is anything different now?

[buckrubboy]

I was wondering if there is any major differences from the begginnning of the season to near the end? What i mean when i ask this is, do you make diferent calls to them? Do they gobble as much? Do they come in easier? and stuff like that. I appreciate any advice.

[Diesel77]

I think it depends on where you are hunting. High pressure public and private lands obviously gets tougher. More hens on nests means gobblers will be hounding the few hens that havent nested yet. My buddies down in NC said they saw 5 longbeards following 1 hen last Sat and couldnt pull them away for nothing but they were gobbling their heads off for most of the morning. I think usingdecoys now is going to be key.

[JW]

Through the course of the Spring turkey season the Tom goes through different phases and you need to figure out where he is in the breeding season. From early Spring start the Tom starts gobbling to gather his hens and he is callable. This is the first peak of gobbling as there are several. Later in the season the Tom still gobbles great from the roost but once he flys down in the morning and joins with his hens he shuts up as he is in Strut following his hens most of the day. Later as he breeds and his hens wander off after breeding for the hen to find their special nesting spot the Toms may gobble a bit more and may be a bit more callable. As Spring wears on the hens leave him quicker and he becomes frantic looking for hens so do - he gobbles more. When hens finally are on nest and do not come to the Tom as he gobbles he is really callable and this is sometimes called the second peak of gobbling. That is spring in a nutshell.

So you need to figure what the Tom is doing.

Here is more reading for you and is a great reference

http://www.trmichels.com/PeakTurkeyGobbling.htm

http://www.trmichels.com/TurkeyActivityGraphs.htm

Hope this helps

JW