For those hunting PA, what phase of the season do you think we are in right now?
To me it seems as if it's winding down, as gobblers are roosting together? But on the other hand I'm not positive where we are right now?
Normally before the gobblers start regrouping you get them days where they are really vocal when they lose their hens. Just didn't seem to happen this year, unless it's still to come? Also this year in PA, I have yet to come across a late morning bird 10-12am that is gobbling his head off on his own, which is usually a tell tale sign of losing hens? Previous years I've always come across these birds, but not this year? Hope I'm wrong, but sure seems like they are winding down, with gobblers grouped already?
And if it is winding down, what ever happen to the good gobbling many claim, happens once they lose their hens? Sure dosen't seem like they're with hens and they sure aren't becoming more vocal?
It's kinda like that in NY. I hear birds gobble some on the roost, but then shut down after they fly down. They may gobble a couple time afterwards as they are walking away, but then the woods get quite. I hunted before work today and definitely heard 4 different birds, maybe 5. But after 7 there was nothing. I walked to where I parked and did a sequence on my mouth call for the hell of it and the box call..nothing. As I am driving out, there is a struter in a picked bean field 300 yards from where i called from. He had to have heard me as there were just open fields between me and him... there was one hen, but she was about 100 yards from him...i hope they start talking more...i got one on opening day, but would like to fill my second tag
i hunt pa and ny and we are behind cause of the weather we had.im thinking the last week maybe the best.don't give up.they are henned up something bad here in bradford co.
I think every thing is late this year. I am south of you in MD and things seemed to be running a tad later in the season than usuall.
Maybe El Nino? :lol:
Man, i sure hope its just late...my thought is that all the wet weather has prevented the hens that were bred earlier from laying eggs. Now that we are having good weather for an extended period of time, hopefully they will start leaving the gobblers later in the morning. For what its worth, the second peak gobbling period is supposed to be around may 14th in NY.
I've been getting into birds since last Monday, but that day I missed one, but as the week progressed the birds aren't acting right at all. Yesterday I got on one and he gobbled every three minutes on the roost but when he flew down he gobbled twice and that was it. This morning I got on a gobbler and he did the same thing, he started gobbling at 5:15am and gobbled the whole time on the roost. When he flew down he gobbled at some passing crows and an airplane. I started out with some clucks and soft yelping and he shut up for about 10 minutes. Then he started gobbling on his own again. I yelped again and he did the same thing. If you ask me I think the season is winding down around here. Did any of you guys notice what color their heads are right now? Most of the ones I have been seeing have red heads. If they were in the same mood as before the season their heds would be red white and/or blue. I also noticed that the last 2 1/2 weeks of February was warm and they started breeding then thus cutting the season back 2 1/2 weeks early. JMHO
Quote from: PaTurkHntr on May 10, 2011, 04:17:18 PM
I've been getting into birds since last Monday, but that day I missed one, but as the week progressed the birds aren't acting right at all. Yesterday I got on one and he gobbled every three minutes on the roost but when he flew down he gobbled twice and that was it. This morning I got on a gobbler and he did the same thing, he started gobbling at 5:15am and gobbled the whole time on the roost. When he flew down he gobbled at some passing crows and an airplane. I started out with some clucks and soft yelping and he shut up for about 10 minutes. Then he started gobbling on his own again. I yelped again and he did the same thing. If you ask me I think the season is winding down around here. Did any of you guys notice what color their heads are right now? Most of the ones I have been seeing have red heads. If they were in the same mood as before the season their heds would be red white and/or blue. I also noticed that the last 2 1/2 weeks of February was warm and they started breeding then thus cutting the season back 2 1/2 weeks early. JMHO
That's the reason for my post I'm starting to think the same thing? Also running into same exact situations as you. I can only get out a couple mornings before daylight because I work nights, but expierenced the same with gobbling birds roosted together the couple mornings I did get out before first light. And to me with these roosted gobblers, one might have done well setting up within 50-60 yards as they then loose intrest if too far off, and my setups were too far.
Although working nights most of my hunting is from 9:00 to 12:00pm, and talk about dead. As I stated before not much late activity which has to make one think, it's winding down? Always have done well in years pasts with many harvests between 9-12, but they are definitely not acting the same this time frame as compared to previous years?
