Birds have gone Silent?
Turkey
Hunting in Northeast Ohio this morning and did not hear a single gobble there were 5 to 7 gobblers roosted Monday morning and then today not a sound did not see any fly down either. Can the cold weather at them changing roosting locations ?
My take and worth nothing....
I live where turkeys live, and I see them frequently. I hear them all the time from my house. Some days they are vocal and other days not. After 30 years of hunting them I still don't have a dependable pattern as to why or when they will be active or silent. They might be quiet on a perfect morning and talkative when the weather is bad. Generally I have found that turkeys are most dependably talkative during periods of stable warm weather. I hunted this past Tues thru Fri and most of the time the birds were quiet. There were periods of talk but nothing remarkable.
Yesterday I basically heard NO talk for nearly 3 hours. Total silence with probably 100+ birds in earshot. Not one gobble until 10ish, and that bird wasn't fired up. I watched a hen and huge gobbler walk between my setup and my house 300 yards away. They never made a sound or acknowledged my calls other than to stop and look. 15 minutes of calling and I noticed more birds to the west. They were foraging and nothing else...no calling or strutting. Totally silent until I got a couple of hens talking back to me. I kept making 'flock talk' and didn't worry about their silence. There were hens, jakes and gobblers...about 12 birds. Eventually two gobblers colored up and half-strutted, then came to my dekes. 4 jakes ran in and a melee ensued with turkeys dancing, jumping, kicking and flogging. They STILL never made a sound. I kept my eye on the best gobbler and made it count. 21 pounds and 1-1/4" spurs.
Silence can be tough to deal with, but doesn't mean the birds aren't there or won't respond. I have many times found vocal turkeys to be very independent and unwilling to come to the call.
Beautiful Picture Kevin! Well done! C
BT,
Yes weather and wind will dampen the birds spirit to be talkative. Other reasons, coyote's, and too much calling. After a few days of constant pressure and hunters bumping birds, they smarten up and will sneak in on setups without a peep. Lockjaw time is tough to kill a bird but like others said above they are there and are listening to you. Kevin's comments above are so true.
XMan
Two of us have been hunting since Thursday afternoon and we haven't heard over a dozen gobbles between the two of us. Most of them were early morning. Gobble on the roost, one or two after fly down, then nothing. I did manage to call one in yesterday about 30 minutes before dark. It's been tough !
Opening youth weekend and first 2 days of season the were very vocal. Then a cold front that has seemed to shut them down. Hope warm weather is on the come back soon. Thanks all for your insight. Appreciated.
I returned from Nebraska yesterday. Lots of gobbling on the roosts then nothing once they flew down. The wind wasn't evening howling (which usually is when they are silent). The only gobbling I heard was 3 jakes that I got excited when I called them to a decoy. Here in Colo the toms are often silent where I hunt them. There are lots of predators and they've learned that if they want to live long they remain pretty quiet.
This is why turkey hunting is so enjoyable, they can be unpredictable. I've found that throughout the spring, toms can be quite nomadic. We think some are always with hens and some not. But that isn't the case. By the time hunting seasons start, the mature hens have been breed, so really we are hunting them when the young subordinate hens tend to be together in small flocks, or when some of the mature hens lose their clutch and be susceptible to breeding again. You have to remember, that some areas, the birds also change their ranges slightly based on available food sources, just like deer in the fall.
Friday I was in Kansas and the only gobbling heard was when they were still in the roost. Once they were on the ground not a gobble all day.
We got four mature toms from our same blind throughout the day, starting with a double in the morning but as stated above, all of them came in silent.
jims, that may be the case where I hunt. There are way more coyotes in that area now than when I started hunting there over twenty years ago. We saw our first coyote scat about 6/7 years ago and Friday about dark we heard three different coyotes sing out just before dark. The place has grown up tremendously over the years too, much thicker with mesquite now, and the turkeys can't see near as far, so they may be more on edge.
Whatever the reason, we saw few turkeys, heard less, and I blew the only shot I had ! That's only the second bird in years that I've lost with a bow, and I was pissed.........
If they aren't gobbling right, they are with hens. Not an hour by hour thing but a phase of spring kind of thing. Turkey are turkeys and, they do what turkeys do. Which means you will be guessing what is next. There is no formula, perfect weather, no magic barometric pressure. It is a procreation driven agenda. If birds are breeding every morning right off the roost, you aren't going to hear many, if any sounding off on the roost. When the hens quit running to the gobblers at fly down, you will start hearing them.
Turkeys are like all other animals you hunt in their breeding phase. In order to kill them you must determine where they are at in their breeding cycle. You must find a gobbler that is killable. When they are locked down with hens, that is hard. Good luck and God Bless
Well said WV...its all about procreation. Weather can influence the amount of gobbling to a lesser degree, but that is usually only for a day or so. Hens, hens and more hens. That is a turkey hunters "four" letter word. They can help or hinder your hunt and when they hinder it, it can be for a week or more.
Sunday a few different birds gobbled together on roost and only like once after fly down. A hen was calling also, not heavily though. Giving them a few days and then see what happens.
Seems like if they gobble well 2 days in a row, they slow down that 3rd day. They are still there, just maybe they have a sore throat?
Not sure about their throat but my legs from hauling the blind, deces, chair, bow, etc. are sore after several days......LOL
