Strategy for quiet birds?

[Sir-diealot]

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Thanks to the OP and to all that replied, ya'll helped me get my first ever turkey this year and I am grateful.

Congrats. Thats a big day.

I to appreciate that the OP started this. I to hunt in an area that is generally very quiet.(NY). This year I hunted 9 strait days 400 am to noon with out ever hearing a gobble. Same resulkts for my dad and brother except my dad put in a few more days.

I am going to re think some things after reading this.

What part on NY are you in? I am in the Finger Lakes Region.

I have a camp on the border of Madison and  Chenango counties so I hunt both of them.

Gobbling has been tapering off for years. But this year I hunted a little later to see if it picked back up and we never heard a gobble.

Not to far from me, I am in Yates County. Oh I forgot to day thank you in my last post, thank you.

[rgref522]

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if the birds are quiet my calling turns subtle and it's a waiting game.  it's just a matter of time usually and one will come looking,  the trick is seeing him and being ready before he spots you. 

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[Mossberg90MN]

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Quiet birds are one of the basic turkey-hunter's dilemmas,...and it is a "catch 22" type thing.  I think most of us want to hunt gobbling birds, but there are those times when we convince ourselves that they just are not gonna do it. When that happens, we often go to the "sit, wait, and call sparingly" mind-set.  The problem with going to the mind-set is that none of us really knows whether the gobbler that had lockjaw thirty minutes or an hour ago is going to suddenly get in the "mood".  As such, we end up sitting and waiting when, right over the next hill, there might be a gobbler that is ready to play.

Quite honestly, I love hunting the places where the regulars say,..."you can't kill birds here by hunting aggressively and calling a bunch".   Often, the reason those guys don't kill birds that way is because they have resorted to a mind-set where they never do it.  "Pigeon-holing" oneself into hunting one way,...and one way only,...is a sure way not to kill birds that are perfectly willing to be killed another way.  The moral:  "mix it up". 

Now, I am not going to claim that there are no places and conditions where a more aggressive hunter cannot "inspire" a reluctant gobbler to cooperate.  I have hunted a couple of places where I finally had to admit that if I wanted to kill a gobbler I needed to sit my butt down, grit my teeth, and hope that a gobbler wandered by.  On the other hand, those places have invariably been where the properties were so small that using more mobile, aggressive tactics just were just not practical. No doubt, some folks here are in that position.  Even on those places, though, the moral is the same:  "mix it up" once in a while.

Personally, if I am hunting a property that is large enough that I have the option, I am going to carefully cover every inch of that property trying to find a vocal gobbler before I ever resort to "sit and wait".  The added benefit of covering it all is that by doing that, I will also be able to determine where the best place is to sit, watch the grass grow, cuss under my breath, and grind my teeth.   

Very good info right here!


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