Not sure what to think? But I did well in Ohio, which started 2 weeks before the PA season. Anfd in my opinion the first 2 weeks of Ohio which were the last 2 weeks of April, had the gobblers sounding off a lot and coming to calls like the hens were starting to nest then? Hope I'm wrong, but with what I expierenced in Ohio, with good gobbling and now not much at all, I was thinking the same as the season ran a bit earlier this season?
i think things here have been kinda late due to all the bad weather.haven`t been hearing as many birds this year as other years.most of the gobbling has been on the roost and quiet after that.got on some birds saturday gobbled good on the roost and then quiet,went back thourgh the same area around 9:00 got one to gobble around 10:00 seen him 75 yards out still had two hens.killed one this moring at 8;30 gobbled good on the roost flew down and went away from me and went quiet.was getting ready to leave and hit another spot when he started gobbling up on a flat.until i got there and found a good setup spot without getting busted he was gobbling real good on his own.did some soft calling and sratching in the leaves,gobbled real good but would not come in.so having to leave for work at 10:00 decided to call much more agressively and that what it took to break him pulled the trigger at 8:30 and he must of gobbled 50 time in 30 minutes.18lbs. 11.0 beard spurs 1.0 and .500.
Not here in the western part of the state. I killed my two longbreads, my son shot one and I called one up for my dad Monday morning. Bud of mine and his brother took a nice doubble this morning. I have hunted every day except yesterday and the birds are very workable, if you beat the hens to them. Have killed as early at 0558 and as late as 1145. Dads came witn 5 hens in tow at 0705.
Maybe I'm just hitting off days and hours, who knows? As I stated working nights most days I do get out are 9:00 to noon. And in my area it's been very quiet up to noon, unlike years pasts with late gobbling even on their own? Maybe it's the pressure to as I only hunt Gamelands, just seems different this year?
I did make it out a couple mornings so far before first light and both times had gobblers sounding off on the roost. They did approach half way then eventually lose intrest though. I'm sure with both setups if I was within 60 yards or so I might have gotten a shot? Just don't put the time in for roosting because most of the time when I hunt I start at 9:00 anyways, mostly a run and gunner. But just seems poor for this tactic now?
I guess the best tactic is being close to roosts where the birds don't have to look far, as these have always been very easy birds when I lucked out in previous years within close proximity of the roost. And it seems most of the PA birds on the hunting site are taken within the first half hour? I just don't see the late morning hunting I'm used to, and don't understand why gobblers are together if they still are breeding well?
I got one the first saturday gobbling its head off and Tryed to locate some late friday 2 nd week and the birds just were'nt gobbling i know their there ,,i only have one day week to hunt ,I hunt game lands also and dont know how much presure their getting ,, Seen 2 lone hens this past weekend thats it
Quote from: timb on May 10, 2011, 03:53:11 PM
i hunt pa and ny and we are behind cause of the weather we had.im thinking the last week maybe the best.don't give up.they are henned up something bad here in bradford co.
I'm with you timb. The bird I got was right off the roost and I think he just came in to investigate. He had a bunch of hens pretty close. They aren't gobbling much off the roost in Tioga Co.
SAME THING IM EXPERINCING. HERE THEM ON THE ROOST. FOR A LIITLE AFTER FLY DOWN AND BY 7 AM I HERE NOTHING ELSE. I CAN HUNT ONE MORE TIME BEFORE SEASON ENDS. THE GUYS PROPERTY I HUNT SAID HE WAS SEEING SOME STRUTTERS EVERY MORNING IN THE FIELD TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE OPENER. BUT HAVENT SEEN EM SINCE. I HAVE BELIEVE ITS OVER. BUT IM GONNA GIVE IT ONE LAST TRY THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND, TRY MORNING AND EVENING. GOOD LUCK FELLAS!
Every gobbler is with hens in the central part of the state(that I've seen). I killed one the first day at 10:45 am. Was set up on the same bird at first light. He gobbled 7 or 8 times on the roost, flew down and was surrounded by hens as soon as he hit the ground. He gobbled 5 times after that and that was it. I went back at 10am, called and he gobbled. I moved 50 yards set up, called and he gobbled again. 30 minutes later I dropped the hammer at 30 yards. It took him 15 minutes to strut in from 70 yads out, when I first saw him. I hunted the first Monday, saw 6 longbeards, 8 jakes, and 4 hens. All of those gobblers were with 1 to 2 hens, and nothing could pull them away. They barely even gobbled. I killed my second bird the 1st Saturday. He never gobbled on the roost, and I found him strutting in a field with 4 hens and a jake. He gobbled 3 times during the 2.5 hours I worked him, until he finally followed the hens into 20 yards and I dumped him. I've been seeing a lot of birds strutting in fields with hens, and hearing gobbling at first light, and for about 5 minutes after they fly down. After that, they are with hens, and aren't talking much at all. I think the best is yet to come in PA.
