Now that the season is closing down I have a question in regard to early vs late season hen chatter. My first hunt this year was the first week in May. It seemed like both toms and hens were super vocal at that time. I was out this past weekend (May 26) and things seemed quite different. The toms were still strutting and vocal but I noticed the hens were super quiet. I only hear 1 set of yelp in 1 1/2 days in an area with 0 hunting pressure. I'm pretty sure this is probably due to hens nesting up and being "secretive." I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this late in the season?
It also seemed like the toms weren't too terribly interested in the hen calls...possibly due to almost no hens clucking or yelping. I would have thought toms might have been fired up to get action from the few hens that remain available but it sure didn't seem that way. They were pretty much scattered with 2 to 4 hens in a group. Does anyone have any calling or decoy set up suggestions? They definitely didn't seem to be aggresive towards drake + hen setups. I wonder if just a couple hen decoys or something else may work? Thanks for any suggestions!
Quote from: jims on May 30, 2013, 10:40:01 AM
Does anyone have any calling or decoy set up suggestions? They definitely didn't seem to be aggresive towards drake + hen setups. I wonder if just a couple hen decoys or something else may work? Thanks for any suggestions!
Try using turkey decoy's instead of duck decoy's. Just kidding. ;D
In later season I have more luck switching to gobbler yelps, clucks and gobbles. Around here they seem to be more interested in getting back together with their surviving buddy's than they do hens. I always start with the hen talk, but if that doesn't strike their interest I move on to gobbler talk.
Quote from: guesswho on May 30, 2013, 12:31:03 PM
Quote from: jims on May 30, 2013, 10:40:01 AM
Does anyone have any calling or decoy set up suggestions? They definitely didn't seem to be aggresive towards drake + hen setups. I wonder if just a couple hen decoys or something else may work? Thanks for any suggestions!
Try using turkey decoy's instead of duck decoy's. Just kidding. ;D
In later season I have more luck switching to gobbler yelps, clucks and gobbles. Around here they seem to be more interested in getting back together with their surviving buddy's than they do hens. I always start with the hen talk, but if that doesn't strike their interest I move on to gobbler talk.
HaaHaa, Ronnie,...pretty funny! (Ya'Goob)
Excellent advice on the calling though,...as usual. It is also good to remember that in most cases with late season birds, stealth, positioning and set-up and way less calling (or no calling at all) are often more important to success.
Dad gum it..now that you mention it maybe it was the hen goose decoys I set out? Anyway, it almost sounds like fall tactics late in the season?
Quote from: jims on May 30, 2013, 06:26:50 PM
Dad gum it..now that you mention it maybe it was the hen goose decoys I set out? Anyway, it almost sounds like fall tactics late in the season?
:TooFunny:
Exactly