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How long do they gobble for

Thegreatwhitehunter1776

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I'm still new to Turkey hunting and with the woods getting fully leafed out and it getting hotter out I'm wondering how late in the season will they still gobble for. Do they really slow down around this time, will it pick up again, etc. I'd imagine they are henned up because I never hear them gobble after they fly down but I've been trying to catch a lone gobbler when the hens go to nest but I never hear a gobble after flydown. The gobbling is one of my favorite parts so far and my strategy revolves around hearing them gobble and then setting up on them. I hunt a big hardwoods area with clear cuts throughout. Should I just set up on the edge of a clear cut and hunt them like deer or will they eventually start gobbling again.

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Gobbling can go from nothing to on fire from one day to the next or from one week to the next. Generally speaking there will be fewer birds gobbling as the season goes on due to birds being killed, but more of those gobbling birds will be hot and ready as more of the hens start setting on nests. Some of the best hunts I've had were late season. Didn't hear many, but most of the birds I heard were lonely and ready to walk into my lap.


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Do you cover lots of ground looking for a lonely Tom that wants to play or just pick a spot with turkey sign and wait?

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Thegreatwhitehunter1776":2avuju7n said:
I'm still new to Turkey hunting and with the woods getting fully leafed out and it getting hotter out I'm wondering how late in the season will they still gobble for. Do they really slow down around this time, will it pick up again, etc. I'd imagine they are henned up because I never hear them gobble after they fly down but I've been trying to catch a lone gobbler when the hens go to nest but I never hear a gobble after flydown. The gobbling is one of my favorite parts so far and my strategy revolves around hearing them gobble and then setting up on them. I hunt a big hardwoods area with clear cuts throughout. Should I just set up on the edge of a clear cut and hunt them like deer or will they eventually start gobbling again.

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The best gobbling I've experienced will happen in the next 3 weeks. In my experience the gobbling has been pitiful this season. Yes they are henned up and I've seen 4-6 hens with gobblers in the late afternoons...Some days not at all and other a handful on the limb and maybe on the ground a couple times... Saturday was the best I've heard they gobbled until 9:20 but nothing after that. I've yet to find that lonely mid day bird and I've hunted everyday....


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Best turkey hunting in TN is the 3rd week of April. Hens are breaking off to lay, and gobblers are on fire middle of the day. The trade off is a ton of toms have already been reaped before breeding starts, so its harder to find a bird.

Last 2 weeks of season, birds are still gobbling great and desperate for hens. But its my least favorite time as there are few birds left, and the ones left start to bunch back up into whatever remained of their bachelor groups and start really roaming. So you can go days without a gobble, then the following day hit a bachelor group and have 4 toms fighting with each other coming to your calls.

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Thegreatwhitehunter1776":2hkjsk51 said:
Do you cover lots of ground looking for a lonely Tom that wants to play or just pick a spot with turkey sign and wait?

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Yes to both. Some days I don't care to sit and wait so if they aren't gobbling, I'll leave. If I've got a good strutting area, I might sit for a spell and call periodically. It's hard for me to sit for more than an hour unless I'm working a bird. Yesterday I went prospecting moving and calling. Twice I bumped a gobbler while moving and I know he heard me but never uttered a peep. That's one of those occasions I should have sat and called. Is that clear enough? Some days whatever you do is wrong.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I'm stocked to go out tommorow afternoon and look for sign and maybe strike a bird. My college is put for Corona and I've never had this much time for any kind of hunting. I got this gobbler that keeps outplaying me and eventually I'll hopefully get him.

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Thegreatwhitehunter1776":28uhv1zm said:
Do you cover lots of ground looking for a lonely Tom that wants to play or just pick a spot with turkey sign and wait?

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I never pick a spot and wait unless I'm trying to take a nap or roost a bird. Cover ground until you find a bird.


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Thegreatwhitehunter1776":9raq4phs said:
I got this gobbler that keeps outplaying me and eventually I'll hopefully get him.

Ah, I call those a season wrecker, because they can occupy most of your time. Stay with him, but try not to bump him. You'll eventually catch him without a hen.

Also, your location in the state can play a factor on turkey breeding behavior. In my location the last two weeks are usually the best, but this early spring may alter that some.

Good luck.


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I hunt public land in carroll and Benton county in west Tennessee if that helps so I hunt natchez trace, TVA land, and a few small wmas here and there

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Just remember these two things. Experience is the best teacher, and you can't kill turkeys if you aren't hunting them. What your birds in your area are doing at any given moment you won't really know unless you're out there to see it. Reports from other people can be helpful, but I've seen them vary so much from my actual experiences many times. And you won't see a lot of what the birds are doing, especially if they're quiet. But putting yourself in the right place enough times you will eventually run across a hot gobbler that wants to die. If you never find much turkey sign, go somewhere else. If you find a lot of fresh turkey sign but nothing is gobbling, they are there, it's just bad timing and they will gobble some other time. Remember every place you heard a gobble so you can go back to it later if you come up short trying to find other birds.