Don't give up yet, I heard two where I was today, a friend of mine heard 4 about a mile away. I think things are going to break loose soon. I did hear one gobbling his head off at 8:30 this morning on the other mountain, but when I finally caught up to him he had hens with him.
This has been a weird year for me.
I shot a jake the 1st monday. Bumped into him at 10am. By the time i shot him it was 1130. The woods were alive as he and the 2 other he was with were going nuts. Also had another lone bird in the distance going nuts as well. This past Friday I missed a LB that was with another lb and a jake. Did not hear another one for nearly 4 hours and found 2 at 1136. Timed out on them.
I did see a suspected turkey egg shell on a logging road (5/3) in Forest county. Looks like the preds got to it.
I did note this year that all my luck was with aggressive calling. I am hoping these next 2 weeks really change things up. I really think our lack of spring changed things around.
I hunt the north east part of the state. I hunted the last 3 days,These were my first this season. I had at least 5 toms roosting together (like you said). I also couldn't find the 10/11 am bird gobbling as well. It was all am action. One day the crows got them going around 10. That was it. I hope the peak is the later part as well.
:anim_25:
well as bad as the season was i had my chance yesterday and missed.something spooked the 2 longbeards and i took a chance shot and blew it.went back to the same spot this morning and 1 of them came in strutting to it's death song from my hooks devastator.heard of a few guys that got into them yesterday also.thanks scott hook for making an awesome mouth call...
They seem to be firing on all 8 here in MD the past few days.
first two days of PA's season I worked birds from dawn til noon. Shot a nice bird at 6:00am first monday and then called for a friend. birds would gobble all morning but they all had hens and were tough to pull in.
NY went the same way but without wrapping my tag on anything. hundreds of gobbles on the roost, some mornings they would go silent on the ground others theyd gobble like crazy til 8ish but they never seemed to loss their hens through out the whole day. Missed on Monday morning so thats my fault but it wasnt like years past where we could call multiple birds in each day. im going to give it a week and try again later in the season. not wasting all my vacation now and there will be plenty of birds left by the last week.
While working tonight I saw 13 mature gobblers out strutting. Not all together, in a 50 mile ride. Every one had at least 2 hens, one on boy had 9. If I was hunting I know who I would be after.
Keep on em boys, the best is yet to come.......
I experienced a lot of what you guys are talking about here in MI. Toms were still roosting with hens so I decided to hunt second shift. Found a longbeard alone gobbling near a green field and he cooperated. Shot him at12:45. Still have an IN tag but that is over tomorrow and I'm caring for my elderly parents this weekend so I need a new hunting state! Maybe PA.
Quote from: Gobblez on May 14, 2011, 08:19:27 AM
I experienced a lot of what you guys are talking about here in MI. Toms were still roosting with hens so I decided to hunt second shift. Found a longbeard alone gobbling near a green field and he cooperated. Shot him at12:45. Still have an IN tag but that is over tomorrow and I'm caring for my elderly parents this weekend so I need a new hunting state! Maybe PA.
The 2nd shift starts today in Pa. Thats gonna be interesting because,I've never hunted them in the afternoon in the spring.
Just returned from a week in New York. Birds are henned up big time seen birds with as many as nine hens on thursday.
Quote from: TrackeySauresRex on May 14, 2011, 09:13:59 AM
Quote from: Gobblez on May 14, 2011, 08:19:27 AM
I experienced a lot of what you guys are talking about here in MI. Toms were still roosting with hens so I decided to hunt second shift. Found a longbeard alone gobbling near a green field and he cooperated. Shot him at12:45. Still have an IN tag but that is over tomorrow and I'm caring for my elderly parents this weekend so I need a new hunting state! Maybe PA.
The 2nd shift starts today in Pa. Thats gonna be interesting because,I've never hunted them in the afternoon in the spring.
read your regulations book,the all day hunt starts on mon. the 16th.i saw 2 trucks parked along the roads on the way home tonight from work.page 35.it states 1/2 hour before sunrise until noon from the opening day THROUGH the 3rd sat..then 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset for the remainder of the season.ALL DAY HUNTING STARTS ON MONDAY THE 16TH.thats the way i read it.
