No gobbling, what are you doing?

[Paulmyr]

 

My favorite days to hunt. The "non" turkey hunters have gave up and gone home by 8 am, because they didn't hear a single gobble at daylight. I get the woods and all gates to myself. Killed a lot of turkeys on days like this, and not a one of them was "deer hunted" It is what separates Turkey Hunters, from just most spring turkey hunters, in my opinion.

[Zobo]

Well I'm certainly not not clucking.

[Kygobblergetter]

If they aren't gobbling I'm usually trying to find one that will or covering ground and scouting for the next day. Sometimes I'll take little breaks and set up and do some soft calling for a while but I'm always gonna get aggressive before I move on. To date I can only think of two birds I killed that didn't gobble. One was a bird I had been trying to kill all season on some heavily hunted public land. The other was just a nasty windy and rainy day over a decoy when I was a kid


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[West Augusta]

If i know the ground holds turkeys,  I stay there.   Have a snack, play a game of solitaire on my phone.
Sooner or later he'll come.   Maybe silent.  But then I hunt small parcels and can't "run and gun"..

[Gobbler428]

I go where I know they often hang out, usually on high ground where my calling will carry a long distance. I set up, have a snack, call sparingly and listen a lot.

[mcw3734]

Similar to what most have already said here.

If I have other places to go, which I know I'm fortunate to have, then I leave and cover ground looking for a hot bird.

But if I'm "stuck" in a small area...

I go to a spot where I'm confident turkeys hang out at. I'll then call pretty aggressively, but not for long. Two-three long, aggressive calling sequences spread over the course of 5-10 minutes. The point being to let any turkey in earshot know that you are there and you are 'wanting'. Any gobbler that hears it will take a note, even if he doesn't acknowledge you verbally. Then... just wait them out. This is when having a comfy chair that you can be still in for hours comes in really handy. It only takes one or two times when a gobbler appears out of thin air hours later that you will gain confidence in this technique.

That's just my experience.

[wyetterp]

Mainly I keep moving & trying to get in the bubble of a stray tom. There's just some days they won't talk, at all, unless you can sneak up on em without them knowing. There's been plenty of times where they only talk in the first few minutes at sunrise & then go completely silent the rest of the day. No matter what you throw at them from a distance. I love when I can sneak in that bubble & let out a soft call to get struck back by the thunder less than 75 yards away.  Surprise, surprise, surprise.

I feel like I have better luck covering ground mid day to earlier afternoon after they get bored with each other in the flocks & all kinda wander around on their own for a while. One thing I don't do is just keep calling non stop as I'm walking. More just a every once in a while to see if I'm close to anything wanting to say hey. I'll hit it hard occasionally just to check the temperature for one in the distance. Usually though, if they aren't talking, it will stay that way & pointless to loud locate call.

I also like to make it a point to change habitats & search things out. Some days they like the open timber, sometimes the hardwoods or swamps. Sometimes they like the thickest nastiest stuff they can get into. I'll try & hit several different kinds of ecosystems in hopes of finding what they are preferring at that given day. If I have been struggling to find them in the easier areas, I'm putting on some hip waders & going in the swamps or briar pants & Brer rabbiting it through the heavy brush. I'm always searching for water sources. It's crazy how often they'll hold up in a swamp on a piece of dry that has just a few pockets only a few feet wide. Made me realize how often I covered a lot of hardwoods only to find out they were right there 50 yards in, hold up in a swamp pocket while I'm out there doing a half marathon wondering where the little bobble heads disappeared to. 

Either way, there's a lot of times I just feel like giving up & no matter what I do isn't working. It's usually when I just decide to keep at it & not give up, regardless of the outcome, that I randomly have one respond like thunder, out of somewhere unexpected & he gives me a shot. At that moment all the frustrations I had prior completely disappeared. I choose to remember & hang on to the reward feeling after not giving up over how painful & frustrating things can seem when they don't wanna cooperate.

I have several areas around here that are known for the turkeys taking pride in not talking. I also learned those same turkeys have an amazing calendar that has been passed down for generations. They know the day before the season starts & the day after it ends. They often mock me several days after the season by flying right in front of my truck as I'm driving out & throwing parties around where my truck is parked.   

Gotta just keep at it!

[WildTigerTrout]

Looking for a good spot to take a nap! 

[Gooserbat]

Go where I've been recently successful in locating birds and plop my butt down and call.

[Marc]

I need some evidence of birds...  Gobbling is my favorite evidence...  Spotting one is good as well.  Fresh poop, foot-prints, strutting tracks...  I might sit for a while if I see those signs in quiet woods.

Opening weekend here, and I could not go yesterday, and could not get out early this morning...  Late morning, and I had a couple of hens respond to my calling, so I assumed there were some "gobblers" around somewhere?

Set up on a saddle, did a little series of calling, and was setting up to each lunch...  And I notice that bright red head pop up over a knoll...  Came in, in strut, completely quiet.  Unfortunately, I never gave him a chance to gobble.

If I know there are birds around, and I have covered some ground (or am hunting a smaller area)...  And I am not hearing gobbling.  I look for a good location (I like saddles), and make an occasional series of calls, whilst "relaxing."  The older I get, the easier it is to relax.  Binoculars help keep me entertained looking at all the spring wildlife.

I have killed a fair number of birds eating lunch and quietly relaxing after calling.