Dead Silence

BlueNole

Member
Where in the heck have all the Gobblers gone? Having a hard time in multiple large private locations seeing anything. Tried hard calling, soft calling and no calling at all for hours on end... What am I doing wrong
 

Danuwoa

Redneck Emperor
Where in the heck have all the Gobblers gone? Having a hard time in multiple large private locations seeing anything. Tried hard calling, soft calling and no calling at all for hours on end... What am I doing wrong
There’s a good chance you aren’t doing anything wrong. It gets like this on our place around this time every season. Things just sort of wind down.
 

Dupree

Senior Member
Are you sure there are still gobblers living there?
 

Thunder Head

Gone but not forgotten
Covered hundreds of acres by boat this weekend. Not a single gobble.
 

XIronheadX

PF Trump Cam Operator !20/20
After a slow season start, the birds hammered 2 out of 3 days this past weekend. You have to find the gathering place. They moved about a mile and a half and set up shop. Habitat changes, change habits.
 

DSGB

Senior Member
You are not alone. I've hunted my lease several weekends since opening day and have yet to hear a gobble. I've seen tracks and even spooked a hen and gobbler in the middle of the road while walking back to the truck.
The last two weekends I've walked several miles on different public land tracts with the same outcome. Plenty of tracks, but have not heard a gobble. Like you, I've tried just listening, light calling, walking and calling, etc.
 

FLGobstopper

Senior Member
I heard 2 this morning on a very hard hunted public spot towards the south. I was prepared to hear nothing and just sit in the area and call off and on. But, they actually gobbled about 20-25 times between the 2 and I got in pretty tight to them on the roost. They were probably about 100yds apart with 1 one of them doing the majority of the talking. I was pleasantly surprised to hear them even though it didn't change my outcome.

Been on these birds for the past 3 weeks and and they've gobbled every time. One of them did the tree hopping trick on me last week, going from tree to tree while the loud mouth one who had gobbled a bunch early and then gone quiet stayed put. Thought he was puddle hopping and had flown to a dry area behind me where he hung out mid morning the day before. So, after thinking I had surely heard him fly down and then eventually fly across the water and then not hearing any more gobbling or seeing anything after sitting for 1.5 hrs, I got up to slowly reposition to the higher dry ground when I blew him out of the tree at 125yds. :sick: Then while slowly working my way back towards where I knew I had heard one fly earlier his buddy who never made a peep other than flapping his wings blew out of a tree 80yds behind where I was sitting. :eek::mad::sick::cry: Of the 5x's I've hunted them, something always seems to go wrong with these birds between hen interference, other hunters, and my own "shouldn't have done that". I'm starting to get the suspicion a bunch of people know they're there, have called to and hunted them very hard and have now started driving past them. Have had at least 2 trucks minimum drive pass me every time I've been in there.

First time hunting them I had roosted them and they must have gobbled over 100 x's between the 2 of them so I know they've been heard. So even though it's nice to know they're there, they've kinda gotten under my skin and maybe too much of a good thing. Killed my 2nd GA bird (silent one) in another spot last week about 1.5 mile away so I'm not done and I'm not complaining. The gobbling is great, but I'm starting to have bad thoughts about this pair and beginning to really doubt my own sanity because I'm driving 2 hrs each way when I go after them.

Of course in a couple weeks when I won't have the option to make that drive, I'll be wishing I could go back in time just to hear another gobble, listen to the owls and whippoorwills and longing for another butt whooping. 1 more hunt, just give me more hunt!
 

bfriendly

Bigfoot friendly
I too am struggling to find birds. Past several years finding them was no problem, it was the killing part that troubled me. I just got back from Pinelog and again heard nothing, saw nothing. I did finally see a little bit of hog sign and that was refreshing
 

sportsman94

Senior Member
I too am struggling to find birds. Past several years finding them was no problem, it was the killing part that troubled me. I just got back from Pinelog and again heard nothing, saw nothing. I did finally see a little bit of hog sign and that was refreshing

Same for me on middle Georgia wmas. Places that held birds last year just don’t have them gobbling. Went from the second weekend in April until now without hearing a wma bird. Listening/hunting a couple days a week except for last week and this week
 

BASS1FUN

Senior Member
I haven’t gone yesterday and today because of no gobbling don’t know what to do tired of hunting them like a deer, I see fresh tracks after a rain but that’s it
 

wooly

Senior Member
There’s a good chance you aren’t doing anything wrong. It gets like this on our place around this time every season. Things just sort of wind down.

DITTO on what Emperor said.
 

Hoosier06

DIPSTICK yankee
4 miles hiking between last night and this morning. One old track and possible small amount of scratching. I think the patterns have shifted. I thought I smelled turkeys at one point and found a tiny fluffy feather. I bet a hen hiding with polts. Zero gobbling and tons of bear crap.
 

frankwright

Senior Member
My friend lives on the land I hunt and he usually has his coffee outside and listens for gobbles.
Silent for the last seven days!
 

Thunder Head

Gone but not forgotten
Slipped in this morning sitting there and the crows start up. Nothing. Sit there a few minutes and i hear what i think was a gobble. Hear it again. Very faint. Work down the creek 300 yards or so and listen. I did hear one. I work on down the creek. When i get around the hill i hear them good. I slip in to about 60 yards. They gobbled from the roost until almost 7:30. Mostly the jake. I was sure i was close enough to hear them fly down. At 8:30 i think i hear one putt out in the pasture. I reposition up the hill and soft call. Nothing. Stayed until after 10 didnt hear another peep.
 

Resica

Senior Member
It's a conundrum. Even when folks weren't complaining of lack of birds, I could be be 20 miles from some guy that had gobbling all day and I heard nothing. Much less birds, less gobbling because of pressure or predators, disease? Were the populations way to high in the hey day and they collapsed? Cold, wet springs, I think that would be less a factor in Georgia, but who knows. West Nile killing them?
In a perfect world it would be great to shut hunting down for 2 years and see what happens, that won't happen, nor would I want it, but I'm selfish.
 
Top