Just curious what percent of your birds never gobble, they just come in quiet?
It seems like over the years I have shot a good 30-40% of my Tom's that never gobbled. I'm just set up, doing alittle bit of yelping every 15-20 minutes. And bamb, a tom comes into range strutting, but never makes a sound other than drumming.
The one I killed last season didn't, very pressured public land, it was the second week of season, I was easing along a hidden path off of the main trial in and heard turkeys walking over the side of the hill from me in a holler. It was thick in there and I could only see about 15 yards in front of me, I yelped a couple times and scratched the leaves and the walking kept getting closer, about 15 minutes later out steps a long beard at 10 yards and I killed him. At the shot, two other longbeards were still down in the holler running around, I could see them from where mine was flopping. None of them gobbled, drummed, or strutted. I typically fall in to a silent one every few years, I'd say 6 to 8 years apart. It's not often that I'm still hanging around waiting on one honestly.
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Probably about one a year but it is usually by design. It's typically an afternoon when I don't figure they will gobble and I just go set up in a spot I think they should be near and call occasionally.
I killed sunday this way. I definitely prefer one coming in gobbling but if I have time i'm in the woods and just adjust tactics accordingly.
The way I hunt (and enjoy hunting) does not lend its self to killing birds that done gobble at all. The ones I can think of that I killed without a gobble comes out to about 4% but I'm sure there's another 1 or 2 I'm not thinking of
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Sunday the gobblers were sounding off at daybreak . Same place yesterday I only heard one gobble way way out but then around 8 am 3 came in silent. I have no idea why they do what they do. I would much rather be on a vocal one but sometimes you have to take the hand your dealt.
I'll have to check the box "does not apply" on this one... :)
It might say alot about me but I've only been busted by the quiet ones. I think it's close to 25-30% though. They usually come from somewhere unexpected and the movement catches my eye and I turn my head and I'm busted. Still getting better about that. I've also gone to stand up before and had one 20 yards away bust me, happened a few times actually and one time it was a pair of long beards.
I've had plenty that were gobbling come in silent or others in the area were gobbling when one comes in silent I didn't know was there but none come to mind when no gobbling was heard. My style of hunting doesn't lend itself well to calling in birds that hadn't gobbled. I'm usually just listening. If do call I've usually vacated that spot before they show up. I won't be far away but I won't be where there looking for me.
Well... What do you mean by "comes in quiet?"
Does that mean you never heard a gobble, and comes in quiet to your calling without ever hearing him? Does that mean you heard him gobble once or twice, and he came in quiet after?
I have had 4 experiences with birds this season (2 of them got Killed):
1) On my way to the first spot (about 1 mile), I was walkin' and talkin' and had an angry hen interact with me about 1/2 way to the spot... Never heard a gobble. Did some calling from the spot and 10 minutes later a bird "appeared" in front of me silently strutting. (Dead bird)
2) Once again interacting with an angry hen (above me calling very agressively with me calling back). Heard one distant gobble. He suddenly gobbled about 10 feet in front of me, poking his head over a rise... Believe there is still some residue in my shorts from that gobble (as it startled me good). (No dead bird)
3) Just after an encounter with a strutting/spitting hen that put on a long show for me, I headed back out the ravine in quiet woods... Several hundred yards from that encounter, I glassed a hillside and spotted a tom about 200 yards away on the hillside opposite me. Took cover behind a log, and started calling. He immediately went into strut and headed my direction. Got behind a bush about 20 yards away, and scared off by a coyote that rushed in.
4) Calling at some birds for fun down a steep gorge, otherside of a major road, and angry hen came to investigate. While she was on her way up, a bird further below her gobbled several times and stopped. She ended up on a rock 15 yards away, and we yelped and cutt back and forth for about 20 minutes. That tom "appeared" in front of me in full strut... Gobbled once, and I shot him. (dead bird 2).
I would say this season about 50% totally silent. I would say normally about 10% totally silent, and about 30% gobble at a distance and come in silent.
