Where did they go?

[357MAGNOLE]

Long story short. I have been hunting Turkey for the past 8 years and still learning every year.  This is the first season that I have been able to spend A LOT of time in the woods (I usually get a couple Saturdays a season and that is it.)  I also got on a lease for the first time. Georgia started the season a little later this year as some of you know.  The weeks prior to the season start I could not ride the roads on the lease without seeing Tom and Hen tracks everywhere.  Over the past week the tracks have started getting more and more spread apart and less Tom sign as well. I went out today and spent the entire day covering the roughly 2500-acre lease, we had rain yesterday so I wanted to see if there was any fresh sign. I slowly cruised the entire property and not a single track on the roads. 

So my question is, at a certain time in the season do the Hens start heading for the thicker brush for nesting spots and the Toms follow, or has the pressure pushed them into more isolated areas? In your experience does the season slow down at a certain point and ever bounce back or once it slows down does it just continue to slow?

I find it strange how quiet the birds on this property have been this year. I have seen multiple toms strutting down logging roads, I have had jakes come into my setup, and hens too, and none of them made a single sound. I have heard exactly one gobble in 3 weeks.

[squidd]

I bumped a hen off the nest on the opener in SE GA. 

Others told me the Toms were going crazy for two weeks prior to opener.

Still better to be in the woods looking/listening and wondering if they're out there when you don't go.

[Greg Massey]

Agree, it's all about the survival tactic ...

[Paulmyr]

Sounds to me like the boys on the lease are getting after them pretty hard. Using and hunting from the roads because it's easy. Gobblers known this and will stay away from roads and trails because that's where the people are.

[TrackeySauresRex]

  My seasons scouting starts around March driving roads checking out puddles. Finding decent sign this year. We walked a bunch of miles this year and now have multiple plans in multiple areas. It sounds like you're doing your work. Try and get to them places the rest of the club members won't and look for new sign that others definitely didn't see.

  Ask yourself, How many hunters are on the lease and are they turkey hunters. Are they Harassing birds from the road and calling to them before the season? This definitively doesn't help. As the season starts the birds will separate and start to spread out. When the birds become vocal the predators will start to move in. With all of this going on they will move on and get lock jaw.
I'm definitely no expert but.., I believe it to be a little bit of everything.

Good luck
Johnny

[Cut N Run]

I second the thoughts on getting off the beaten track to look for sign & turkeys.  Those out of the way places will be more likely to have birds.  Plenty of gobblers get killed earlier in the season, but as hens go to sit on their nest's, those longbeards will still be feeling the pull and looking for hens.  There won't be as many suicidal 2 year old gobblers out there, but they didn't all get killed.  Keep after 'em.  Good Hunting.

Jim

[silvestris]

I don't know but I would be surprised if it wasn't Saldu or corn that was the cause.

[357MAGNOLE]

I don't know but I would be surprised if it wasn't Saldu or corn that was the cause.

no idea how I didn't see this until this year. What is Saldu and what would corn have to do with birds being mia? Genuinely curious, some people do put corn out on the lease but I didn't see much turkey sign around it. Mostly deer, and squirrels.

[joey46]

Even though this has turned into an internet squabble it is why cameras are a necessity for us.  It is nice to know birds are around even when they aren't vocal or readily seen.
I'll be running three private property cameras over the next few days.  The results will help with a decision on where to hunt the remaining three weeks of the Florida season.  I scout for others not just myself. 

[Tnandy]

Could be dead. Corn can pull them. As stated already, pressure can affect em. May have moved closer to preferred nesting area.

[High plains drifter]

I don't know anything about leases. My advice is to keep scouting.