While hunting yesterday in NH (only my 3rd season hunting turkeys) , I put out two decoys (hen and close to me a jake)...I saw this hen turkey that did not move for 15 min (by the clock) lookin' at the decoys about 40 yds away, before she decided to feed again. She walked by me at 15 yds and finally flew away after watching her for 50 min. She never made a sound.....
Questions....Is it common to see a hen by herself, and is it common that she never made a sound?
Was she shy about feeding (for those 15 min) becase she was concerened about the decoys?
Will the Toms still be as agreesive the end of May?
Last question....Our hunting day ends at noon and it seems by that time, the woods are always quiet. Is there any change in strategy as the morning gets close to the noon hour?......Thanks in anvance to all.....

I once watched a hen walk up the road towards my setup (with a hen and jake decoy) purring contently -- until she saw my dekes. She immediately stopped walking, made no more sounds, looked at the decoys for a couple minutes, then detoured off through the woods behind me.

Hal

This year i had a breading pair set up and a hen watched them from 50 yards for about 20 minutes. she then started putting and ran away. i talked to an ol' boy that has turkey hunted all his life and asked him why she was so hessitant about them and he said that the turkeys will watch for movement and if they dont see any then they get suspicious. as far as hunting late morning i like to use a crow call to get a bird to reply. i feel that if i can get him to gobble at 10:00 then he is as good as mine b/c all of the hens are on their nest.

Jimmy,

First, lets address the lone hen. At this time of year, she was either 1) a hen that had been bred and is nesting, probably going to her nest or off it for a short snack, or 2) a young unbred hen.

There may be a few reasons for her actions. As noted earlier, they do get suspicious when there is no movement for an extended time. Hens---similar to white-tailed does---are a bit more nervous and cautious than the gobblers. Secondly, if she has been bred and is headed back to her nest, she does not want to be followed around by a jake/gobbler---the whole reason they "slip away" from them in the morning.

It is more common, as the Spring rolls into summer, to see hens by themselves than in groups or with gobblers.

Gobblers will be more aggressive around the middle of the day, and younger subdominants may gobble extensively after the majority of hens have been bred. With these birds, set-up extra close on the roost in the morning, and if no luck come back around 10-11 and hit the calls. I was pretty successful in this tactic just yesterday, although I let a small tom/big jake and two other jakes walk. But they were at the gun within about 10 minutes...

Now, as the most complex question...later in the season. This really depends on how many younger hens are in the area, how vocal they are, and the gobbler:hen ratio. If you have low numbers of gobblers, they may be more than content to gobble on the roost and go to their strut zones all day until the summer. Higher numbers and you should find aggressive 2-year olds, but they may come in silent.

AND, just a final opinion...leave the jake decoy at home. Many of the hens will steer clear, and most subdominants and jakes will turn tail at the sight of another gobbler, especially as the season wears on.

Good luck...

S&R

Hi
I also hunt New Hampshire Bow ,Concord and Loudon area. My Son and I have already got our Turkeys. But I still go out and Video the Turkey .I've notice last week, in the areas I hunt the Gobblers have shut up. That is usely the case around this time when its hot, they will gobble but not that much. For the lone hen she is probley nesting and just feeding. Also alot of the breeding in this area is over, your best bet is to leave the Jake home and use two feeding hens at this time of the season. "Just my thoughts" (Good Luck)