Very Few ... drumming, spitting and hearing them walking in the leaves ... most of the time ... and visual contact ...
Over the years after trolling all morning, I would set up in one of my spots where I have had success over the years and just soft call. I do this from 10:00 to noon on very slow days. I have had gobblers come in without gobbling, sometimes strutting on the way to their demise. This has happened quite a few times over the years. All the sudden, he appears out of no where. It's a waiting game that takes patience, not for everyone, but when they aren't talking, I use this tactic. I refuse to leave the woods until quitting time, regardless if they are not talking......that just me.
No doubt hunting quiet birds is not very exciting. But you don't know if they will be gobbling or not till your in the field and I'm not turning around and going home just because the birds aren't super vocal.
Most these quiet birds i have shot are in the late morning to early afternoon. I normally slip into areas that I know there are birds, they aren't gobbling. But I go set up and let out a lonely hen yelp every 10-15 minutes. I will do this for normally atleast an hour, sometimes 2 hours. Sometimes hear some distant gobbles, but typically not in response to the call. The majority of the time I dont hear any gobbling. But its not uncommon for a bird to show up. Maybe they are just passing through the area, maybe they are responding to the calls, just not gobbling. Not sure, but a bagged turkey is a bagged turkey.
My very first and best turkey came in totally silent, not a peep. He just appeared.
I'd say probably 90% talk back to me at one time or the other over my hunt. I bet if I stayed put in the blind that number would increase. I guess you never know when there's a silent turkey coming to your calls.
I know there's been several times when I've left my blind to run and gun, I've walked past the spot that I've been sitting that morning and see a turkey standing where my decoys once were.
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I would be willing to bet that I don't have a clue as to how many birds have come in quiet, that I never saw. Hunting hilly, wooded, brushy, rocky areas, and it would be quite easy for a bird to get by me without seeing him.
Thinking about it, I have killed a few, in which all I heard was some sort of quiet cluck or drumming to give me notice of a bird I would not have otherwise seen.
Hunting grassy areas, I cannot hear them walking... And I have bumped a fair number of birds getting up to move. I have no idea how many birds have walked in range behind me, or otherwise out of my view... I suspect it is a decent number though.
I do know that the more pressured the birds are (by human hunters or predators), the more likely they are to move in tight-lipped.
For me they may gobble on the roost, but far fewer gobble on the ground coming to my calls. Called 4 in this year that were shot and not the first gobbled on the ground.
I thought I would come back to this post and let yall know what happened to me today.
I went to a spot this morning where I know a big Tom has been strutting in a road literally every day. I just don't know what time of day. Set up before day break, nothing. Hours go by, and nothing. I bailed and said I would come back later in the day. I went to a few other spots, but not a peep all day. Its also windy, gusting 15-20 MPH all day with constant 10 mph winds.
Sometime around 1 I go to head back to the road. I park the truck, come around the corner, and about 300-400 yards down the road I see a bird. I glassed it and it was indeed a Tom. So now I am fixated on this bird while walking in the ditch trying to keep myself hidden and work towards his "strut zone" where he has been every day.
I get over there and belly-craw out the ditch to set up a decoy in the road and right about the time I start sliding back into the ditch to get some concealment and start calling a Tom flys up about 15 yards in front of me, across the road. It was literally THE BIRD I was set out to get today. The other one just happened to be in the area walking the roads. So not only did I get busted, but when he flew up I stepped out on the road completely forgetting the other bird just long enough to look up and see him hauling down the road.
They whopped me today.
357^^ Ouch!
I'd say a small percentage. When in Roam do what they do. A few years back I had a great season. But the birds had lock jaw. I knew they were in the area, not great roost activity and would only gobble a few times on the ground. That last hour many have creeped in and it was boom time.
Almost anyone can kill a bird who's gobbling.
Been turkey hunting almost 40 years and have never had a silent Tom come in. Guess i need to sit still longer to check this box off.
I find it particularly satifying killing those tight lipped birds, of course I like the game and those loud mouth birds are the best but also generally the easiest to kill!
