What to do when Mr. Tom is playing quiet mouse?

[aclawrence]

I was reading through a locator thread and I think many of us probably start out our hunt the same way. Hike in, be quiet, and let the turkeys wake up and do their thing. I always carry an owl and crow call but hope not to use them. For you guys that don't use locators and let the turkeys get going on there own, What do you do when all is quiet?  I guess it's at this time that I will use my hoot tube in hopes of getting a shock gobble.  I'm pretty sure I have screwed myself with my locators before. I'm no Jason Harrison and I've been too close to a roosted bird before and shut him down by blowing on my owl call. These Bama birds are smart. What's y'all's process, last resort locator, no locator at all, start using turkey calls, sit in a good spot and wait and listen?  After typing this I'm pretty sure I do all of the above. Just thinking about turkeys this morning. Let's go spring time!


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[Spitten and drummen]

I do nothing different. I already know areas birds spend time in so I will move into them , set up and relax. Soft call and scratching in leavers every once in awhile. I will pick up the tempo later in the morning. Alot of times I have just been relaxing in a area for a couple of hours when a gobbler just starts gobbling. If Im hunting a place I have never been to , I ease around slowly and start prospecting. I have found that on slow mornings , patience and persistence is key. It may be 10 am , but the majority of the time I at least hear some gobbling.

[Ranger]

Try to do exactly as you described, let the woods wake up on their own. But I grew up around aggressive hunters and their persistence pays off, when you're pushy you get results that a hesitant hunter might try twice and move on. So now I try to be both, let the natural sounds produce and then if not, be pushy.  Fishing can be like locator calls, you can cast 14 times in the same spot and nothing.  But on the 15th cast......

[GobbleNut]

Funny you should post this right while I was posting comments on hunting the western states.  It just goes to show the difference in conditions that hunters face when pursuing gobblers. 

I have no doubt that you guys that hunt the southern states have adopted tactics that are best for you.  Generally speaking, you know your birds, know your country, and, perhaps most importantly, have plenty of time to hunt them.  Those factors are a luxury that some of us that sometimes venture into your states to hunt very often do not have.  To put it succinctly, we sometimes have to "hurry the process along" by doing things like using locator calls to find birds to hunt.  Perhaps that is not the preferred methodology there, but sometimes it is just a necessity for us visitors.

Having said that,...and if you read my post on scouting in the west,...you will find that I encourage folks to actively use locator calls out here.  They are tremendously effective,...and in my opinion are an important key to hunting success in the vast country of the western states. 

Again,...it is all a matter of what conditions each of us hunts under.   

[aclawrence]

Funny you should post this right while I was posting comments on hunting the western states.  It just goes to show the difference in conditions that hunters face when pursuing gobblers. 

I have no doubt that you guys that hunt the southern states have adopted tactics that are best for you.  Generally speaking, you know your birds, know your country, and, perhaps most importantly, have plenty of time to hunt them.  Those factors are a luxury that some of us that sometimes venture into your states to hunt very often do not have.  To put it succinctly, we sometimes have to "hurry the process along" by doing things like using locator calls to find birds to hunt.  Perhaps that is not the preferred methodology there, but sometimes it is just a necessity for us visitors.

Having said that,...and if you read my post on scouting in the west,...you will find that I encourage folks to actively use locator calls out here.  They are tremendously effective,...and in my opinion are an important key to hunting success in the vast country of the western states. 

Again,...it is all a matter of what conditions each of us hunts under.   

That's a good point.  I've heard turkeys gobble at all different levels of realism from people calling. If I felt like I was really good at hooting I would do it more often but like others said I have a good idea where the birds are at I prefer to sneak in and listen. If I didn't have a clue and I were to hunt down here I would get up high and listen, and then give the most realistic hoots I could do. One thing we haven't mentioned is I think turkeys kind of get conditioned from people stopping and using their locator or turkey calls from the same locations.  If you feel like everybody that walks down the road stops and calls from a good looking spot maybe try calling from a little different angle.


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[Greg Massey]

My question would be why do you think they have stop gobbling?  I think it has a lot to do with timing of the season. Gobblers are the most vocal at the beginning of season as the breeding and nesting season starts of the hens. It's all about the living cycle of how the turkeys mate.  After those first couple of weeks of intense gobbling and the hens starting to nest , i think the hens go through this stage of i don't care for the gobbler or they ignore them. I've seen hens in fields later in the season as the gobbler starts gobbling the hens would move off in a different direction. After the hens have peaked in the breeding and are not responding to sounds of the gobbler, I think the gobblers go through this quiet mouse time. After few day's or even a week of not gobbling, i agree with the moving around your hunting area in search of finding that old lonely gobbler and getting him to fire off , this takes time and a lot of patience's, because we think in our mind , that the gobblers have left or are no longer in the area because we aren't hearing that same intensity we heard the first of the  the season. Gobblers , gobbling is all about the breeding of the hens and communicating as he try's to gather his flock of hens.  Sure hunting pressure plays a part in birds going silent, it's all just a part of turkey hunting and turkeys doing what turkeys do... this is just opinion and i'm sure a lot of experienced turkey hunters have knowledge why they think the birds go quiet mouse during the season.

[Missouri hunter]

I've found better results setting up and calling every once in awhile, when all is quite. I try not to watch
a clock too much. I listen to the woods for when I should owl hoot. If the birds are singing and there have been some owl talk that morning, I'm more likely to try that. I don't crow call anymore, too many people crow calling and then bumping turkeys on public land where I hunt. Just last year I was moving in on a tom that was gobbling here and there. Getting nice and tight before calling. I never got to call to him. Some guy started blowing a crow call to the already gobbling bird and moved at him till all gobbling stopped. You know what happened... the turkey eventually saw the hunter, and got the heck out of there!
I will owl hoot quite a bit in the soft rain as well, as I've had good luck with it. Most of the time when they go quite I go to where I know or suspect gobblers are hanging out strutting or whatever, and sparse call.

