Silent Birds

[GTHOM]

Me and my folks got on 3 longbeards that were henned up pretty good opening morning, havent heard a peep sunday or today. Im fortunate enough to be able to hunt during the week with my folks so Im in the turkey woods a lot, and I'll tell you the last this year (so far) and last year we have seen the gobbling activity go down. Way down. Anybody else having these problems? Seems like theyre here one day and gone the next.

[engie]

Me and my folks got on 3 longbeards that were henned up pretty good opening morning, havent heard a peep sunday or today. Im fortunate enough to be able to hunt during the week with my folks so Im in the turkey woods a lot, and I'll tell you the last this year (so far) and last year we have seen the gobbling activity go down. Way down. Anybody else having these problems? Seems like theyre here one day and gone the next.

You may be hunting them too hard and educating them a bit... Or they may just be movement/inconsistent birds. I've had a couple that only show up in a spot only every 5-7 days. You'll go, they'll act a fool, somehow manage to not die -- then you'll hunt "those birds" for the next week without hearing or getting close to them. About the time you give up and move 3/4 mile -- they are right back where they had been before acting stupid. And when you go back after them, they are gone again...

My dad hunts his ~ 700 acres in Hinds County at least 5-6 days a week. It's rare for him to hear birds past the first month or so. They get call shy to his slates(he doesn't mouth or box call). They still come in and he kills them though. I'll go there with an aluminum slate -- and it's like they haven't been called to all year. Turkeys are weird like that. I always carry a "strange" call just to throw something different at them as a last ditch effort...

[LandDawg]

Turkeys do not primarily spend winter on my place. They migrate seasonally. But they always move onto me during the Spring. Some years later than others. Maybe happening to you. According to my trail cam, the birds have started using my place in the last 7 days, which is a little earlier than normal.

Turkey #'s are down throughout the state. Although its not as a dramatic decrease as some people would lead you to believe, there are some areas that have been hit hard by habitat loss and timber mismanagement on public and private lands.

I heard 0 gobbles Sat. I sat about 150 yards from a roosted gobbler with 4 hens. Watched him fly down, strut with the hens, then walk off alone. I called a little but he never gobbled.

I heard 1 gobble all day Sunday. Heard nothing off the roost, fog rolled in about 730 so I went home. Went back out at 930. Called every 30 minutes or so and he finally gobbled at 11:05. Gobbled once and I killed him at 11:35.

[GTHOM]

Theyve gobbled a lot better lately, heard 3 wednesday, none thursday, then 3 again today. maybe they will pick up some, april is always usually the best month anyway. anybody else seein the woods green up?

[SapperDawg]

Hunted the afternoon yesterday and saw three hens, but still no gobbles in the area I hunt. They have the ground tore up from scratching around. If there is some good WX this week, I may take a day off and try them again.