I have "called" in plenty of silent birds sitting on sign when things are slow! Calling them where they already want to be is the key.
Quote from: deadbuck on April 11, 2023, 09:56:20 AM
Been turkey hunting almost 40 years and have never had a silent Tom come in. Guess i need to sit still longer to check this box off.
It's somewhere in the neighborhood of 55 years for me. My theory has always been (and, hopefully, always will be...that is, if I can manage it) that there is a gobbler just over the next ridge that wants to have a conversation with me. Of course, I have almost always hunted where there was a "next ridge" to go over to find out. I fully understand that there are a lot of folks that do not have that luxury and must adapt. After so many years of going at it the way I have, and then having on a few occasions needed to do that "adapting", I have found that I am not very good at it.
On the other hand, I am quickly reaching that age where the virtues of planting myself in one spot and waiting for a gobbler to show up are becoming increasingly more appealing. ...Hmmm,...imagine that! ;D
On days when they are tight lipped and just not vocal, I'll do my few hours of trolling, then go to my favorite ares of past experiences, set up and randomly, sparingly, and quietly call. I know this sounds boring, but I'll tell you that I have been successful doing this more times than not. A definite tactic on slow days that I'll employ every season for sure..
Quote from: GobbleNut on April 11, 2023, 10:20:04 AM
On the other hand, I am quickly reaching that age where the virtues of planting myself in one spot and waiting for a gobbler to show up are becoming increasingly more appealing. ...Hmmm,...imagine that! ;D
I am finding that sitting under a tree in the shade for a bit after a long hike is becoming far more appealing (especially when it works as a successful strategy)... Little bit of calling, watch and listen... I call it patience and wisdom with age... Others call it becoming lazy with age. ::)
If I sit to long the eyes get heavy. I can't sleep sitting up. I'll curl up at the base of the tree to catch nap. Problem is the phantom gobbles keep me awake.
Honestly not many. Most talk to me about getting shot before they get shot.
Not many silent birds for me either. I had one a little over 20 years ago that had responded to my calls, but was clearly following a hen away from the property, just giving me courtesy gobbles. I'd had a late night the night before because some hunting buddies had come into town & we got a bit too carried away with the adult beverages. Anyway, I was set up in a great spot less than 100 yards from the property line he'd crossed, so I decided to rest my eyes a bit. A little over an hour from my last call, he'd come in silent right behind the tree I was on and cut loose a gobble that liked to blown the cap off my head. It shook me up, though my insides jumped more than my outsides. He ended up walking past the tree and I shot him inside 20 yards. Technically, he was only silent for an hour right before the end.
Had another gobbler that came in on a windy day from behind me about 6-7 years ago. The woods were dry as corn flakes, but I was hunting a powerline cut sowed in clover with grass edges. He came right down the shady side of the powerlines in the grass, hugging the side of the woods I was on. Never gobbled, spit, or drummed the first time that I ever heard. Even though I looked around good before I moved, he was less than 20 feet from me (!) when I eased up to relieve myself. He didn't putt, but he sure wasn't waiting around to find out what I was. So close, but so far away.
Jim
Quote from: Cut N Run on April 12, 2023, 08:23:02 AM
I'd had a late night the night before because some hunting buddies had come into town & we got a bit too carried away with the adult beverages.
Jim
Ahh yes, Jim....The old "adult beverage with the buddies" excuse. I've used it a few times myself over the years! ;D :angel9:
I'd say about about 30%.
I have killed quiet a few that only drumming gave them away. A very long time ago I figured out what spitten and drummen sounded like. Once I did , my dead bird count went up significantly. No telling how many slipped on by me when I was young and not picking up on that sound. Sometimes I can hear it 100 yards away.
Quote from: GobbleNut on April 12, 2023, 08:47:08 AM
Quote from: Cut N Run on April 12, 2023, 08:23:02 AM
I'd had a late night the night before because some hunting buddies had come into town & we got a bit too carried away with the adult beverages.
