GOOD OLE BOY

I agree with RR.When Tommy is with Hens he doesn,t need to make a peep.I was workin a Gobbler for over a hour last week and when the Gobbler was seen about 150 yards away another one gobbled right behind me.He came in silent till that point.Long story short I missed the one that came from behind when he stepped out in the open.

GOOD OLE BOY

The Gobbler i was workin was alone and so was the one that came in that I missed.

Bocajnala

I can hunt tomorrow from 9-noon.

Going to set my decoys out and just do some very sparse and light calling.

-Jake

Strut&Rut

Hey All,

It's been that way in SW Michigan all spring.

Like JW noted, most of the birds are staying in the woods. There's not a lot of mast in the woods around me, and I haven't yet figured out what they're eating, but I think it may be bugs. The ticks are worse this year than the last 5 combined.

The other thing that's interesting, at least for around here, is that older birds are going down in higher numbers than 2 yr olds - there have many birds shot this year with 1.25 to 1.5 inch spurs, suggesting the older birds are the ones doing the searching.

I can't confirm it (i.e., my best guess) is that for whatever reason last year there were many more jakes to survive winter than jennies. I've seen very few small hens, and the best gobbling is most often to high pitched yelps that mimic a younger bird. This has in some manner screwed up the normal mating behavior, in that either the jakes and 2yr old are running off the mature birds, or there are just fewer hens to breed which is concentrating the birds. A local farmer had a flock of 60 birds in his field last week, with more than 10 in strut. That's unheard of for the middle of May...

Phil from Maine

Bocajnala

Well I got skunked for the second year in a row.

Next year I think I will take some time off and do it right.

I didn't make it to pa this year which is my better hunting.

I'll take a few days and do it right instead of trying to fit hunts in around a busy work and family schedule.

-Jake

Oldtimr

Sounds like you have perfected the dying turkey call!

JW

Here is another thing noted this yr.
Shock gobble.
Most of what I witnessed was a Shock gobble when a Tom saw a hen. Not hearing a hen in most cases.
Late season I would see a nice roaming single Tom. He would see my decoy. Instant shock gobble.
Mostly witnessed this with a Jake out too.
Jake's and strutting decoys are a 50/50 gamble.
The Tom either comes busting right in or stays out of range.
I had one Tom stand there and strut for an hr. Never made a peep

I did more hen bantering this year than ever. We ( my partner and I) witnessed far more hen strutting than ever. In fact my partner witnessed a strutting hen gobble
albeit weak
Both of us did get on a few classic bird hunts.
But the majority where not.
I've got a picture with a coyote busting in close on 3 Jake's. They didnt care. They clearly saw the yote.
Safety in numbers I guess.
And in as much as us guys think we rule the roost.
That is incorrect. Females do.

Timbrhuntr

I called in more hens this year than toms and most off the toms I did get to gobble never came in. Thursday I never heard a gobble but I had two hens come in off the roost and then begin to call if you think that soft hen calling is the trick you would question it now. She stood out at 20 yards and and cut and yelp almost non-stop until a gobble rang out some distance off. She continued to cut and yelp as the gobbling got closer I thought this is gonna be great. She is doing all the calling for me but then when the tom was maybe 80-100 yards out she stopped calling and went in his direction and he shut up. I waited a bit then cut he gobbled at the same distance. After another wait I cut and yelped no answer I figured he was with the hens so I decided to make a move. As I was slipping up I saw the tom walking in the woods with the two hens . I got set up and when he peeked around a tree at 40 yards I shot. He ran off. I thought what but realized I had not seen the 1 inch limb about 2 feet in front of me that took most of the pattern. This year I have not killed one bird by just calling and getting a tom to come in. It has all been by making moves and using woodsmanship . I even just sat over a good dusting area and killed a good tom that came to dust with two hens at 2 pm when you would think he would finally be alone looking. This year I have had to work way harder to fill my tags and ended with 7 out of 8 eating tag soup in Michigan which is really unsual !! So don't feel too bad Bocajnalla I hunted a lot from the start April to the last day of May. In fact yesterday in my honey hole that I usually don't hunt I never even heard a gobble all day !!!

Bocajnala

I attribute this tag soup to a lack of dedication.

I tried to work my hunts in around a busy schedule.

One day that consisted of walking out back and sitting for about a half hour doing some light calling before having to go in so the wife could leave for work. It was scattered stuff like that and only 3 or 4 real mornings to hunt.

Pretty much going out blind hoping to get lucky in places that I've seen birds in the past.

Just didn't have the time to dedicate to it.

​​​​​​Next year I'll try to get 5 days off to give it a serious go. And I'll head to PA where I see allot more birds.

-Jake