Tough hunting!

[Spring_Woods]

Went out this morning to my used to be honeyhole and as I'm waiting for first light I get a little chill reminiscing in my mind of the awesome hunts I've had on this particular ridge top. Man o man, I'd hate to lose this property to hunt!

Light arrives, and nothing! Not a peep! So, I sit there and wait for it to appear light enough for hens to be out of the tree and I let out a soft series of clucks and soft yelps. Still nothing!

I'm the kind of person who over analyzes everything. I spooked a ton of deer incidentally on my way up to to my spot. Could they have made the birds silent? I've ran into deer plenty of times in the past but not really had them cause an interference like today. What say you fellas? I don't wanna believe my birds have found greener pastures!

[DirtNap647]

coulda been the deer but i doubt it might just have bee one of those silent mornings

[tomstopper]

coulda been the deer but i doubt it might just have bee one of those silent mornings

Does it see any other hunting pressure besides you?

[GobbleNut]

Perhaps is was the deer stampede,...but I would doubt that.  Could be a phase of the breeding season when the birds just are not gobbling much.  That happens, too.   Maybe the birds just aren't there this year.  ...Or if others are hunting the place, maybe they have killed some of the vocal birds and hunted them hard enough to shut the rest up.

I have a similar spot,...and I know that sinking feeling when I go there and am met with dead silence.  Most years there are birds,...but some years they are just not there for some reason.  I never get to scout the place beforehand, so I never know until daylight of the first morning I am there what will happen. 

If the birds are there, I can usually call one or more and fill a tag.  When they are not, I pack up and move on to other ground.  In recent years, other hunters have discovered my hotspot and have hunted it before me.  Mine is on public ground, so there is not much I can do about it. 

[Cutt]

Could of been the deer, but I'll venture to say it's just that time when they don't have to talk much.

Started in Ohio also, did hear a few off the roost, but very limited gobbling. I actually hear more hens, than Toms, no need to really gobble. Another thing I noticed was woods are still very open where turkeys can see a long ways, where I feel this works against hunters. One, they can see hunter movement without us knowing from ridge to ridge, which will make them silient. And two, they can see their hens at a longer distance, and just go into strut mode, vs. gobbling, a visual is good enough for them, no need to gobble.

Also not sure of your terrain, but where I hunt in Ohio, it's very steep hills, with narrow tops, and the birds are also using this to their advantage with the open woods. They hang in the bottoms, where they can see hens coming 100's of yards from above, and it's also an advantage in the open bottoms for seeing predators too. have yet to hear one gobble on top, all in the bottom. I like when the woods green a bit more to limit a birds distance he can see, I'am a firm believer this results in less spooked birds by hunter, and gobblers that are more willing to gobble more and cover more area, because they can't see as far, woods are just way too open. Good Luck

[Spring_Woods]

Thanks for the replies fellas. I usually just listen from the valley before I make the climb to the top just to make sure there are birds up there. But this year, I made the climb only to be shut out.

I think tomorrow I will just listen from the valley. Hard to get outta bed in the morning when you ain't hearing them!

[jim67]

This is a similar situation for me.I killed a bird a week ago Mon. Heard gobbling every day Ive been out but last Sat. Nothing,(maybe one in a distance) but it got real boring and was out by 11:30. I threw everything at them,nothing.

[Buckeye_Strutter_935]

monday morning i never heard a bird till 11 am and then today i went to the same place and me and my bro killed 2 and heard atleast 9 different birds......thats just turkey hunting just be paitent and throw some different calls.....slate,box,mouth,etc......throw them all at them lol

[stinkpickle]

I didn't hear anything close this morning, but 5 jakes and 3 longbeards miraculously appeared.  Of course, they didn't come close enough for a shot.  No strutting, no gobbling, no chasing hens...just didn't appear interested in anything but eating.  The sky was clear, but we had a cold snap.  That's what I'm blaming.  Kinda sucks.