If the birds are quiet?

[Gobble Doc]

... then would most of you decide to try to cover a lot of ground in hopes of finding a vocal gobbler or just stay put and be extra patient since the birds might be quiet this late in the season?

Last year on Memorial Day I only heard one gobble for 4 days.  It was maddening.  I started to become convinced that all the birds just disappeared somewhere.  In retrospect I think it might have been more productive to try to cover a lot more area in search of a vocal bird rather than sit in one place and wonder if a quiet bird might be close. 

What say you?

[BOWHUNTER45]

Well all I can say is that the birds are still around and only gobbling off the roost ...like I tell everyone if you can blow a peacock call correctly late in the evening you will see how many birds are still around ... I had a few gobble at me only once this trip and decided to sit it out for an hour or so to see if the were coming in silent ... and both birds we killed this last week came in silent ...but I set up on a few others before we scored on a couple ...Persistance is the key ...We covered alot of ground trying to find that one hot bird and we did but I decided to use my diaphram to locate and we pulled up on this spot and I huge out the window and did a quick cut and 3 go off about 50 yrds above the road .. Well they came running and looked right at us sitting in the truck  So anyway I think the best way is to get as close as possible to them before calling and keep it soft unless one really goes ballastic then I will turn up the heat ...So Sunday morning me and a friend went back to where we had the 3 go off and at 4am sharp I owl hoot and one goes off across the road from where they were the afternoon before ...I am thinking gotcha ... I set up about 100 below him and I could hear hens so I knew it would be a hit or a miss ...I yelp soft and do some whit whits and he flys down and hits the ground about 70 yrds out and goes nuts ... he just stood there gobbling like crazy and would not move an inch , just staring at the damn decoy ....then walks off ...I never use a decoy late in the season and it bit me in the ass  We had a ball anyways ....plus seen 3 bear ....

[Gobble Doc]

Bowhunter-

Thanks for your ideas, thoughts.  I really enjoy reading your posts.  I think the random nature sometimes of the turkeys is what keeps it fun.  I can't wait to get out one more time.  I was thinking about using a decoy but now I'm rethinking this.  I will probably end up splitting our time between trying some private property and trying some places on the public.  I'll let you know how we do. 

[BOWHUNTER45]

Seriously ....when it comes to the end of the season I always do better without them .....maybe just me but thats how I usually run ... But if your in a field you might want to try a decoy ...because he might come out and if he sees nothing then we might leave ....also the fields are growing fast and all the fields with clover in them is where the birds were....just pecking around ....good luck 

[petej]

I just got back from four days around kettle falls and colville, I hiked my ass off and called a lot with crow, owl, and hen calls and never heard one gobble. Tried 4 different areas. I found a lot of sign in one area and set up before light, called every 20 minutes or so for a couple hours and nobody ever showed up. I did see one turkey as I was driving a road but he took off into the woods and wouldnt respond to any calls. I covered a ton of ground and also tried sitting and calling quite a bit. It was a good time but not what I had hoped. Good luck

[MerriamMagician]

I would definitely cover a lot of ground. I just got back from this weekends hunt also. Friday night, me and my buddies all went to different locations trying to roost birds. Between the three of us, we got just one bird to respond. With him as our only option we tried hunting him Saturday morning. He never made a peep off the roost despite us using owl calls, crow, hawk, and a imitation flydown. We tried a few other spots that morning too with no gobbles. So Saturday evening we went up to a new spot I just got permission for. Within a few minutes of the hike in a bird went off. Soon 2 others sounded off too. This was around 7:30. We quickly moved in closer and roosted em. They were gobbling like crazy just like it was the start of the season all over again. We got in close this morning and the woods were absolutely alive with turkey noises. A few soft tree yelps and another imitation flydown and we had a gobbler down before 5:00 am. We worked several other vocal gobblers for the next few hours and just missed bagging another. With all this in mind, I would make covering a lot of ground to find birds in late season a priority. Theres still hot birds out there and quite a few unbreed hens keeping the gobblers in breeding mode. You just got to find the areas where this is going on, other traditionally good hunting areas might have seen most breeding activity finished while other areas it is still goin on. Also, don't be afraid to try to get permission to new spots whenever possible. I obtained permission to 6 new properties just in the month of May. All of them are terrific turkey country and have me stoked for next year allready. And one last locating tip, I generally have slighlty better luck getting them to gobble off the roost with coyote calls then peacock. Instead of a single howl, try to imitate a entire pack with a series of calling. This often works two ways; the sequence of calls might set off a gobbler or it might set off a real pack of coyotes that will then get a gobbler to respond. I have also discovered that pheasant and super loud drawn out cow moo's are great morning locaters. If you can figure out a type of call to imitate those sounds they will also work great and are something the birds havnt heard from other hunters.

[Gobble Doc]

MerriamMagician,

I think the private property suggestion is a good one.  We asked around some this last weekend and talked to 2 different people that really helped us out.  It seems like hunting in the morning and then scouting and talking to people in the afternoon works out well for my and my son.  The more options the better.