A couple of questions

[bcuda]

I have two questions for you all.
First is I have been having only Tom's (no hens at all) showing up on my game camera for about 3 months now almost every day anywhere from 9am to 4 pm. Then about 2 weeks ago they just disappeared. I have my guesses as to why there are only Toms cruising through and to why they disappeared all of a sudden. I am in South Texas with Rio's type turkey. So what do you all think is going on ?


Second question I went out and hunted yesterday in the spot that I am talking about in my first question and never saw or heard anything. Then all of a sudden this morning I have some Tom's on my game cam again after them being non existent for the last few weeks. Do you think they heard me calling yesterday and remembered it and came in to look this morning?

[Zobo]

Yes, they probably heard you and showed up in their own time

[GobbleNut]

Zobo could be correct, but there are other possibilities, as well, the first being that it was just a coincidence.  Another alternate and viable explanation to your group of gobblers disappearing at the onset of the breeding season was the lack of hens being there and that they simply went looking to find hens. 

Here's another thing that I find perplexing. Rios are pretty vocal, and especially this time of year...and if you were out on your property at first light in the morning, it would be surprising to me that you would not hear them gobbling, even if they were on another property and quite a distance away. If you were out there at that time and couldn't hear gobbling in the distance somewhere, I have my doubts that they could have heard you calling to them and decided to come check it out just coincidentally after you left.

On the other hand, if you have not been hitting the property until later in the morning and gobbling activity may have ceased, they may have been in the general vicinity all the time, heard your calling without responding and/or from a long distance away...and as Zobo says, may have decided to work their way over to take a closer look.

At any rate, it is hard to say for sure...but it sounds like you may now be in the ball game for getting one or more of them now that they are back!     

[Marc]

If I had to guess...  You had a couple satellite toms looking for hens.

I hunt a property in which birds do not roost, and typically show up later in the morning...  Terrain makes it difficult to hear birds at far distances roosting.

I feel it is doubtful they came to a call a day later???

My impression is that birds move around during the spring (from their wintering grounds)...  Hens will be partial to areas with good nesting, and the toms will seek them out...

[Zobo]

I feel it is doubtful they came to a call a day later???

I don't know anything about Rios specifically, as I only hunt northeastern birds. But I have seen birds show up to a spot after calling from that spot the day before.

[Treerooster]

I know something about Rios, but much more north than south Texas. The Rios I know flock up big time in the winter. Like flocks of 100 to 150+. They tend to winter in the same areas year after year. As spring approaches the flocks begin to break up into smaller and smaller flocks and also begin to head back to their breeding areas. Finally there will be small breeding flocks of around 10 birds, give or take, at the beginning of the true breeding season. If winter returns for a spell those smaller clocks will hook back up with another beeding flock or 2. But nowhere near the large winter flock numbers.

In my area the turkeys don't get to their final breeding area until late March or early April. I have seen them somewhat flocked in mid April during a good cold spell with snow on the ground.

It could be that the gobblers were still breaking up into smaller breeding flocks and returned searching for some hens. I wouldn't doubt they heard your calling but do agree you should have heard gobbling in the morning if not in response to the calls.

There have been studies on Rios and it was found that the males have more fidelity to their breeding area and the females have more tendency to explore new areas.

But like I said, this is all significantly north of S Texas.