Can’t hear drumming?

[blake_08]

Like a few others have said, I'm fairly certain i can hear it from a long ways away. At least around 100 yards. I can usually hear him drumming long before i can see him. I can't usually hear the spit unless he's in gun range though. Several times every season i'll be easing down an old road or trail looking and listening and i'll hear a bird drumming that never made a sound otherwise. Also like others have said though, the drum is very hard for me to course. It feels like the noise is coming from inside my head (doesn't make a lot of sense but i don't know how else to describe it) rather than from some location around me. I'll turn my head this way or that way and it has no effect on the sound or locating the source.


I think it's one of those things people hear for years without noticing what they're hearing. Last year i took my wife hunting trying to get her her first bird. She 28 years young and has no hearing problems or hearing loss. The bird we was working was close but he hung up and wouldn't come over a little rise between us and stayed there probably 30 minutes or so. He was drumming and gobbling like crazy and i asked her if she could hear him drumming and she told me she couldn't. I told her there is no way you can't hear that, so to help her realize what she should be hearing, i held her wrist and every time the bird began to a drum note, i gently squeezed her wrist. After about 5-6 drums and wrist squeezes she was able to realize what she was hearing and she could hear it every time he drummed after that.

I feel sorry for anyone who can't hear it. It's a heck of a way to get the blood pumping and it's one of my favorite things about turkey hunting.

[singlestrand]

I can hear the spit but not the drum.

[cuttinAR]

I can hear it over 100 yards and even further on a calm morning, especially if in the woods.  It seems to echo off everything and carry very far.  I screwed up some birds because people would always say they have to be almost in range to hear the drumming so I kept setting up and they'd be over 100 yards away.  Coolest thing is to hear/feel the drumming that goes along with the gobble.

Those that have tinnitus, I have it as well from an ear infection a few years ago and it hasn't affected my ability to hear the drumming.  I lost high frequency in one ear from that as well as many years of shooting without hearing protection.  Dummy! 

[Candyman]

I can hear it very well. I hunt with a friend that can hear it well too. I hunt with another friend that can't hear it at all unless the gobbler is 40 yards away. I have killed several that never gobbled but I heard drummimg and sat down. I have a fear as I get older (48 now) I won't be able to hear it. To me it's better than a gobble.

[Happy]

Typically it has to be within 75 yards for me to hear it.

[birdsandspurs]

I can hear it for a good ways. It's awesome.

[Tom Threetoes]

30 years in the turkey woods and never heard one till last spring. I called one up for my son and heard him drumming before I ever saw him. I've heard 'em spit plenty but never drum till then. I wear hearing aids too.

[davisd9]

I can hear it and the spit, I have felt the drum before. There have been times I heard it before I saw him.


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[davisd9]

It's weird and probably not true.  But not only can I hear it, I swear sometimes I can feel it.   I get this vibrating feeling deep in my chest.  I'm either feeling the drumming, or need to go to the Doctor.

Agree, I have felt it in my chest


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[Bowguy]

I have hearing issues nowadays and can't hear it almost ever

[randy6471]

  Depending on terrain and conditions, I'm able to hear one spit and drum from around 100 yards away.

  It is a shame for those that can't hear or have never heard it, as it is an exciting part of the turkey hunting experience.

  As others have said...there have been times when I've been working a bird and it's been maybe 20-30 minutes without a gobble, so I'm beginning to think that maybe he moved off in a different direction. Suddenly I hear that distinct sound of a spit and drum...and a couple of minutes later I see a full fan come into view.

  If the day ever comes when that doesn't cause me shortness of breath and make my heart race....I'll find a new hobby!

[MK M GOBL]

I can hear it from a good distance, I hear them up in the tree doing this and when they quit gobbling and are coming in silent I've heard their presence by them drumming.


MK M GOBL

[Trax]

Can't hear it. Am mid 30s and hear pretty well.

Have been hunting with people who hear it. "Can't you hear that?" No.  Not even at 30 yards.
Once or twice I've really tried to focus and hear it with a bird in close and I think I've kind of made it out, but am not sure.

[DumpTruckTurkey]

I hear the spit, and thats about it!

[Turkeyman]

It's, perhaps, somewhat unusual for a person who hears higher frequencies well not to pick up drumming which is in that 50-60 HZ range. Normally, at least due to age and working around loud noises (e.g. machine shops in my case) you lose your high frequency hearing first. Fortunately, although using hearing aids for the higher frequencies, I don't really need them to pick up drumming. I've been at this game for awhile and I know that, years ago, I heard drumming without realizing what it was. Probably spooking X number of birds as I would get up and scare them off. Anymore I specifically concentrate upon hearing it. Regarding how far away I can hear it my only positive confirmation  was once in MO years ago. Two toms were with a hen in an opening and I could easily hear them drumming. My range finder said 75 yards.