Are the birds completely silent, or are you just not close enough?

I ask, because I've heard my brother complain the same way, and for the past 10 years I've gone home to central NY over Memorial Day weekend, and have always found birds.

I know that here in CT, as well as central NY, once the Ash & Oak trees leaf (typically the last to do so), you need to be within 200 yards of most birds to hear a gobble. Going to the highest ridge is usually not enough, simply because the sound is muffled by all the vegetation.

For example: At this one property, there is a 500 yard long field, which goes from the river to the base of a wooded ridge, which goes for another 400 yards at a 20 degree slope to the summit's plateau. At the wood's edge, I heard no gobbling. However, halfway up the ridge (200 yards), I heard birds at the top of the ridge. Because of daylight, I could not get up the ridge undetected, and know that the bird's typically work up the hill.

I decided to see if birds were gobbling down by the river. After hiking the 200 yards down the hill, and another 250 yards into the field, I indeed heard birds gobbling at the river's edge.

Fact: This time of year, it's most often about getting close enough to hear the gobbling, and not deciding that the bird's are not gobbling. They do oftentimes stop once they hit the ground, but if you can fire them up on the roost, they will gobble and commit...

Good luck.