HuntingNet.com Forums - I ain't much of a turkey hunter

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bocajnala (Post 4355862)

I've only been at this a few years. But each season it seems like I hear the same. "Birds aren't gobbling like they used to"

With the years of experience that you have JW, what do you attribute that to? I've heard everything from more coyotes, to the more vocal birds getting shot year after year so the less vocal birds are reproducing more and their offspring continue the less vocal trend.

what's your take? My limited turkey success has mostly been from scouting and being in the right place, right time. My biggest bird did come from calling and he came in with 3 other gobblers in full strut and gobbling their heads off. Quite a show they put on.

I know some others like RR may have thoughts on this as well.

-Jake

Just my $.02 & experience....

I started turkey hunting in PA, in the late 1980s. I wasn't very serious about it, had no mentor, just tried to figure it out on my own. I'd kill a tom every so often, or a jake. But it was something to do with a bunch of guys, we'd go fishing & drink beer the rest of the day after 12.

I got real serious about turkey hunting in the late 90s. Learned what I could, hooked up with some experienced turkey hunters, and cut the learning curve. All the time I hunted in PA & NY back then, and you would hear gobbles until noon most days. I also started taking a week each year to hunt with friends in southern GA. Things were different there, birds only seemed to gobble in the trees, and once they hit the ground, they were quiet most of the day. Those birds had been around for a long time, and weren't the offspring of trap and transfer birds. I was shown to hunt toms a little different there, it was more of a waiting game, and calling softly and intermittently, and getting into good travel & strutting spots.

My theory is that the birds that had been in an area a long time (GA) had passed on their genes, and birds who gobbled the least tended to avoid being shot. Now it seems the same thing is happening in areas where trap & transfer birds have gotten established...birds that gobble less are passing on their traits to their offspring...evolution happening before our eyes.