Listening

[boatpaddle]

I had an older turkey hunter tell me years ago to learn to listen to what the woods is telling you........

    At the time, it was a head scratcher, but as I hunted more, I learned exactly what he was talking about....

    There is usually a reason for a bushy tail to run up a tree and start barking.....The blue jay is scolding something....Those crows making all that fuss are into something....

    Can't tell you how many times, the gobbler showed up after things of that nature, happened....

    If a gobbler goes quiet after cutting your calls off with a gobble....Tune in with your ears and search with your eyes.... Be ready, get your gun shouldered & pay attention to the noise(s) and activity around you.....He may very well be on his way...

     BOOM....

     

[Marc]

Great thread!

Crows circling and squawking, quail flushing, and quiet geese on a pond suddenly honking have all been indications of a nearby bird...

Do not forget to listen for drumming...  It can be subtle, but that sound there means do NOT move.  I have heard it from some distance off under the right conditions, but it generally means they are close.

Hunting a cattle ranch, I have seen cattle respond to turkeys, and turkeys to cattle...

[boatpaddle]

Do not forget to listen for drumming...  It can be subtle, but that sound there means do NOT move.  I have heard it from some distance off under the right conditions, but it generally means they are close.

Thanks, Marc     

     I completely forgot about drumming....

     

[tha bugman]

Do not forget to listen for drumming...  It can be subtle, but that sound there means do NOT move.  I have heard it from some distance off under the right conditions, but it generally means they are close.

Thanks, Marc     

     I completely forgot about drumming....

     

My mentor used to say...."If you can hear him drumming then he's close enough to kill"

[guesswho]

Lot of people have good hearing but poor listening.   

[boatpaddle]

Lot of people have good hearing but poor listening.

That's well said.....

[Kylongspur88]

Do not forget to listen for drumming...  It can be subtle, but that sound there means do NOT move.  I have heard it from some distance off under the right conditions, but it generally means they are close.

Thanks, Marc     

     I completely forgot about drumming....

     

Lesson learned the hard way for me years ago and a gobbler that should have been killed. 

[Jobbler123]

Good discussion. Might take a few years for me to learn.

[ilbucksndux]

Very well said. Watch and listen to what is going on around you.

[High plains drifter]

Somebody said a while back, that just because they are not gobbling, doesn't mean they are not coming.One of the best  birds I've ever gotten, showed up with three other mature toms, and the first time I heard them they were a mile away. They  they shut up after a while and it was that late in the morning, and I was ready to Bagget, so I gave one more yelp on my slate call and lo and behold four times were all over my decoy. moral of the story is they might be coming and then maybe just not making any noise.

[tha bugman]

My buddy and I were hunting last weekend.  I said you hear that squirrel barking?  He may see something!