We all know the typical things that prevent toms from talking much. Henned up, weather, etc. I had a very interesting conversation with what I consider the best turkey hunter I know. One thing he said that struck me as odd, but makes sense I guess, is that if you have a great many jakes running around, older toms will gobble less. His reasoning is that a group of jakes will beat the crap out of a tom. So, the toms are quieter, for fear of attracting attention. I struggle with quiet toms every year where I hunt. I'd say over half of the birds I have killed over the years never gobble, but sneak in silently. I hear good gobbling on the roost, but it quiets down immediately after flydown. Now, I've always assumed it was the hens causing this, but maybe its not just the hens influencing them. One other interesting tactic he recommended to me was staying quiet on roost setups. If you have toms gobbling on the roost, and you hear hens in the vicinity, stay quiet, don't call at all. His theory is that the hens will get those gobblers out of the area and away from other hens. I've always been of the mindset that you want to provoke the hens into coming to you in hopes of towing the tom with them. Its worked for me in the past, but not nearly as much as watching them take the tom in the opposite direction. Just food for thought.
So wait until they hit the ground and then call? If the theory holds true (and I'm not arguing, because I hold to it largely myself...) what keeps them from going the other direction at THAT point? I've had decent luck calling somewhat mildly, but not getting too aggressive... it seems every time I get overly aggressive, she takes them the other direction without fail.
I firmly believe that PA turkeys are generally the highest pressured birds in the country. I've hunted them in 6 states so far, and never seen such tight lipped and cautious birds as I have in PA. NY is a close second as well. I've also hunted them in PA in 4 different counties all in different parts of the state, so my experience wasn't with a specific place or flock of them. I believe they simply know they are being hunted in PA. Add in the fact that a lot of the PA hunters I've encountered were terrible turkey hunters and educated a LOT of birds, and that only makes things more difficult. Perfect example........cruise any piece of public property on a Friday evening during turkey season and look at the number of people calling and owl hooting to unhuntable birds to "roost" them the night before they plan to hunt. That's only educating birds. I used to go out with binocs and just my ears during evenings in PA.........and not only would I figure out what the birds were doing without calling or giving up my location........but I'd also know what the other hunters were doing and what their game plan was simply by listening to them as well. If I could pattern hunters by doing this I'm sure mature birds were doing the same. Just my thoughts.........other than pressure, I've seen a lot of things cause birds to not gobble. Everything from uphill/downhill position, weather, hen/tom ratio, education level, age class, etc.
Thanks for sharing. I'm all ears when it comes to new turkey hunting theories/strategies. Hunting private and public in PA has been pretty challenging to say the least.
Completely agree, I deal with these tight lipped NY toms every year less turkey talk = better results unless he's alone then I get aggressive
