Anyone else struggle determining the direction that drumming is coming from? Until they are fairly close (within gun range), I really can't tell at all, especially if there's any confounding terrain features/topography changes.
I struggle triangulating the spit/drum for sure, especially once it greens up. Seems to come from everywhere.
Here is a post from Mike Battey from some years back. He mentions the difficulty for humans in locating sounds below 80 Hz and specifically turkey drumming. His advice is to listen for the spit before the drumming.
http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,20787.msg230173.html#msg230173 (http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,20787.msg230173.html#msg230173)
The weird thing was I could hear the drumming, but not the spit on my last turkey encounter.
Quote from: JMalin on May 11, 2020, 04:40:52 PM
The weird thing was I could hear the drumming, but not the spit on my last turkey encounter.
Low frequencies travel further, so that maybe tells you something about how far away he was. Some folks, and you're young so that helps, can hear drumming much further than others. If you are one of those lucky ones, you could easily find yourself in situations where you can hear the drumming and not the spit.
Quote from: Rapscallion Vermilion on May 11, 2020, 01:51:11 PM
Here is a post from Mike Battey from some years back. He mentions the difficulty for humans in locating sounds below 80 Hz and specifically turkey drumming. His advice is to listen for the spit before the drumming.
http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,20787.msg230173.html#msg230173 (http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,20787.msg230173.html#msg230173)
Thanks Raps for including that link back to Mike's post from 2012 - I had forgotten about that discussion. Lots of great information over the years on this site if you take a minute or two to search it out.
Seems like I have a harder time pinpointing it the closer it is to me. I can hear drumming at a pretty good distance, a lot farther than most people I hunt with. 100 yards or farther I can tell where it's coming from most of the time. Any closer than that I can narrow it down to between about 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Drives me crazy, but it's a fun crazy.
I'm in the same boat...drumming sounds very ventriloquistic. I do know that, verified via range finder, I can hear drumming at least 75 yards.
Hell I can hardly tell which way gobbling is coming from. You guys are doing great... :TooFunny:
I can tell which way he is coming more by drumming than gobbling. I have had my gun pointed right more times from drumming. A lot of times I think I hear drumming but I'm sure when I hear him spit, I hunt a lot of places where you hear some bass playing..
I struggle to hear drumming gobbler has to be about 40 yards for me to hear it.
Drumming is a confounding yet exciting sound...
Wind and terrain can fool you... Birds on a crest of a hill upwind of me, well over 100 yards away were drumming for some time, and I was waiting for that red head to pop up in the crest right in front of me (until I finally saw those birds).
I have also sat frozen for extended periods of time due to a humming bird that sounded like it could be drumming....
I also hunted in low clouds/fog this year... And drumming carried a long, long ways...
Due to tinnitus and some higher frequency hearing loss, it seems I can hear (or possibly focus on better) drumming... Hearing that "spit" is a bit more difficult, and if I can hear that, the safety is coming off...
I heard a lot more drumming, and a lot less gobbling this year... I assume in part due to increased hunting pressure?
Sometimes a gobbler will spit; sometimes a gobbler will drum; sometimes a gobbler will do both. Very frequently either option will attract a hen.
Hey Sil I heard one drum and spit this season and another bird gobbled it him, first time I had ever heard one gobble at it.
They hear it or they wouldn't do it.
I have wondered at times if I've heard a gobbler do a single yelp or even purr. Would make sense for them to do something that doesn't give their position away, almost like elk out West learning to bugle less after wolf reintroduction.
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Quote from: AppalachianHollers on May 13, 2020, 10:01:25 PM
I have wondered at times if I've heard a gobbler do a single yelp or even purr. Would make sense for them to do something that doesn't give their position away, almost like elk out West learning to bugle less after wolf reintroduction.
Back in the day (before my day), apparently pheasants used to hold, and cackle when flushed...
Now, wild pheasants run like heck, and generally flush silently... No doubt but that human hunting pressure created a long-term genetic incentive to change behavior... The pheasants that held and cackled when flushed got shot, and taken out of the gene pool... The birds that ran survived, the birds that flushed silently survived more, and the birds that ran and flushed silently were able to propagate and continue their genetics...
With the increasing popularity of turkey hunting, and with the exceptional increase in hunting pressure this season, birds that gobbled either got harassed or shot...