[aclawrence]

That's the worst when a bird is gobbling and somebody keeps hammering them with half the calls in their vest. I was on a bird once. A guy drives up uses his crow call, then the box call, blah blah blah, the turkey did gobble at him once but he must not have heard it thank goodness. 


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[StruttinGobbler3]

In my case, I've been extremely blessed to have a good amount of family owned private land to hunt. That's a luxury many do not have, and I try to pay it forward by taking friends or new hunters out to get a gobbler, or a youth hunter especially when I have the opportunity. My family owns several different tracts of land in different areas, so I am able to rotate hunting spots to reduce pressure on each flock of birds. With that being said, my gobblers also go through a quiet phase; I've always heard Alabama gobblers are tough, but these Georgia Easterns are no pushover either. So like Greg, I believe there are reasons beyond hunting pressure that cause a reduction in gobbling. I too think it has to do with the natural cycle of the breeding season. Could be that as the intense breeding of the early season winds down, maybe the gobblers aren't as horned up to breed as they were when it started. However, they will certainly take an opportunity when it arises, which is why we can strike and call in those lonely mid-morning birds. Just my non-scientific guess. To answer the original question, I often use locators in my area, but in a specific way. When I park my truck at the area I plan to hunt in the morning, I will throw out a few owl hoots with a Harrison hooter to see if I can strike one. It's difficult to get an Eastern roosted in the evenings before, and they generally roost in different trees each night, so I have to go in somewhat blind 95% of the time. The owl hoot can give me a specific direction in which to go, and it's unlikely to spook a gobbler, as I do not park in close proximity to their roosting areas. As I work my way toward the bird, I may hoot again to get a good fix on his location. I think it's important to reduce the volume of your hooting when you get closer to the bird. Once I have gotten a couple gobbles to get a good idea of where he is, the owl hooter goes back in the vest, and I either let him gobble on his own or sometimes give one small tree yelp prior to flydown. I will use a crow call sparingly as it gets later in the morning after the birds have stopped gobbling. Just my methods I've had success with over the years.


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[Sir-diealot]

Last season I got in late to hunt one morning, very late for me, the sun was already rising. That morning I do not believe I heard buy maybe one single gobble where I have always heard tons of gobbles on that property every morning I had hunted there for I think 3 years at that time. I figured I had hurt myself getting in so late and would not see anything but I remembered advise I had gotten from many members here telling me I should not call a lot when they dummy up. So after the normal "They should be off the roost so I will start calling" and getting no action I dummied up and only called every half an hour (I even watched the time on my cell to be sure I did not call to much) Finally around 8:30 I picked up one of my calls I had not used yet and gave it a shot and I got one reply at first and after that I had them replying all over the place, at 8:47 I sent a friend that owned the property a message to let him know I had just gotten my first turkey. Listening to the members here and trying many different calls got me my first turkey, if the go silent on me again this year I will try that same tactic.

[dublelung]

I have no reservations about using a owl hoot to locate a gobbler. Turkeys hear owls throughout the year and I don't think they associate it with danger. I'm not big into the coyote howls, woodpecker calls, crow calls etc even though turkeys also hear them often. I hunt a lot of swamp turkeys and owls just seem to be their thing to gobble at so if Mr. Gobbler is being quiet I try to pull a gobble out of him. If that doesn't work I just go quiet with him and use soft yelps and scratching on blind set ups in known roosting areas.

[LaLongbeard]

Some days...too many days  turkeys just don't gobble, especially on hard hunted areas of the south. Last season I scouted the week before the season and heard at least a couple Gobblers every morning, one was Gobbling from daylight till about 10:30. Opening morning the area filled up with people I had never seen it that crowded, as expected not a single turkey sound. The Gobblers were still there just shut down because of all the door slamming, woods stomping and crow calls in the dark etc.
      Ever notice the hunting shows, the guys from Iowa Indiana Ohio etc. all comment on the lack of Gobbling when they do a show in Mississippi or Alabama. The same hero's have Gobbling turkeys on every hunt back home. You didn't see it when each show only showed the highlight days when they made a kill. Now with the video diary everyday hunt showed you see the difference. When they film everyday for 8 days and hear one Gobbler it stands out. And that's about what it is in most of the southern states on public land the Gobblers have adapted to the pressure and that includes non stop crow call squawking or owl hooting.
    I've found over many years of hunting the south  if the Gobblers don't gobble on the roost on their own it's unlikely a crow or owl will help, and the answer is not blow louder or get closer lol. They may start Gobbling later in the day but you ain't gonna make them do anything. If they will not answer a hen Yelp (at the proper time) no owl or crow will help.
  Now this might not apply to your private sanctuary behind locked gates or back home in "wejustgotturkeys" Vermont, I'm talking about the big leagues public land in the south.

[Happy]

Dont do much differently. If you know the woods and the animals in those woods and you are paying attention you can usually get on turkeys. My big thing is not going to fast and bumping them. I have noticed most hunters only pay attention to their quarry and not everything else around them. In my opinion most move through areas to fast and wind up spooking a pile of turkeys for every one that they get to gobble. Sitting in a good area and softly calling every now and again works sometimes as well. But unless I am looking for a nap I can't hunt that way

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