seems the ole PA boys are still flocked up around here....i noticed it....and so did a farmer i talked to.....he knows the whole township....farms for a living..and farms most of the land in that part of the township.....i was trying to get pointed onto some birds....hes great at pointing me on game....hes always out n about farming...checking the cows in one of the many barns ect....so he knows where everything hangs out......we were taking and he brought up the fact that he is seeing them all in groups still......not the usual maybe a pair or triple of birds.....full flocks......bachler groups of toms ect.....i find this odd.....its been pretty warm this year.....season starts in just over 2 weeks.....normally they are down eachothers throats chasing eachother by now.....theres ALOT of birds all over.....id figure it would be more important to fight..break up...establish pecking order ect with so many birds........thats ok....he pointed me in a direction he sees 6 LONG beards grouped up....and they all wonder around all day together.....should make for an exciting hunt....i bet they try racing eachother to me......he also pointed me in another area we know theres birds.....both areas should have no hunters...or verrrry few...which is not the case in most areas around here....them birds feed in the fields....guys see them..try to hunt them....so alot of birds are hit hard....but not the 2 areas he sent me too.....they are hidden well and overlooked.......cant wait.......but why are they still flocked up?? how will it effect my hunting? do my tactics need to change?? thanx

Mauser,

Sometimes this happens when there is a shortage of hens. The toms are competing for a limited number of ladies, so they actually follow a pretty similar travel pattern. The gobblers will stick together and actually perform a more ritualistic lek behavior, ie. they will strut and parade together for the few hens.

I've seen it happen in NY and CT, in areas where there are good numbers of toms/jakes and not as many ladies.

Of course, as soon as the season starts, I'm sure each one of those gobblers will have at least one hen apiece. Funny how that always happens, huh?!

here in wisconsin theyre really lighting up i noticed

The birds by my folks place are still flocked up as well. They cross every afternoon 15 hens and 3 toms. The boys get all puffed up and act tough.

im in PA also and up to a little over a week ago they were like that here. but now they are all fired up. im seeing one or two gobblers w/ 2 or 3 hens... the other night i saw a longbeard and a jake fight and a hen ran away another hen.. it was so cool to watch. im going out all weekend to see what i can see and hear. i should have the whole woods to myself since the first day for trout is sat. well good luck to u and i hope we both get one..

Mauser the same thing is happening here in north Alabama and southern Tennessee ..the Toms are still Henned up and its mid way through our season ...this time last year they were very vocal this year they have lock jaw ... hopefully next week they will bust out ..

Same thing here. I was out 2 days ago in a spot that I always hear or see turkeys. At Sunrise dead silence no gobbling, and I didn't hear one fly down. I was about to give it up, as I am just scouting, our season opens in a week. About 8:15 a flock of about 25 hens strolls out into a green field, they were follower by about 12 gobblers, they would walk a few steps and puff up then continue to follow the hens. The hens were not interested. I hope they turn on for next week.