PA Hunters

[Cutt]

What's your prediction with this Seasons Gobbling activity? As speaking with actual amount of gobbling one will expierence during the actual time you can hunt during the Season only?

I know I have not been hunting turkeys as long as some, but in my 12 years or so of hunting them, one trend I have noticed is less gobbling, as compared to when I first started. And these were mainly normal Springs that started as usual, which has me beliving this could go down as one of the worst gobbling Seasons yet, with the early warm weather? I believe drops in gobbling has a lot to do with our hen popultion over the years that has just gotten out of hand, more hens less need to gobble.

Now factor in the warmer than usual weather, might even mean less gobbling during the Season? I realize one can still kill silent gobblers, but this is not the point of this thread. As we all love to hear them gobble, I'm one that always said if turkeys never gobbled, I'd probably not hunt them? Don't get me wrong I still go out on them gobbless days, but always in hope of hearing one? Where other diehards could care less and would hunt them even if the never gobbled once during the Spring?

So what are your predictions for this Season, gobbling activity during the Season only, based on past expierences coupled with this warm Season? I realize the amount of daylight plays into this also, but have to believe warm weather can and will also? Hope I'm wrong, but I believe with past trends of less gobbing to me, along with this warm weather, the gobbling activity could go down as one of the worst Seasons yet? I realize many will kill some the first day or so and claim the best gobbling they have heard? But  if one was to hunt the whole Season from start to finish, the amount of gobbling heard during the Season collectively, might be one of the worst yet in my opinions? Any predictions?

[Grunt-N-Gobble]

I don't know.......... I've been turkey hunting about as long as you and I too have noticed less gobbling.  But some of that is due to overall hunting pressure.  Some is public land, but most is private and I've heard less on both.

I hope to hear a bunch and I suspect some days will be better than others.  I won't let it get me down though.

I've got a spot where there are alot of hens.  The landowner even invited me up in the fall to shoot a hen because there are so many.  I didn't go, mostly because I focus on bow hunting deer at that time and its an hour drive from home.  But I'm there just about every Saturday during the spring season.  Some days.........the place is rocking with gobblers sounding off every where.  On others......... I'm lucky if I hear a couple.

When that happens.......I hunt their travel routes.  Call sparingly and sit still.  It also helps when the landowner tells you what time he's been seeing that big long beard come out into the field.          That  went home with me in the truck!!!

[TauntoHawk]

I know I have never heard much goblling on days that hit 80 Degrees in May and at the rate its going now we'll be in the 90's..

Last year I heard the most gobbling in PA as I had in almost 10 years but that was mainly due to population, last 8 years or so theres been almost nothing around my uncles property in Susquehanna County but when I was a kid the hills were covered with them. last year there was a good few around and they gobbled well the first couple days I was there.

I think PA and NY need to move their season up about 2 weeks, not just to hear more gobbles and make it more inline with breeding but I dont like bumping hens off nests each year in mid to late May and think we should be out of the woods before then.

[DirtNap647]

i personally think that there is less gobbling it might sound crazy but i think its because there is more hens just seems like the gobblers have lots of hens no need to run around gobbling that and our season is a tad to late

[Cutt]

i personally think that there is less gobbling it might sound crazy but i think its because there is more hens just seems like the gobblers have lots of hens no need to run around gobbling that and our season is a tad to late

Not crazy at all, I also stated that as one factor for decreasing gobbling over the years. They just don't have to gobble, if always in company of hens, drumming will do. And think about this? how many Turkey hunters do you know in PA,  hunt Hens as hard as they hunt Toms? I'm guilty myself, as most hunters here do, they take their fare share of Toms in the Spring, and many might no even Fall hunt for hens? Which leaves the Hen population growing each year, but keeping the Tom population down.

Another factor as already stated too, is the increasing pressure over the years. Over the years the sport has become very popular, spiked by Proffesional videos and gadgets nowadays . Now everyone wants to be a proffessional, call and video, and a lot of this happens nowadays even before the Season starts, adding premature pressure in many areas before the Season opens?

Couple those two issues with a early warm Spring will not help the issue, as someone statted, birds in general just seem to gobble less as the days get hotter anyways.

[archery1]

we should be huntin now!!!!!!!!!!!! we are way way to late
we keep on gettin to warm to quick
they need to change this b.s.

[Ol'Mossy]

PRESSURE is a BIG factor where I hunt. I hunt public land 99% of the time and around here it's like the first day of Rifle season for deer the first day of turkey season. The past 2 years we had early springs and that brought out alot of the hunters in full swing the first two weeks and it's going to happen again this year. Only difference is it's greening up here alot earlier this year than years past.  I can't buy a gobble in the evenings anymore because of all the traffic on the mountain roads. I can't hardly buy a gobble during the morning hours lately either. Alot of people are out of work around here thus putting more hunters/scouters in the woods. Another thing that bothers me is the lack of food last fall. Finding a food source is tough right now. Of course with things growing early this year will help, I hope. A friend of mine went scouting last week the same day I did..we were about 25 miles apart. He was scouting above farm fields where I was scouting back in the mountains. He heard 9 gobblers, I heard none.  Again I think food source. It's early yet, time will tell.

