All Quiet on SE Al. Front
 

Four of us. First two days. Almost nada. One guy heard 2 gobbles yesterday morning. Never located the Tom. So far none of the four of us has heard nor seen any turkeys at all other than that one.

We are hunting on about 3000 acres on which the turkey hunting past years has been very good to excellent. Population may be down. During this past deer season far, far fewer turkeys were seen by our group. Wonder what is up? We are stumped right now. Headed home.:confused0024:

Be back Tuesday !!

I think the colder Feb. has 'em quiet. Didn't hear anything at Oakmulgee Sat. You may be right about the numbers.

Maybe this slow start is going to have them gobbling good until the end of season......glass half full I guess. Haha

I hope so as I plan on hunting in Alabama the last three days of the season !

So the reports from guys right now....

Oakmulgee/Tuscaloosa area - No gobbles
Near Fayette - No gobbles
Near Hamilton - 2 light gobbling birds
Near Auburn - Very few gobbles

I saw plenty of sign. Saw one hen. Heard another. Found 3 different sets of gobbler tracks which was good considering how much rain we've had the last few weeks. Brother heard about 7-8 birds on his club near Red Bay and has seen a group of about 15 jakes. This week should get them fired up. By April first they may be stroking it pretty good.

What's the coyote population like? My parents live in the Millbrook-Prattville area Millbrook. About 12-15 years ago, the coyotes numbers went up, and all the small 'critters' disappeared. Three years ago, foxes, oppossums, racoons, whitetails and turkeys started showing up in the pastures & yards. My parents rarely hear the 'song dogs' these days.

Sounds like maybe it's predator hunting time.

I'm not so sure its a coyote problem. I think weather is a bigger issue.

I have this theory. I believe that (although day length is the catalyst for the breeding season) that ambient temperature and ground temp is a prerequsite for hens to nest.
In 2012 it was warm and dry in Feb. There were several reports of peope finding nests in March, which I'm not really accustomed to. Generally in N AL you find nests about the middle of April. In 2013 there were reports of lots of jakes. Most folks said that these were "super jakes". Full gobbles, beards that were longer than an average jake, larger than average spurs. 2014 I heard of more 1.125-1.375 inch spurs than I had ever heard of. I also heard of more 21+ lb birds than I had ever heard of. My belief is that last years big birds were actually 2year old birds that were hatched early in 2012. I also believe that the 2013 breeding season saw more jakes that kept the more mature birds from being able to breed. I think the jakes kept them run off. I'm hearing reports of more jakes this year, though it is early to really know much.

So to break it down....
2012- early hatch
2013 - Lots of big jakes that didn't get the job done breeding and kept mature toms from breeding. Lower than normal hatch.
2014 - big mature birds from 2012 hatch. Good hatch.
2015 - ?? If there are fewer 2 year old birds killed and more jakes seen that would help my theory.

Rios in Colorado are strutting in numbers and have been for about a week in my area.

Last year we did kill some dang heavy birds, with 3 right at a whopping 25#. And for the first time that I recall, we killed 3 that were multi bearded, plus one bearded hen.

As an update, still nada has been killed on our lease. Only 2 gobblers have been seen and only 4 gobblers have been heard. A few of us are going to be back at it this weekend. I plan a week long long hunt starting April 3. I should know by the end of that week for sure.

As for coyotes and coons ... as far as I can tell no more than "normal". The population of foxes and bobcats seems to be way down because I am seeing far fewer cat and fox tracks recently. In fact, I have not seen a fox or bobcat in two years. Still see a few cat tracks here and there but not nearly as many as in the recent past.

I sent swampbuster on a few hunts in Oakmulgee and so far he's been shut out. Hunted near Reform last two days myself. Heard 3 Tuesday that gobbled so-so. Shut up pretty quick on ground. Four birds gobbled today an average of 2 times each. Set up under 100 to bird on roost. He hit the ground and went all Houdini on us. He gobbled maybe 5 times.

They just aren't hitting it yet. I don't mind it cause by the time they start cranking it up most of the "fair weather" hunters will be fishing by then.