You're right, it doesn't start until the 16th
Yep monday :icon_thumright:,,,,,, Found one bird this morning worked at him for 2 1/2 hours ,,had him at 20 steps turns out be jake (had fun pulling him in ),,,gave him a pass today :icon_thumright: Couldnt see the spurs starting to get greened up in the woods
Quote from: PaTurkHntr on May 14, 2011, 04:56:11 PM
You're right, it doesn't start until the 16th
WOW good thing, haha I took a buddy out today and planned on all day hunting but he killed a Jake (first bird) at 7:30 so we got in before it rained too much
i hear ha, about those jakes got into some last saturday could of killed one and decided to pass.killed a nice long beard on may 10.
got on some birds this saturday once the fog cleared out could tell they were jakes (choppy gobble)didn`t come into range but was fun working them.by the number of jakes i`m running into there should be a good crop of two year olds next year.i`m going to try it
after work this week if the weather holds out,never really had much luck hearing them gobble in the evening.hunted ks,ia,ne before and you can hunt all day only killed one gobbler in the evening,but being out in the woods is better than sitting at home cutting grass.
I have to agree with most of you. I'm hunting northwestern PA. I have seen a lot of hens by themselves, and gobblers by themselves. If I have seen hens and gobblers together it was a hen walking and a gobbler trying to catch up to her. I haven't seen any interest in hens moving towards the gobblers. Most of the gobbling that I have heard was in the tree, or shortly after they have hit the ground. Last Saturday I listened to gobblers answer each other, As one would gobble another would answer in the distance. When I would call none would respond immediately which told me they really weren't answering me if they responded. I have sat patiently the rest of the mornings only to hear one or two separate gobbles the rest of the morning.
This Saturday I had a hot gobbler who probably gobbled 100 times. If a crow called he answered with hostility and there were a lot of crows calling. He was also answering my calls, as that became more apparent when the crows flew off. He came in, but very quiet the last 100 yards. He wasn't struttin, and he wasn't committed.
People are getting gobblers, but 99% are catchin as they flew down or ambush them on their known routes. They aren't calling them in, at least not by my definition of calling them in.
I'm anxiously waiting for that gobbler that gets hot in the late afternoon, or the one that struts right into my set like he own's the world. I think I have to wait though.
They were henned up pretty good around here. They would gobble on the roost, hit the ground, gobble once and the hens would come out of the wood work heading to them.
Lately I haven't heard or seen a hen, the Gobblers are alot more vocal on the ground and are moving around Gobbling, looking for hens. It should be a good second half. Good Luck if you're still after 'em.
Same here in Lackawanna County, gobble their heads on the roost hit the ground and get a bad case of Zipper Lip... lot of rain and hens, hopefully the all day hunting will be better... Stay after them fellas!!
Quote from: timb on May 14, 2011, 03:58:30 PM
Quote from: TrackeySauresRex on May 14, 2011, 09:13:59 AM
Quote from: Gobblez on May 14, 2011, 08:19:27 AM
I experienced a lot of what you guys are talking about here in MI. Toms were still roosting with hens so I decided to hunt second shift. Found a longbeard alone gobbling near a green field and he cooperated. Shot him at12:45. Still have an IN tag but that is over tomorrow and I'm caring for my elderly parents this weekend so I need a new hunting state! Maybe PA.
The 2nd shift starts today in Pa. Thats gonna be interesting because,I've never hunted them in the afternoon in the spring.
read your regulations book,the all day hunt starts on mon. the 16th.i saw 2 trucks parked along the roads on the way home tonight from work.page 35.it states 1/2 hour before sunrise until noon from the opening day THROUGH the 3rd sat..then 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset for the remainder of the season.ALL DAY HUNTING STARTS ON MONDAY THE 16TH.thats the way i read it.
Thanks for the heads up. Wow! :o I almost droped the ball on that myself
Just got home from 2 days of hunting in Elk county.Heard 1 gobble Friday morning. Sounded like he was a half mile away. Saturday heard nothing. The woods were dead.Don't know what's going on.
The last day I hunted was Thursday last week, I heard a gobbler at 8:15am still gobbling but he was quite far away. I went after him anyway and by the time I caught up to him he was henned up. I saw him down in a hollow with the hens, he saw me too but just slinked off into a clearcut. I will be hunting him Monday and possibly Tuesday if I don't get him. Now I have all day to hunt him.