First trip to Washington for spring gobblers

[Cab]

Growing up in Missouri I did a lot of turkey hunting.  One of the things that stood out for me when I first started chasing turkeys here is they "sounded" further away then what they actually were.  I busted several birds in the first few days of hunting gobblers here.  Resist the urge to rush in on a far off sounding bird.  At least for the first few times you get a response.  I don't know if it was the cooler mountain air, or the bigger terrain features, but I had much better luck with a little bit of patience.  Good luck!  Nothing like chasing Merriams in the mountains!

This is so true I learned the same thing when I moved here. It can make it hard to tell where they are but my god the views are fantastic 

I told him the opposite in a PM... but then again I haven't hunted open country like Missouri. When I went and hunted Florida for Easterns and Osceolas I would hear a bird and think it was way the heck off in the distance. Dude I was hunting with was always like, "that bird is close, 100-150yds out". 10 min later it was usually in our laps.

You are from Maine so you have the best relationship Cab for how things sound here to there. I would tell you a bird in WA is twice as far as it would be if you were in FL based off of sound. Then again that's the Swamp. 

I've had it both ways, in open country like central they sound closer since there is less brush in the way, in mountains type I've had some sound further if they were over the top of a hill. I had one this year that sounded far away and as soon as I crested the hill it was much closer then I thought. I set up the next day and it sounded like a single Tom about 1/4 mile away, I hiked in closer(200 yards) and did a quick slate call........the woods exploded in front of me with 8-10 toms gobbling! I was 30 yards away, I took my time and 1 walked right past me at 10> yards. I took him back to camp and took a photo with him because back home you don't get views like this, my dad loved it.

[Machias]

I told him the opposite in a PM... but then again I haven't hunted open country like Missouri.

Missouri, at least 3/4 of it and down in the Ozarks where I hunted is far from open, it's thick hardwood forest, small mountains/hills.  I think they are just a much louder bird, the Easterns, then the Merriams are, especially up in the thinner mountain air.  Just one guys opinion.  This was also the case comparing them with the Easterns in Virginia.