Feeding turkeys will result in them staying near thefeed, until the time comes when the hens are ready to breed and seek out spring home ranges (which means nesting areas). That time is probably determiend (as you note) by warm enough weather that there is new spring growth and insects, and bare, dry ground in the spring range.

As a result, bothspring breakup and breeding can be delayed by cold weather. In areas where the toms stay near the hens in the winter (as often occurs in feeding situations) the toms won't gobble as much as they would if the toms and hens had separated into sex specificflocks in the winter, because the toms are alreayd with the hens and dont' need to gobble. They strut, spit and drum instead. This may result in a lower than normal first gobblingpeak, or no noticeable first gobblingpeak at all.

You can find out when the normal gobbling peak occurs in your state by going to T.R. Michel's web site, and clicking on theTurkey Gobbling Dateslink on his home page. He has lots of good turkey infomation there too.

But, after most of the hens have gone off to nest, or at least left the wintering area, there is often a second gobbling peak 2-4 weeksafter the first gobbing peak should normally occur - even if there was no first gobbling peak - because the toms will be looking and calling for hens to breed with - still.