I've only heard it a few times. Take care of your hearing, it don't come back!
I can hear the spit but I can't say that I have ever heard the drumming. I've tried listening for it when I have had toms around but either they weren't doing it or I can't hear it.
When I 1st hear it it's such a low frequency it sounds like it all around me. For some reason I always end up looking up until I can pinpoint it.
:goofball:
Quote from: countryboy3006 on May 19, 2020, 08:53:15 AM
I can hear the spit but I can't say that I have ever heard the drumming. I've tried listening for it when I have had toms around but either they weren't doing it or I can't hear it.
This is my situation as well. I can hear the spit clearly, but not the drum. Maybe I just don't know what to listen for?
Quote from: TonyTurk on May 19, 2020, 07:32:41 PM
:goofball:Quote from: countryboy3006 on May 19, 2020, 08:53:15 AM
I can hear the spit but I can't say that I have ever heard the drumming. I've tried listening for it when I have had toms around but either they weren't doing it or I can't hear it.
This is my situation as well. I can hear the spit clearly, but not the drum. Maybe I just don't know what to listen for?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQDSrIUaQ2U
go to about 1:43 and 2:15-2:44
For whatever reason, drumming does not seem to be captured well on recordings??? But think of the sound of a humming bird, but a bit deeper. (I have been made to hold still for several minutes by a humming bird on multiple occasions)
On video and audio, I can hear the spitting better, in the woods, I can hear drumming much further off... And I have some hearing loss along with tinnitus.
I noticed that this season, I heard a lot more birds come in drumming than I did gobbling. I also noticed that the with right acoustics, I could hear birds drumming from a long ways off (i.e. I hunted a foggy day, and could hear birds drumming from a couple hundred yards away).
Generally, if I can hear them drum, I assume they are close. That sound means "hold still," and maybe do a couple clucks/purrs if you can do so without moving.
Not sure if I've ever heard one drum. The nurse at work says my hearing is fine.
Quote from: West Augusta on May 25, 2020, 03:06:52 PM
Not sure if I've ever heard one drum. The nurse at work says my hearing is fine.
Seems like I more "feel" the drumming than hear the drumming. All I know is when I realize that's what I'm hearing I know that gobbler is super close. And that's when the adrenaline dumps too!
Greatest sound on earth. The Spit drum
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I can't say for sure that I've ever heard a drum.
I hear the spit will and can locate it.
Those of you that don't know if you can hear a drum find yourself a power transformer near you...they're at your nearest substation. Listen. If you can hear it, you can hear a drum...just concentrate.
From someone that's a certified electrician for over over 50 years LOL.
Quote from: West Augusta on May 25, 2020, 03:06:52 PM
Not sure if I've ever heard one drum. The nurse at work says my hearing is fine.
Quote from: West Augusta on June 03, 2020, 11:09:57 AM
I can't say for sure that I've ever heard a drum.
I hear the spit will and can locate it.
I previously had some minor high-frequency hearing loss, and in the past year developed significant tinnitus, and have an even more difficult time hearing the higher pitches...
Drumming is a low-pitch sound, and I can hear drumming more easily than I can spitting... Although when the bird is close, the spitting is obvious as well.
It was a few years before I ever heard drumming.... I can pick out gobbling sooner and more often with friends I take (with far better hearing than mine) that do not turkey hunt so much. I believe that when we are turkey hunting, we to some degree hyper-focus for the turkey sounds we hope and expect to hear....
Once you actually verifiably hear drumming a couple times, you ears will learn to focus on that sound, just like gobbling... In other words, it probably is not that you cannot hear drumming, it is that you do not yet know what to listen for.
I typically pick up the spit first. This year while scouting I was listening to some gobblers on a distant hillside and then decided to shortcut through some pines on my way back to the truck. When I was nearing the logging road I had come in on I heard/felt the spit and drum. Of course I hit the deck and this gobbler went strutting by me at about 15 feet. Snapped a pick after he passed by headed to a hen. Hope he had fun cause my boy packed him out a week later.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200605/532ac17badebfed4cf51feb5810a9493.jpg)
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Will or can a gobbler drum when he's not strutting? I have been hunting turkeys since 1989 and I've heard lots of drumming over the years but only when the bird is strutting. So this year a buddy and i called in 2 adults , we heard a lot of drumming but neither of these birds was strutting and we didn't see another gobbler after my buddy shot one and we got together we surmised that Maybe A bird came in behind us and we couldn't see him.
