Decided to take Thursday and Friday off of work to get in some hunting before the end of my season in Nebraska on the 31st. Saw lots of hens both days but not a single gobble or Tom/Jake sighting. This happened to me last weekend as well. Went for one last hurrah this morning at a different private spot and it was more of the same. Around 10:30am I decided to get up and do some walking. Started off to the other end of the property walking along a hardwood ridgeline calling every 25 yards or so. Nothing. Got the edge of the property and started walking a heavily brushed fence line that has a large open cattle pasture on the other side. About 20 yards along I come to a slight break in the brush and see 3 large Toms roughly 100 yards in.
It appeared that one was looking straight at me, so I instantly froze and hoped they would just think I was the ugliest tree they had ever seen. What seemed like an eternity, but was in reality more like a minute or two, they hadn't moved so I sunk down and slowly crawled to where I could get behind some cover along the fence. I was so excited as this was the best scenario I had seen all season long. I started some soft calling and.....nothing. Called again a little louder and more aggressive and the most reaction I could get was that one went into partial strut. They couldn't have cared less. All I could do was sit and watch as they eventually sauntered off out of sight after about 10 minutes. As they were walking away I even threw out a gobble as a last resort. Again....nothing. My heart just sank. What seemed like a perfect setup turned out to be a bust. Any ideas on what went wrong? Was it something I said?
At 42, this was my very first season and I've been fortunate and blessed to get 2 fine birds creating some fantastic memories (and a case of poison ivy) along the way. I can't wait for March to come so I can get it going all over again. Geez, I guess I better find something to do with my time now. Where is that lawn mower?
Congrats, on your season. Nothing you did wrong. It's just birds doing what birds do..
Sounds like late season turkeys being turkeys. Last weekend the bird I got only gobbled twice on the roost, then shut up. Moved to where they wanted to go and got lucky. Some days it seems they will cross heck and high water to find a calling hen. Most days you have to be where they already want to go.
If a gobbler doesn't want to play, he isn't going to play!
His game, his rules, all we can do is try and "convince" him to change a little.
:OGturkeyhead:
In my opinion you just witnessed the end of the turkey mating season. Nearly all the hens are sitting and the toms have been left alone long enough that they simply lose interest. Here in southwest Michigan I've been seeing lone toms and groups of toms for about 10 days. Haven't heard a bird gobble even longer. If you can find one that's still playing the game he will be very vulnerable and will usually come quickly to a call. Congratulations on a great first season!
While the breeding season may come to an end, the peck order season never ends. Sounding like another gobbler might have caused them to check you out and put you in your place, just what you want to happen. From early April through early May (basically the five weeks of Illinois turkey season), for several years I've had great success with sounding like an intruder gobbler, especially if I have a tom decoy whether it's a strutter, Funky Chicken, or inexpensive foam jake and I place it over a hen on the ground directly in front of the tom decoy. If you decide to try this strategy, let us know how it worked for you.
Congrats on your season!!