I am off to Castle Rock to find a turkey

[NWTFhunter]

Hoofsandwings, did you get your bird ?  If your having trouble locating, I might be able to share a spot with you.

[HoofsandWings]

Easterns don't gobble. At least I have never heard one. Just hen talk.

I've heard Easterns gobble many, many times; bothy on the roost and through out the day.

I did not say they don't gobble. It is just that I have never heard one. I may have heard one some years ago over by Olympia while scouting in early April. Now that it is May, I don't expect to hear a gobble.

[mtnseth]

I'm with ya.  They don't gobble much.  I've heard three easterns gobble in the few years I've been hunting them.  One bird was out on the private fields at Johnson Creek, so that doesn't count.  As for the other two: One I killed on opening day last year.  He gobbled like a love-sick Merriam's and came in on a string.  He was the exception, rather than the rule.

The other was this year, and he didn't gobble until he got to within 10 steps over my right shoulder.  I busted the hen he was with (because they showed up without a sound - I don't think I called them in, I was just set up where they happened to walk by), and she started to putt, which made him gobble. (I about dumped a load when he thundered right in my ear at that range!) I never actually saw him and I didn't get a shot at that bird.  Both of these were within 1.5 miles of a busy gate.

This year I've been scouting deep in the woods, miles and miles beyond the gates.  I see hens every time I go out, and they're alone ALL DAY, in singles, sometimes pairs.  I've been in three times well before daylight and haven't heard a peep.  I've perched up on a clearcut with 360 degree views of several drainages to listen and it's been quiet.  I've tried getting shock gobbles midday and nothing.  I saw lots of tom sign before the season and now I'm only finding hen sign.  What gives?  Where did they go?

I'm starting to develop a theory about these easterns.  The ones that have big open fields or farms nearby seem to be more vocal.  The deep-in birds who hang out in the thick timber and cruise the logging roads from time to time seem to be a lot more quiet.  I'm not sure why this is.  A skewed tom-hen ratio with less competition for hens?

I know there are guys that hunt deep and hear birds, but I believe different flocks act differently and you have to have perfect conditions to have them gobble, and even more perfect conditions (no wind, less dense timber) to hear them when they do.

[NWTFhunter]

That was a great way to sum it up Mtnseth.  I have heard a couple Wa easterns gobble, but not much more than a couple. One of the reasons that came to me while reading your post was maybe due to the dense cover and coyotes...

[turkeydancer]

My experience is that Easterns only gobble as much as they have to gobble ... once they flydown to join their hens, they don't need to gobble and will just spit & drum.  Listening for that you almost have to be on top of them.  There is also a lot of land and fewer birds so the ratio of turkeys per square mile is low compared to the other subspecies.

I always have heard gobbles during the season, but they are a lot quieter than our other subspecies as to frequency and volume. The brush also tends to "eat" sound, so I use a game ear to help me pick it up when they do gobble.  

 Bottom line: If it was as easy as Merriams and Rios, we would have wall to wall hunters out here and the prize would not be as sweet.
 

[mtnseth]

I agree TD. They don't gobble unless they absolutely have to. Again, the bird I killed last year was the exception.  He gobbled hard on the roost and gobbled his head off all they way in to his death, spitting and drumming along the way. 

The bird I nearly killed this season was roosted probably 150-300 yards away and never made a sound on the roost.  He gobbled on opening day at 10:30 a.m. (three times, then shut up according to my partner who hunted there) That Friday he gobbled once at 8:30 a.m. about 100 yards away (never showed).  On Saturday, he never made a peep until he showed up at 8:30 a.m. behind me and gobbled when his hen putted at me. 

I went back the following Thursday and he never showed and never made a sound, and I stuck it out from 4:30 to 11 a.m.  I was ready for him that time, but to no avail.

But that was all in a popular area not from the gate, and the bird roosted on private land near some buildings.  The fact is, I don't care if they gobble or not.  If I could find evidence that one is currently in the area I'm hunting (the spot 6 miles in the woods), I've learned enough about them to sit still and stay quiet.  What I don't understand is how there could be all these hens around and I've not once spotted a tom or jake.  The four times I've been in there hunting, I've called in at least two hens every time!   

It's as if a big flock or multiple flocks used the area extensively up until the season started, then split up and the toms have found a hidey hole and the hens sneak away and visit him (maybe as much as a mile away) and spend the rest of the day feeding by themselves.  The problem is I've searched every nook and cranny of the area and I can't find the hidey hole. 

[Wacenturion]

Mtseth..........those uneventful trips the last couple of years and the one eventful one have taught you well.

[turkeydancer]

 

Hear that ..... I'm going Friday afternoon thru Sunday pm to let them kick me to the curb a few times ... missed going last year.

[HoofsandWings]

When hunting late season on warm days, weird things happen. I was on this narrow road when ahead of me a car (a commuter subcompact) backs up at high speed to let me by. Thing was that in that stretch of the road, there was plenty of room.
I meet a couple of older ladies blocking the road. I wait and wait and they don't move. I move forward and finally they move only a couple of yards backward. This is up in the timber. Unknown why they are even there. At about 3 miles from the main road, I find a burn barrel tossed probably this morning or the day before. Why way up there I do not know. I find holes where someone had dug into the bank. Shovel marks still clear. Oh and while walking downstream on a small creek, I come across several cases of beer cooling in a pool along with a bottle of Jack Daniels. I am sure you late season hunters run into this kind of thing all of the time.