Yes. They can drum without strutting. I used to have a wild turkey that would sit on my lap and drum. His tail feathers would fan out slightly and he would fluff up a little while he was doing it.
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I can still hear drumming further then most folks I've hunted with through the years .
I seem to feel it more then hear it . I've never been able to pinpoint it either , just get a general area it's coming from . It's fooled me more then once . Move gun towards the drumming only to have him appear way to left or right of my prediction.
happens everytime i hear him one way and he comes from another. the calmer the conditions the easier i can pinpoint them also listening for other sounds
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Do not believe I have ever heard drumming, It could be a bearing issue for me since could not hear it in the video Marc posted
Quote from: NCL on June 13, 2020, 09:03:40 AM
Do not believe I have ever heard drumming, It could be a bearing issue for me since could not hear it in the video Marc posted
Could also be below the frequency range of whatever you are listening on. My laptop or computer's built in speakers don't reproduce those low frequencies well at all. But the drumming is very clear on my truck's sound system or even half decent headphones.
Thank you, that could be true.
Quote from: NCL on June 13, 2020, 09:03:40 AM
Do not believe I have ever heard drumming, It could be a bearing issue for me since could not hear it in the video Marc posted
As said earlier...find yourself a power transformer...they're 60 HZ....drumming is probably closer to 50 HZ. But...if you can hear the transformer you should hear drumming. Just concentrate. If you can't hear the transformer you're SOL. The majority of people with hearing loss is at the higher frequencies rather than the lower.
P.S. Years ago before I knew what to listen for I know I heard drumming, but didn't recognize it and would prematurely leave a setup...most likely spooking a bird in the process. Now I know, and concentrate trying to hear it. Really pays dividends. I have hearing loss at the higher frequencies, as most, but hear the lowers fairly well.
Quote from: Turkeyman on June 15, 2020, 04:08:48 PM
Quote from: NCL on June 13, 2020, 09:03:40 AM
Do not believe I have ever heard drumming, It could be a bearing issue for me since could not hear it in the video Marc posted
As said earlier...find yourself a power transformer...they're 60 HZ....drumming is probably closer to 50 HZ. But...if you can hear the transformer you should hear drumming. Just concentrate. If you can't hear the transformer you're SOL. The majority of people with hearing loss is at the higher frequencies rather than the lower.
P.S. Years ago before I knew what to listen for I know I heard drumming, but didn't recognize it and would prematurely leave a setup...most likely spooking a bird in the process. Now I know, and concentrate trying to hear it. Really pays dividends. I have hearing loss at the higher frequencies, as most, but hear the lowers fairly well.
I hear the 60 Hz hum of a transformer just fine. Used to work around them all of the time. Just have never picked up on a turkey drumming in the woods.
I've never heard drumming in the woods. Even when a hunting partner told me he could hear it. I think it happens at too low of a register for me to hear. I can't even hear it on videos. But I did hear it on some of Lovett Williams recordings.
For me, its much less hearing the drumming, and more becoming aware of the drumming. Like its suddenly everywhere around me. Its not like you hear a gobble - and think that's a gobble. Or hear a whipper-will - and think that's a whipper-will.
I just suddenly become aware I'm immersed in the drumming vibration. And that's when the adrenaline dump happens because I KNOW he's close, super close, my rational thinking brain turns off, and I too often do something stupid, like move my head to try and pinpoint him.
The only times I've heard drumming, it's been at Danger-Close distances, and it invariably means I've got an immediate shooting opportunity.
For some reason, I had 2 such experiences this past spring during my pre-season podcast.
The first incident was on 3/28; I had a gob roosted close to my blind, so I planted the mike and moved a safe distance off. The gob pitched down and tried to make love to the umbrella mike. See [urlhttps://genesis9.angzva.com/?p=8303]The Mistaken Gobbler [/url]
The second incident was on 4/4: The gob came up directly behind me. See Yute Hunt, 2020 (https://genesis9.angzva.com/?p=8326)
I can hear the drumming from around 60 yards or more depending on the terrain - one hell of a sound in the timber when it echoes off a hillside with the gobbling. It's a positively prehistoric set of sounds, but I only get a very vague notion of where the bird is - basic points of the compass type stuff. Hard to pinpoint with any level of detail in my limited experience.