[Cutt]

I hear you, same here, as all I hunt is Public ground also, weather I'm hunting PA or Ohio. It can be very frustrating at times on Public grounds, as you get a wide variety of hunters. At the most 50% of the hunters here are true Turkey hunters and are considerate of others, where the other 50% make for some tough hunting. They'll crowd right in on you even if you got a bird working first, they stalk around without calling and shoot into your set if you have a bird in range, seen and experienced it all. Just something we have to put up with here on Public land, but 50% of it is just down right ignorance, or those who truly know nothing about Turkey hunting, and go just because the general licence comes with a Spring Turkey tag?  Good Luck!

[Frankinthelaurels]

First off, gobbling is triggered by the length of daylight...it's called phototropisms. Turkeys gobble in PA all the time but that doesn't mean they are breeding. I have at least a dozen longbeards who roost on the hill behind my house and their ancestors have done so also for the last 35 years..they gobble from around groundhogs day in early February until well into June..weather does have some affect and effects the amount and rates of gobbling .. days like today they are going nuts, on days in March when the weather sucks with 2 feet of snow and howling winds you don't hear a sound. THE HENS will determine when breeding occurs and they only need to breed once and can keep sperm alive for 56 days in their ovidepositor and don't need to breed any more..so they can breed in March but don't implant the sperm until lare April or early May...in the southern laurels they almost always are on the nest around May 6-9.. SO don't let the heat, warmth, sunshine scare you... everything is just as it always was and will be.. The season will be just fine, same thing in OHIO if the latitudes are the same.

[dpittman]

I know that deer and elk breed at the same time every year regardless of weather because of photoperiod. The amount of daylight on Nov 15 is the same every year. When the weather is warm I think the bulk of the breeding activity is at night when noone is around to see or hear it. Now with birds I am not 100% sure. They can"t lay eggs just because it is unusually warm then chance some bad weather. March and early April can get nasty here in PA.

[schuylkillspur]

Gobbling has decreased so much in the areas I hunt that I welcome any kind of change. I used to roost 5 to 10 birds a night, I haven't heard a bird gobble from a evening  roost in 3yrs. don't know whats going on?

[Cutt]

First off, gobbling is triggered by the length of daylight...it's called phototropisms. Turkeys gobble in PA all the time but that doesn't mean they are breeding. I have at least a dozen longbeards who roost on the hill behind my house and their ancestors have done so also for the last 35 years..they gobble from around groundhogs day in early February until well into June..weather does have some affect and effects the amount and rates of gobbling .. days like today they are going nuts, on days in March when the weather sucks with 2 feet of snow and howling winds you don't hear a sound. THE HENS will determine when breeding occurs and they only need to breed once and can keep sperm alive for 56 days in their ovidepositor and don't need to breed any more..so they can breed in March but don't implant the sperm until lare April or early May...in the southern laurels they almost always are on the nest around May 6-9.. SO don't let the heat, warmth, sunshine scare you... everything is just as it always was and will be.. The season will be just fine, same thing in OHIO if the latitudes are the same.

I hear what you are saying, but still have to believe if this extremely warm weather trend continues, it will advance the breeding somewhat? Which in turn might mean less gobbling than normal for the actual time you can hunt during the Season? As I stated, at least to me gobbling seems to have decreased over the years during the actual Season? Which makes me believe they run a bit early to begin with for the timing of our Season? Not talking preseason, I'm just referring to gobbling during the actual time one can hunt. And if the warm weather could even advance the Season as little as a week, I feel there will be less gobbling heard during this Season? Again, just my opinion, that the gobbling heard during Season only, collectively for the entire Season, could be the worst to come, because they naturally seem to get worse each year, regardless the weather.

[Ruger M77]

I think our season is to late. Last year a buddy of mine seen a gobbler breeding a hen in mid march. So I think we're definitely missing out on alot. I read that our season is late because we have so many hunters and we'd kill to many if our season was earlier.

[PANYHunter]

The last few years have been the best for gobbling that I have ever hunted. I think it has more to do with less hunting pressure in my area. They seem to shut up when people are calling from their 4 wheelers and wearing orange all day. If the weather does effect the turkeys gobbling we just need to adapt. I am more discouraged that I will be sweating and won't be able to see anything with the green up. 


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[TauntoHawk]

if it's in the 80's and 90's in May the turkeys will be sluggish and the bugs wont... thats my only REAl concern