Pre-season listening

[Hwd silvestris]

I'm think I'm gonna go listen in the morning.   Youth season in Mississippi starts March 8th.   Gonna try to locate a couple for LiL man.  We finally  have a decent weather.  Anyone in the deep south been to listen yet?  I talked to a buddy today that said he saw one breeding a hen this morning. 


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[Gobble!]

Been out listening and I'm on the bench until April 17th. Planning to walk a some miles the new few mornings with this warmer weather.

[Bowguy]

I ain't down there but they're gobbling up north. It's gotta be on there

[bbcoach]

I've talked with several different State biologist and they have told me most States start their seasons (on average) after most breeding has been accomplished.  Since you are 2 weeks away from your opener, you should hear gobbling, see strutting and gobblers should have plenty of hens.  With this break in the weather, you should have a Good morning.  Keep us posted. 

[Hwd silvestris]

Them ole boys weren't talking this morning.   What's even worse is I didn't even see a track (hen or gobbler). . 


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[bbcoach]

I went to our lease this morning to frost seed some clover and alfalfa and add some fertilizer to one of our food plots.  I saw a group of about 30 hens in one field and 5 redheads in another with 1 in strut.  I didn't stop to listen for any gobbling but the redheads didn't have any hens with them.  We are still 5-6 weeks out from our opener so things haven't peaked here yet.

[aclawrence]

I'm going out for a listen in the morning. I sure would like to hear some gobbles!


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[GobbleNut]

This is a bit off the subject, but I have a tendency to look at these posts from the perspective of how a newbie interprets them, so this comment is for those guys.

If you are going out to listen for gobbling to locate turkeys to hunt, you need to understand that gobblers do not generally gobble year-round.  In the spring breeding season, they are "stirred" into gobbling based primarily by the "diurnal period",...that is the length of daylight hours.  Gobbling is also influenced to some degree by weather conditions (which can also be related to elevation in those regions with high, mountainous areas), but RELIABLE spring season gobbling is primarily a function of the diurnal period. 

So what does this mean to us turkey hunters who are trying to locate gobblers to hunt in the spring season by listening for gobbling in the morning (or evening)?  It means that if you start doing that too early in the year, you cannot reliably count on gobblers to either gobble on their own,...or respond to your locator calls if you use them. 

Again, generally speaking, the turkeys in more southern latitudes will start (reliably) gobbling sooner than those in more northern latitudes. While gobblers in the southern states may have started gobbling regularly on the roost in the morning, those gobblers "up north" may still be a few weeks away from doing so. 

What's my point here?   The point is that if you are using roost gobbling to find gobblers,...and you are doing that too early in the season,...you may overlook areas that have plenty of gobblers because you are going out and listening too early in the year.  Wherever you hunt, learn when your birds are going to be triggered in the springtime to start gobbling (which is generally going to be just a few/couple weeks before everybody's spring season starts) and then focus your "roost listening" efforts during that timeframe. 

....Presented as just a little advice for the newer turkey hunters here....   

[Dtrkyman]

Don't just go listen, wear out some boot leather, find scratching, tracks droppings and make note of all of it.  When they decide to keep there yap shut you can hunt sign!


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[Sasha and Abby]

they have been ringing the woods for a month here

[aclawrence]

I've only been once. I didn't hear anything but I did find a pile of turkey droppings.


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[Hwd silvestris]

Walked 5.8 miles this morning doing a lil walk about.  I didn't hear one but I saw where he had been! That's All I need.  Great place to hunt in the rain or I feel like it is anyway.  This area doesn't generally hold a lot of gobblers from what I have experienced but usually loaded with hens if that makes any sense.  If it does they dont gobble often. 


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[TauntoHawk]

Were still buried in snow up here

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[tazmaniac]

Haven't heard a gobble yet in southeast MS, but I've found some sign.  Extremely low population density makes it a bit tougher to actually locate a bird for sure.  They should be popping off with this warm weather past 4d

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