MD gobbling lull?

[floatingboy]

Seems like we might be in the midst of a gobbling lull here in MD. This morning I got one to respond 3 times in a row to an owl call before sunrise but then when I got closer and did some soft clucks/purrs and a very soft yelp and nothing.  Tried a flydown and nothing.  A loud cackle got one distant gobble and then nothing for the rest of the morning (until 8:15 when the mosquitos chased me away). 

Anybody feel the same way?

[crow]

I switched from Md. to Pa. the last couple of days, but I'm a mile from the Md. border

the birds are gobbling good on the roost, and for about an hour on the ground
I had several come in silent also
shot a 2yr old that gobbled most of the way in yesterday

[Remturkey]

Just the opposite here where i am. First couple days were good then went into about a week long lull with just a few gobbles on the roost and not much after flydown.  Then last Wednesday its like a switch was flipped, they have been tearing the woods down. Tagged my 2nd bird yesterday at 11:23 after I struck him at 09:50 and had move twice on him but he gobbled his head off. It seems like the hens are finally setting and the boys are ready to play.

[Snoodsniper]

Probably went to Baltimore with the rest of the turkeys.

[floatingboy]

What part of the state, Remturkey?

[Remturkey]

Western Frederick, Washington and Allegheny County

[floatingboy]

Awesome, that's where I'll be in the morning.  Thanks!

[floatingboy]

Well, complete silence all morning in Green Ridge and Billmeyer.

[crow]

same thing where I was on the shore today, not even a hen

was it heavy fog at green ridge at fly-down?

[steveo]

It happens, stick with it don't need to have em gobble to kill em.... As long as you are in a area they like/ hang out sooner or latter they will make a mistake, just have to have confidence that they are there.

[floatingboy]

There was medium fog a daybreak.  Yeah, I know you can get 'em even if they're silent.  Problem is I was in an unknown place in the early AM and didn't have confidence in their whereabouts.  Late AM I was in a place I know they're at but the heat and gnats and mosquitos combined with zero gobbling made it hard to be patient...

[gobbler777]

They are gobbling good first hour on the lower shore if you can hear them through the mosquitos LOL. Hens are nesting ... clients and myself have killed 3 birds after 10:30 during the past few days.

[floatingboy]

Good to know, thanks.  Would Linkwood WMA be anywhere near where you're talking about?

[floatingboy]

Well, the early morning (and even some late morning) gobbles have picked back up for me.  Have had several close calls but still no bird down.  Today was something else.  Set up at the edge of what I think are two different gobbler territories.  Did a fly-down and light yelps and suddenly heard two toms quite close.  I was in a field corner facing the field and they started to move around behind me towards a clearing in the trees.  The way the closer one was moving I was sure he was about to come strutting into the clearing behind me.  So I eased up and spun around on my knees with the tree blocking me.  I was sure he was about to come into the opening, but he kept gobbling just out of sight.  I was starting to lose feeling in my lower legs from the way I was kneeling so I slowly eased up to my feet.  Once standing, I shifted very slightly and what do I hear?  Alarm putts and flapping right behind me (in the field I was originally facing.  I turn to see a gobbler flying away!  He'd come in silently, the son-of-a...  I was so mad/frustrated I thought I was gonna cry.  He'd been 25 yards from me out in the open.  And if he's the one I think he was (that I saw the other day very close by), he's a nice bird.  Couldn't believe it.  So I focused on the one that was in the trees.  Gobbled away for another 45 minutes but never budged. I wondered if he was maybe afraid to come closer to the big boy's territory, although he sounded pretty mature himself. Finally, I tried to sneak VERY quietly a bit closer but he must've seen me and I never heard another gobble. 

Sigh...got the rest of this week to make it happen or it's the end of my 2nd season without a shot fired.

[bghunter777]

Gobbling completely done in Kansas and Missouri