Quiet Birds

[scudmaster]

Couple of questions that have stumped me for the few years.  There is an area that was a honey hole n the past with 5 Toms all roosting in a single valley.  An absolute blast to play with.  However a few years ago, they just shut up.  Habitat stayed the same, mild winters, the only difference was seeing more predator sign.  Have any of you hunted an area where normally talkative birds are suddenly quiet?  Or have the just left the area? I can't make up my mind.

[270Shooter]

Sounds like they left. Sometimes late in the season they will really quiet down or if there is a ton of pressure. But they will usually still gobble in the roost atleast a little bit in my limited experience. After fly down they may not gobble much depending on howany hens they are with or the time of year.

[Bango skank]

I doubt increased predators will shut them up.  Predators are everywhere.  I have constant coyote and cougar and bear presence at my place but the turks still gobble their heads off right outside my bedroom window every morning in the spring. 

[RadSav]

I think it may sometimes be due to nesting hens.  In my southern spot I rarely see hens nesting until May.  But every so often we have an odd year and the hens are nesting really early in April.  The toms definitely react differently during those odd years.

It also seems to me that mature tom numbers effect how vocal they are in some areas I hunt as well.  So it could be as simple as lower mature tom numbers one year over another.

Perhaps a combination of both. 


I don't claim to be a turkey expert...so. 

[zwickeyman]

RadSav,

I think this will be one of those years. Going off real early this year.

[Deer slayer]

I wonder if it has something to do with the easy last few winters. Maybe with the lack of snow they weren't moved down. Idk. Several private areas I hunt that use to be loaded with birds were empty last year and nearly empty the year before. I hope it's just a couple weird winters that threw off their normal migration.

[scudmaster]

All good theories.  I am scouting next weekend and will see if there has been any recovery to the population. 

[PA BEN]

Just because you don't hear them doesn't mean that they are not there. I've noticed over the years that the toms get quieter when the hen numbers increase. It's not natural for a tom to go to a hen, the toms have strutting areas and that is where the toms head once out of the roost and that's where the hens go to meet up with the toms to get bread. I've had toms jump out of the roost and not make a sound, strut past my decoys just out of gun range and head for his strutting area. I've found these strutting areas and set up and killed some nice toms over the years. BTW, Jakes do a lot of gobbling when the big boys don't.