up 1/2 hr. later. The wet ride home ( 45 mins)  was nice. Turkey wins again, I think my score is 37 to 2 

[taylorjones20]

Even if we ever did find out when they gobble more based on weather/pressure.  I'm sure most are still like me... I am going to be out there after them whenever I can no matter what the weather/pressure is doing... 

[firstflight111]

I dont know i will keep a log of this year weather, and when turkeys are fired up and quite ..in may when our season ends i post it up ..I start my scouting next week going out every day till season starts then every day til it ends ..

[fsu33952]

I have kept track of weather and barometric pressure for a long time and have determined that he is going to do what he wants to do.in my opinion, the reason you hear more turkeys on clear, still days is because you can hear further with no rain or wind. Three of the best gobbling turkeys I have ever heard gobbled on days when 95percent of all hunters probably stayed at home. I am talking monsoons. I think they gobbled like that because they figured if anybody was going to hear them then they better holler loud. I have seen pretty days when they wouldn't say a thing. I think it is because they had gathered up a pile of hens the day before and they all roosted together and flew down together the next day. He has no need to gobble, especially if he s on public land where he knows that one of about three things can happen to him. He gets shot or shot at, a coyote tries to eat him, or another gobbler whoops him. Here in Alabama they are not gobbling worth a flip. My retired dad who hunts everyday, said he heard 6 different Turkeys gobble three days ago and has heard one turkey gobble one time since. It has been some of the nicest weather of the year. I just think they have no need to gobble right now. Not until some of these hens start to set and leave him.

[Michigander]

Has anybody ever watched moon phase to see if it was related to hot gobblers?

I am curious about his myself. For deer hunting, I have started keeping journal of weather conditions, BP, and moon phase. Looking back through it I see little effect of the BP, but almost all of my good hunts were liked to the moon phase. This kind of surprised me, I'm curious if turkeys are similar.