Season here is still 2 and a half weeks out. Decided that after several days of warm weather, I'd ride out to one of the timber tracts I hunt in Southeastern Bladen county this morning and see what the birds are up to.
About 40 minutes before sunrise, heard the first couple of owl hoots. 10 minutes later, more owls as well as crows started making noise and that's when a little bit of gobbling started. There was a bird that sounded a couple hundred yards to my left and another about the same to my right. Around every 5-10 minutes there'd be a hoot or caw close enough to them and they'd sound. They stopped right about sunrise.
Only heard 1 hen for about a second, and didn't see any strut sign along fresh gobbler tracks I found at several spots. The gobbles didn't sound like "hot" birds, reminded me more of when they'll gobble a little at first light on warm mornings during the beginning of deer season.
With the weather about to cool back down for a week, hopefully they'll be getting ready to rumble right about time the season opens.