Also, if you have been messing with a particular bird that keeps giving you the slip. Would you rather spend your season trying to kill that bird or would you rather just kill any gobbler? Don't waste too much time on one bird just because he's there. Don't forget him either, you may want to come back to him at some point. Most time I've spent on a single gobbler was 3 days, I missed him once and then killed him. I won't let a single bird wreck my season because I enjoy turkey hunting for the thrill of calling in a hot gobbler.

Everyone talks about calling in a hot bird that answers the call and works just like you want to. It happens often, but not as often as you think. A gobbler only comes into that mood once in a while. If he won't work a call one day, it's not because he's smart, but because he doesn't want to go running to a hen at the time. Turkeys are dumb, but they're also paranoid, and have changing moods, so people think they're smart.

Sorry for rambling, hope I could help. Good luck


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One of my favorite parts of hunting on general is exploration. I love just walking around the woods and turkey hunting compliments it. Thanks for the advice.

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Thegreatwhitehunter1776":100x8yvx said:
One of my favorite parts of hunting on general is exploration. I love just walking around the woods and turkey hunting compliments it. Thanks for the advice.

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That's cool to hear which you don't hear enough of. I enjoy the hike and exercise during turkey season and actually train (a little) beforehand.

Bunch of solid advice in this thread here are a couple from Mike Pentecost with Woodhaven calls.
1. P.a.t.i.e.n.c.e and the e is silent.
2. If you can't kill a bird with 3 try's move on.
 
My advice for what little it's worth...

If where you are hunting has birds but they're not super vocal, don't press too hard too early in the season. Give them time to free up as to avoid making them unkillable

Let's say you find a roosted bird gobbling, set up he flies down and goes quiet. For me I won't leave the area and just sit quietly as many times he will gobble again if you're patient. At that point if the terrain allows slide closer to try and get a response. If you can't get a response, leave him for another day.

I do roam but call from strategic positions, areas where I can elicit a gobble from a distance and also not unnaturally saturate an area with calls. Hens don't wander calling continuously

If the crows are quiet generally so are the turkeys. Don't use locators wait for natural locators to work for you. No matter how much you think you sound like a crow, trust me you don't haha

Learn the property where you hunt, on silent days ease into areas where you know they should be. Don't set up and call sporadically as that's a recipe to get busted, rather slide in and just sit. If he's ready to play he will sound off if you're patient. Good time for a woods nap. I couldn't count the number of birds I've toted out by doing this, versus running all over the place trying to strike a bird,
 
im just going to say this one time this year so pay attention: On any given morning turkeys will gobble and work clean into JUNE. Any day now you will have some googan fudds show up saying its over, they are done, its too hot, its too thick, the list of excuses is almost endless. The fact of the matter is those folks don't know jack about turkeys.
 
Setterman":2s9f827k said:
My advice for what little it's worth...

Learn the property where you hunt, on silent days ease into areas where you know they should be. Don't set up and call sporadically as that's a recipe to get busted, rather slide in and just sit. If he's ready to play he will sound off if you're patient. Good time for a woods nap. I couldn't count the number of birds I've toted out by doing this, versus running all over the place trying to strike a bird,

Sounds like excellent advice to me! Patience is the most difficult aspect of hunting to perfect.
 
Setterman":9ius8u7k said:
My advice for what little it's worth...

If where you are hunting has birds but they're not super vocal, don't press too hard too early in the season. Give them time to free up as to avoid making them unkillable

Let's say you find a roosted bird gobbling, set up he flies down and goes quiet. For me I won't leave the area and just sit quietly as many times he will gobble again if you're patient. At that point if the terrain allows slide closer to try and get a response. If you can't get a response, leave him for another day.

I do roam but call from strategic positions, areas where I can elicit a gobble from a distance and also not unnaturally saturate an area with calls. Hens don't wander calling continuously

If the crows are quiet generally so are the turkeys. Don't use locators wait for natural locators to work for you. No matter how much you think you sound like a crow, trust me you don't haha

Learn the property where you hunt, on silent days ease into areas where you know they should be. Don't set up and call sporadically as that's a recipe to get busted, rather slide in and just sit. If he's ready to play he will sound off if you're patient. Good time for a woods nap. I couldn't count the number of birds I've toted out by doing this, versus running all over the place trying to strike a bird,
Anybody ever tell you that you talk too much? :tu: If these people listen to you, do you have any idea how many turkeys you just killed with that information? Seriously though, we should share a hunt sometime!
 
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