Pinpointing drumming

[Sasha and Abby]

Because they normally come in so slowly while drumming, I don't pick it up with all the other background noise until they are within 35 yards...  many times, they just appear within 10 yards on me. 

[raven105]

I'm thankful I can hear both sounds. I tend to pick up drumming at decent distances, well beyond shooting range, and can pinpoint the location easily. Then once I hear it for the first time in the season, my mind plays tricks on me the rest of the year. Drumming everywhere!

I do have a buddy that is completely unable to hear either sound. He has good hearing otherwise & has killed plenty of birds, just can't pick up the frequency.


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[Jimspur]

I can usually pinpoint the direction good too, but I remember one time I was in Alabama in a narrow creek bottom with points and ridges rising up from the creek. Gobbler was drumming and the sound was bouncing and reverberating off the ridges so I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I could only see about 40 yards max. Never did see the bird. I think being able to pinpoint it is terrain dependent.

[randy6471]

I can hear both, but under good conditions I can hear a gobbler spit at a greater distance than drum.

[Blackduck]

It's obvious that everyone's hearing is different. From a very young age, I never remember hearing a bird drum, though I didn't have very many in front of me then. I did hear the spit, and could see the shimmy and shake as I believe the bird drummed. Later in life, while around domestic birds, I did "hear",  but more "feel", birds drum that were very close to me. Knowing what to listen for, I started to "hear" it from birds 20-30 yards away and closer. I wish I could hear it like some of you do. Walking through the woods striking with the call I once had my guest say "do you hear that, it sounds like drumming." I said "sit down" and a few minutes later he tagged a nice tom. I would have walked over the ridge and bumped him. God only knows how many times that exact thing has happened when I didn't have someone with me who could hear it and recognize it.

I used to believe that I had good hearing. As a young hunter I could hear better than my dad and grandpa, so I thought that I had good hearing. At 27 I took a 15 year old on his first hunt. As it got light we had a silent woods. Plenty of crows and owls and some far off dogs but no gobbles. The kid kept saying that he heard gobbles way back in the woods, further on down the road we walked in on. I listened for 15 minutes, hearing nothing, with the kid saying that he heard gobbling repeatedly. I assumed he was hearing some far off dogs or crows, the garbage I was trying to listen through. Finally deciding it was a good enough direction to head towards anyway, we set off towards the kid's "gobbles". A half mile later I could just make out 2 birds hammering. I learned a lot about my hearing that morning. Now I love having young ears along with me.

Duck and goose blinds are bad for the turkey hunter. That's my problem I think. Other loud noises are bad too. But mostly it's genetics. Some people got it, some people don't.

[JMalin]

Just here to report that it's still a struggle narrowing the source any more than about 90 degrees or so.  Heard a bird on a recent hunt drumming from over 100 yards away in calm conditions and it took my a long time to actually spot him on a hillside just before he flew up for the evening.

[ALfwlmth]

Absolutely!  Very frustrating, but I always seem to hear it in time to say "Get ur gun up and safety off".  Also, have trouble pinpointing gobbles at times.  Had a couple hammering this morning and a buddy and I pointed in opposite directions. 


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[albrubacker]

I struggle triangulating the spit/drum for sure, especially once it greens up. Seems to come from everywhere.

X2!

[Greg Massey]

I agree, they can be difficult in hearing both drumming / spitting.. What i try to focus on if at all possible is the noise they make while walking.. But that's not always possible either because of the terrain...