Quiet Gobblers

[shane071489]

I am wondering if you are hunting easterns or another sub-species. It's not unusual for the easterns I hunt to not be very vocal. as an example, in early spring I saw and heard birds behind my house, but there was a lot of hens. When season came I rarely heard them gobble, but come late season after the hens left them they opened up and gobbled a lot.

Eggshell brings up a couple of important points in this discussion. The different subspecies have varying willingness to gobble on the roost...or at all. Both Easterns and Osceolas are notorious for being stingy with their gobbling, although there are exceptions. On the other hand, Rios, Merriams, and Goulds are generally much more willing to gobble which makes them much easier to locate...which, in turn, generally makes them much easier to pattern and kill...although there are exceptions to that statement, as well.

The point eggshell made about gobbler densities in an area being a factor in how much they gobble is also right on target. In an area with good numbers of gobblers, you are likely to hear much more gobbling (and for obvious reasons) than areas with just a few. A single gobbler in an area may remain silent because he hears no competing gobbling going on around him or in the distance...which, in your case, Shane, may be the situation you are in if you are convinced there are silent gobblers roosting on your property.

On the other hand, multiple gobblers in an area may well result in one vocal bird causing the others to join in. I would bet most of us have sat in a silent woods early in the morning wondering if there are any gobblers around. Then, one starts up and suddenly the woods will start lighting up with gobbling coming from multiple directions. (unfortunately, doesn't sound like this is happening where you are at, Shane    ) 

 

Good news is I do have access to some good property where they do gobble well, but I am an amateur at best. So when I go to a different property and the hunting seems to be much harder it leaves me scratching my head and without the experience to continue. The birds are Eastern birds. I plan to run cameras in February to try and see what is there and will have better answers than I just showed up middle of last season after seeing some birds earlier in the year. I have read the Eastern birds are difficult ones, so luckily I am starting wit them haha. Thanks for the reply.

[GobbleNut]

Good news is I do have access to some good property where they do gobble well, but I am an amateur at best. So when I go to a different property and the hunting seems to be much harder it leaves me scratching my head and without the experience to continue. The birds are Eastern birds. I plan to run cameras in February to try and see what is there and will have better answers than I just showed up middle of last season after seeing some birds earlier in the year. I have read the Eastern birds are difficult ones, so luckily I am starting wit them haha. Thanks for the reply.

Sounds like you are in a good situation there, Shane.  As one who has been at it a really long time, my advice (if you have the choice) is to hunt the places you hear gobbling turkeys over the places that you don't every time.  For me, there seems to be some correlation as to how often one will end up riding home in my truck...   

[shane071489]

HAHA Best advice I've ever received.