Jim
Ahh yes, Jim....The old "adult beverage with the buddies" excuse. I've used it a few times myself over the years! ;D :angel9:
Yeah, well, you know. There wasn't much runnin' & gunnin' happening for me that morning. ...Sometimes the anticipation of the hunt mixed with good friends & such gets away with you. Glad to hear I'm not alone, didn't think I was. It probably made me a more relaxed, patient hunter that day if nothing else. Sure did pay off though.
Jim
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on April 12, 2023, 04:37:57 PM
I have killed quiet a few that only drumming gave them away. A very long time ago I figured out what spitten and drummen sounded like. Once I did , my dead bird count went up significantly. No telling how many slipped on by me when I was young and not picking up on that sound. Sometimes I can hear it 100 yards away.
I still don't know what it sounds like. I've had a few Infront of me and the spitting part is noticeable but I guess I can't hear the drumming.
Quote from: 357MAGNOLE on April 12, 2023, 04:48:04 PM
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on April 12, 2023, 04:37:57 PM
I have killed quiet a few that only drumming gave them away. A very long time ago I figured out what spitten and drummen sounded like. Once I did , my dead bird count went up significantly. No telling how many slipped on by me when I was young and not picking up on that sound. Sometimes I can hear it 100 yards away.
I still don't know what it sounds like. I've had a few Infront of me and the spitting part is noticeable but I guess I can't hear the drumming.
Best way I can describe it sounds like a truck that's stuck in the mud way off reving the motor. I can't pick up the tick as well as the drum. You can almost feel it once you learn what you are hearing. There are some that cannot hear it at all. Had a buddy I called a bird up for. The bird was right over a finger ridge about 35 yards away. He was drumming hard and my buddy could not hear it.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on April 12, 2023, 05:49:08 PM
Quote from: 357MAGNOLE on April 12, 2023, 04:48:04 PM
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on April 12, 2023, 04:37:57 PM
I have killed quiet a few that only drumming gave them away. A very long time ago I figured out what spitten and drummen sounded like. Once I did , my dead bird count went up significantly. No telling how many slipped on by me when I was young and not picking up on that sound. Sometimes I can hear it 100 yards away.
I still don't know what it sounds like. I've had a few Infront of me and the spitting part is noticeable but I guess I can't hear the drumming.
Best way I can describe it sounds like a truck that's stuck in the mud way off reving the motor. I can't pick up the tick as well as the drum. You can almost feel it once you learn what you are hearing. There are some that cannot hear it at all. Had a buddy I called a bird up for. The bird was right over a finger ridge about 35 yards away. He was drumming hard and my buddy could not hear it.
Good way to describe drumming, I've often said it sounds like a distant semi's engine brake, or one gearing down going downhill.
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For those with Instagram, Catman just posted a video of a turkey drumming.
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Quote from: 357MAGNOLE on April 12, 2023, 04:48:04 PM
I still don't know what it sounds like. I've had a few Infront of me and the spitting part is noticeable but I guess I can't hear the drumming.
We had birds drumming in front of us last season, and my daughter thought it was frogs... Does not sound or "feel" like a sound turkeys would or should make.
This video has quite a bit of drumming... Turn up the volume (just don't poop your pants when a bird unexpectedly gobbles).
I have always thought it sounded more like a humming bird, but deeper. Spit followed by a 1-2 second deep humming bird sound/blast.
There are birds drumming through the video, but Probably about the 2:20 mark is the best drumming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQDSrIUaQ2U
I've never been able to hear drumming myself
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Took me about 15 years before I could recognized drumming. Its not that I couldn't hear it, it's just I wasn't in tune to it. Than one quiet morning in had one drumming in the brush at about 35 yds. I couldn't see him. I kept hearing this low humming type sound. I was wondering what the heck is that sound. Than the light came on. If I was able to see that gobbler I guarantee I wouldn't have heard the the drumming as I would have been focusing on my vision instead of my hearing. Now that I know what to listen for I think I hear it everywhere, especially when the wind is blowing.