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Crappy gobbling year?

How is/was gobbling in your area?

  • Better than average

    Votes: 14 16.5%

  • About the same

    Votes: 30 35.3%

  • Worse than average

    Votes: 41 48.2%
  • Total voters
    85
Normal to maybe a little below normal. But birds are more willing to work for us. Also still seeing number issues of course but thankfully seen more Jake's this year then probably the last 5 to 6 years combined.
 
mike52 said:
I have not heard a gobble in 4 hunts. Really crappy . Wilson Co
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I hunt primarily Wilson Co. I heard and saw birds every day last week. Now, sometimes they weren't where I wanted them to be. Yesterday was the first day I didn't hear or see anything....but I was also in a new area that I hadn't really scouted much.
 
Claiborne County: Juvenile Weekend: heavy gobbling, but only heard the bird we killed.
Opener: good gobbling from the roost. Heard 3-4 birds. Only one gobbled consistently from the ground. Took 4 hours to kill him.
This past weekend: intermittent gobbling from the roost. Heard 3-4 birds. Only one gobble from the ground (from any bird) until one more gobble at 50 yards before the kill at 35.
Observation from the house:
Very little gobbling, if any, where I usually hear consistent gobbling. They were vocal from mid-March until last week. Not now.
 
In the last 11 days ive heard no less than 1000 gobbles probably closer to 1200 between Claiborne and hancock counties , i have seen 8 birds go to the finall roost in the sky! Wish i had some more of the sacred 🏷️, gonna have dig deeper in my contact list to take and call for some more buddies cause it aint close to over yet!
 
knightrider said:
In the last 11 days ive heard no less than 1000 gobbles probably closer to 1200 between Claiborne and hancock counties , i have seen 8 birds go to the finall roost in the sky! Wish i had some more of the sacred 🏷️, gonna have dig deeper in my contact list to take and call for some more buddies cause it aint close to over yet!
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It hasn't even begun. Even though they've been quiet the best is just around the corner
 
^^^ Not a bit surprised that some of the best gobbling last week or so, and some of the best gobbling predicted in coming weeks is in NE TN counties. Totally different world than the SW counties this time of year. That is one thing that I have picked up from the serious turkey hunters on this forum over the years. Based on comments I've read on this forum for last 20 years, if I primarily turkey hunted NE TN, I would want to be in the woods end of April and first of May.
 
It occurred to me that I didn't answer my own inquiry. I keep notes annually on things like gobbling activity and this spring ranked among the worst on my farm in Hardeman. Don't get me wrong we got the turkeys for sure, they just didn't gobble well from the opener and got progressively worse.
 
Boll Weevil said:
It occurred to me that I didn't answer my own inquiry. I keep notes annually on things like gobbling activity and this spring ranked among the worst on my farm in Hardeman. Don't get me wrong we got the turkeys for sure, they just didn't gobble well from the opener and got progressively worse.
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Were previous year's values inflated due to increased gobbling heard end of March through middle of April? Or are you truly comparing April 15-25 gobbling for all years?
 
Andy S. said:
Were previous year's values inflated due to increased gobbling heard end of March through middle of April? Or are you truly comparing April 15-25 gobbling for all years?
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I suspect, inflated due to end of March to mid-April gobbling peaks...yes. That being said, I also looked at my year-over-year notes only from April 15 on as well. Same general observation.

Comparing from season opener forward vs actual dates year-over-year...it's (pardon the pun) no comparison. Hardly qualitative, but my goal in comparison was to some degree, minimize variable factors that might be contributing to some anecdotal impact to observed gobbling. Obviously days are longer in mid-April than late March and could reasonably assume average temps are somewhat higher as well. Could these have an impact, of course. Same with number of nests initiated for example.

Lots of possible variables, all I know is that I didn't hear near the gobbling as previous seasons. Nowhere near.
 
Hardin county. I looked at my phone. I've averaged 6 miles walking a day. Really 5.9. I have heard a few turkeys gobble one time each. By far worst ever. But I knew with early green up and late season it would be bad. I hoped I was wrong but i wasn't. I'm seeing hens getting back together and gobblers have vanished.
 
Been Unreal. If you hunt in middle TN and havent heard gobbling, I'm not sure what to tell you the 2 week delay seems to have done wonders.
 
The places I have been have been great this year. Let me say I'm not talking about 10-15 long beards gobbling just because we don't have that kind of population. I've had a bird gobbling everytime I went and I usually don't go to the same place twice. It may have been the ONLY Tom in the woods with me but it surely has let me know and I've got a few kids to take some birds already this year.
 
NumberOne said:
Been Unreal. If you hunt in middle TN and havent heard gobbling, I'm not sure what to tell you the 2 week delay seems to have done wonders.
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Today was a repeat of yesterday (and the other 8 days I've hunted in TN)... Just INSANE gobbling in middle TN. Hunted a couple birds on a farm that hasn't been touched in a week. They blew the barn doors off on the roost, but hens pitched out of the tree and landed 5y behind us in the woods. When they moved off without spooking, I told my son to turn around and face uphill and get his gun up. About 5 min later, the toms popped out of the thick stuff at 10y. Yup... gun in his lap. They clucked at us and moved off only slightly spooked. 10 min later they were back to hammering. We made a loop around them with them free gobbling in the woods the whole time. I messed up the repositioning tho. All the while I heard a bird 1000y away to the north that gobbled 50x and another 800y to the east that gobbled 20x.

Headed to the farm that I called in the hard gobbling duo midmorning yesterday... yup, same thing.... struck them set up, they gobbled on the way in, but unfortunately I called in a real hen that then broke off and headed to them when they were about 75y away in the woods... that shut them up.

I seriously haven't heard this much gobbling since the early 2000s. Many fewer toms than then, but they are just so much more desperate this time of the year.
 

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