What is going on in the SE corner.

[johnr060]

Been hunting 3 days now outside of walla walla and Dayton. It has been the worst hunting I can remember in ten years. Have only heard one gobble. And seen a couple hens. Put lots of miles on the boots.What are your guys thoughts? Up high, down low? Can't figure it out. They aren't even hanging out on our 40 acre property where they eat our bird feed normally. Has anyone else notice a decline in numbers

[Jester052]

 

[Woodchuck]

Been the slowest I have seen in a long time. I will say that we had virtually no winter and a warm spring. I would likely head higher, but that is just a hunch. I have not been up the hills much at all. 

[rtspring]

The areas I hunt I have had to gain elevation!  Very mild winter so the birds are not in the normal spots. Alot of people are having the same issues.. 

[Yelper Guy]

Head for the hills! They are up there in the NE, should be the same for the SE.

[jackelope]

Here's what I think is happening.
Usually our season is early relative to the breeding cycle. Everything is a few weeks early. The toms are all henned up breeding hens they'd normally be breeding 2 weeks from now. Because of that they're not talking.
Once they get through breeding all the hens that are ready, they'll get fired up again looking for those late cycle unbred birds.

I could be off here...I'm far from an expert.

[bearpaw]

We've seen lots of birds this season, more than the last few years due to the better hatches last year and the year before. On the opener in our experience most toms were henned up and very tough to call. Many hens are now setting on nests and there are groups and lone jakes and toms running around wishing they had hens. You are more likely to successfully call these birds since they have no hens. This year the whole mating cycle seems at least two weeks in advance of normal in the NE.

I don't know exactly how it is working out in the SE or other areas.

[Sumpnneedskillin]

Last week I saw a group daily on the way to work.  The group was mixed, hens, toms, jakes.  There was lots of gobbling and some chasing around.

Sightings this week have been mostly hens.  One or two and in places I haven't seen them before.  This morning I saw a tom with 3 hens.  He was strutting and fanning out until we came along.

[Tom Tamer]

Seems to be a typical cycle we had 4-5 years ago and before the last few cold wet springs. We hunted there for the Youth and were covered in turkeys, even with snow on the ground. My buddy that hunts there all the time have put two on the pole the first weekend. They're there just henned up. They'll gobble a little off the roost then shut down is typical when they have enough hens. later afternoons you may have better luck hearing them then 8-9 in the morning. Most toms we've ran into have had anywhere from 1 to 9 hens with them. When you got 9 in the hand why talk to the one in the bush. Pretty normal to me. The last few years have been the abnormal, dealing with hens all the way through May is not normal, I don't fore see that this year.

[huntnphool]

Would like to hear from Wacenturion on this.

[zike]

Saw a couple of bunches down on private ground along Asotin Creek. One tom had five hens. Up by Mud Springs nada, no droppings, tracks, nothing.

[WoolyRunner]

Saw a couple of bunches down on private ground along Asotin Creek. One tom had five hens. Up by Mud Springs nada, no droppings, tracks, nothing.

Tough hunting around Asotin area for us this year. Only saw 2 legal turkey. Both realllll small jakes. Hardly any gobbles.

[Limhangerslayer]

We harvested two birds in the blues. We had more birds going than the last two years prior.  Not henned up one bit.   Completely opposite today!  Groups of  turkeys. Good luck

[PA BEN]

Right now if you don't get him right out of the roost he will be henned up. I didn't even go out this morning, I watched 13 jakes and two hens fly 800yds to a field this morning. Jakes didn't show any interest in the hens not one strutter. Two weeks ago the jakes were strutting. Yesterday I set up between two  dominant toms, at fly down, they stayed put in their strutting area. I could rib a gobble out of them for the next 45 min.s but only  after waiting 10 min.s between calls. Then it went quite. At about 7 I got a gobble, called again gobbled closer I said game on, 3 big jakes came in looked over my hen decoy and walked by at 6 yds. In the afternoon about 1, I was driving home and saw a big tom strutting down by the river, this is one of the dominant toms that was below me in the morning. All by himself I felt he should be call-a-bull. I geared up and got within 600yds of him to see what he would when called to, he was just feeding and look around a little when I would call. Two hens walked across the field to him and went over the bank to the river, he walked over where they went in and laid down. His head neck looked like a big red snake over the alfalfa. Didn't give my calls the time of day. SO, it looks to me the toms are staying close to their strutting areas waiting for the hens to come back. I'm going to be out around 10 and see what happens. 

[Kuduman]

I get the whole henned up idea but I've never had a hard time getting a tom to light off after they have roosted.

 I have three spots that I routinely hunt and at times have a hard time choosing one over the other because I have roosted birds in more than one area on the same evening. One canyon in particular we routinely take 4-6 birds during the youth season alone. We haven't seen or heard a tom in that canyon yet and we start scouting a month before the youth opener.

I like to roost birds in the evening and set up on them in the morning just in case they do get henned up but to be honest I haven't roosted a bird all season and I am out every evening.... Strange but im just not seeing the birds like in years past.

I pass several farms and ranches that don't allow hunting and you typically see a few or even dozens of birds....... not this year.
I say the numbers are down for sure

[WaltAlpine]

I went to the s e corner last spring and didn't see much of anything.  And we covered a lot o territory that used to be full of birds