Birds gobbling very little

[Wickman (Buckmaster)]

Hey guys, I was just wondering what could be going on here. I know that there could be a great number of possiblities but the birds just havent been gobbling much yet this year. I have been turkey hunting for about 7 years and have never had such quiet mornings. I hear two gobbles each morning and that is it. Are all the birds just with hens, or what? I missed the first week of season due to college and then is when I used to hunt in previous years with great success and a lot of gobbling. Could it just be late in the season and the birds have died down? or could the birds just be starting to gobble? My head is spinning thinking about what could be going on, and wondering if it will be better when I go out this weekend. Im not ready to give up getting a bird, but I wish I could figure out what is going on this year.

Thanks for any info

[plawren53202]

Hey, same boat here, hunting in northern MO. Opening day, and on into first weekend of the season, they were just gobbling up a storm. Best couple of days of hunting of my life. Constant action from sunup to quittin time.

Secondfull week and weekendof the season, nothing. The second weekend,I heard exactly one gobblethe first day and two the next. Called in a gobbler blind (he actually came in behind me and spooked when he got a few feet away from me), but I never heard so much as a peep out of him until "putt ... putt ... whoomp whoomp whoomp" as he flewoff and a got a very close-up view of gobbler tailfeathers.

As a newbie,I would love to know what suddenly got them so lock-beaked.

[BuckRogers]

Is there a lot of hunting pressure around that area? If not it may be that they are still henned up. Also are they numbers possibly down?

[r33h]

Overall numbers may possibly be down...I know here in Texas where I hunt, the number of birds that I have heard / seen has been the lowest I can remember.

[drhntr178]

Same here in MO. Very little gobbling if any at all. I'm still seeing the toms but theyre just being quiet. Only the turkeys know why its happening but hopefully a weather change or something will fire them up.

[HomerJ]

They gobble to get hens. No gobbling... they already got the hens.
I would vote for henned-up. The bird I got two weeks ago to the day
didn't make a sound. Came by following a hen. The last two weeks here in Iowa I've heard alot about quiet, henned-up gobblers. Look for some lonesome Tom's coming up. Alot of hens nesting now.

[Wickman (Buckmaster)]

A lot of the areas that I have checked out do have a lot of hunting pressure, but the main place that I hunt is on our property and I am the only one who hunts in the area. I figured since the I heard two gobbles in the morning that he was already with a hen, but how long do birds typically stay with hens? I also think that the bird count is down this year. I ride the backroads quite a bit looking for tracks for places to scout out and start calling. I have seen quite a few tracks but they are all small ones.

[Roadkillwarrior]

I have thought the same thing about here in Indiana. I heard many hunters talking before season even started that the DNR has predicted a lower number of toms this spring because of low hatch rates for the last couple years. I talked to a taxidermist in this area, and he said that he hasnt had the number of birds he would usually have by now, but he has had more birds over three years old than he has ever had.

[txjourneyman]

I'm with r33h on this one. Opening weekend on public land I saw and heard several birds, killed one. Since then its been hard hunting. I came home early from a trip this past weekend and gave up on the season with two weeks left. We had a really mild winter. I think they got thier business done early this year.

[huntnma]

i saw someone post somewhere that this is the "Year of the silent gobbler"....it was for me at least......