Great Thread!!
I hear both and love it. It pumps me up more than a gobble , hence my username lol.
Quote from: paboxcall on June 16, 2020, 09:27:04 AM
For me, its much less hearing the drumming, and more becoming aware of the drumming. Like its suddenly everywhere around me. Its not like you hear a gobble - and think that's a gobble. Or hear a whipper-will - and think that's a whipper-will.
I just suddenly become aware I'm immersed in the drumming vibration. And that's when the adrenaline dump happens because I KNOW he's close, super close, my rational thinking brain turns off, and I too often do something stupid, like move my head to try and pinpoint him.
This right here. I think a lot of people expect to hear a sound, and while you can hear it, you can feel it almost as much. To me it's more like a vibration. I think some people that say they can't hear it don't recognize it. It's very hard to describe in words.
Because they normally come in so slowly while drumming, I don't pick it up with all the other background noise until they are within 35 yards... many times, they just appear within 10 yards on me.
I'm thankful I can hear both sounds. I tend to pick up drumming at decent distances, well beyond shooting range, and can pinpoint the location easily. Then once I hear it for the first time in the season, my mind plays tricks on me the rest of the year. Drumming everywhere!
I do have a buddy that is completely unable to hear either sound. He has good hearing otherwise & has killed plenty of birds, just can't pick up the frequency.
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I can usually pinpoint the direction good too, but I remember one time I was in Alabama in a narrow creek bottom with points and ridges rising up from the creek. Gobbler was drumming and the sound was bouncing and reverberating off the ridges so I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I could only see about 40 yards max. Never did see the bird. I think being able to pinpoint it is terrain dependent.
I can hear both, but under good conditions I can hear a gobbler spit at a greater distance than drum.
It's obvious that everyone's hearing is different. From a very young age, I never remember hearing a bird drum, though I didn't have very many in front of me then. I did hear the spit, and could see the shimmy and shake as I believe the bird drummed. Later in life, while around domestic birds, I did "hear", but more "feel", birds drum that were very close to me. Knowing what to listen for, I started to "hear" it from birds 20-30 yards away and closer. I wish I could hear it like some of you do. Walking through the woods striking with the call I once had my guest say "do you hear that, it sounds like drumming." I said "sit down" and a few minutes later he tagged a nice tom. I would have walked over the ridge and bumped him. God only knows how many times that exact thing has happened when I didn't have someone with me who could hear it and recognize it.
I used to believe that I had good hearing. As a young hunter I could hear better than my dad and grandpa, so I thought that I had good hearing. At 27 I took a 15 year old on his first hunt. As it got light we had a silent woods. Plenty of crows and owls and some far off dogs but no gobbles. The kid kept saying that he heard gobbles way back in the woods, further on down the road we walked in on. I listened for 15 minutes, hearing nothing, with the kid saying that he heard gobbling repeatedly. I assumed he was hearing some far off dogs or crows, the garbage I was trying to listen through. Finally deciding it was a good enough direction to head towards anyway, we set off towards the kid's "gobbles". A half mile later I could just make out 2 birds hammering. I learned a lot about my hearing that morning. Now I love having young ears along with me.
Duck and goose blinds are bad for the turkey hunter. That's my problem I think. Other loud noises are bad too. But mostly it's genetics. Some people got it, some people don't.
Just here to report that it's still a struggle narrowing the source any more than about 90 degrees or so. Heard a bird on a recent hunt drumming from over 100 yards away in calm conditions and it took my a long time to actually spot him on a hillside just before he flew up for the evening.
Absolutely! Very frustrating, but I always seem to hear it in time to say "Get ur gun up and safety off". Also, have trouble pinpointing gobbles at times. Had a couple hammering this morning and a buddy and I pointed in opposite directions.
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Quote from: paboxcall on May 11, 2020, 01:36:15 PM
I struggle triangulating the spit/drum for sure, especially once it greens up. Seems to come from everywhere.
X2!
I agree, they can be difficult in hearing both drumming / spitting.. What i try to focus on if at all possible is the noise they make while walking.. But that's not always possible either because of the terrain...