I aint hearing any birds at all... :shrug: Season seems way late this year.
I am concerned for this season as no gobbling = hard to hunt
What are you folks hearing/seeing ???
Nothing for 2 weeks now & I know our DNR likes it that way. :rolleye:
I seen a few on the ground but haven't heard any in about 2 weeks
That aint good fellas that means roosting spots will be critical....Direction of travel and cutting them off even more so.
Probably need to be set up a good half hour before daylight.... :rolleye: Its gonna be a tough one for sure... :rolleye:
We shoulda been hunting a month ago! :argh:
Today was opening day in Kaintuckee. I heard 3 birds about 300-400 yards down a long hollow. With all of the limbs and trees on the ground from the ice storm I couldn't get close like I wanted for fear of spooking the birds. I set up and tried calling. I got a double gobble out of one of the birds and thought he was interested but he didn't show. They all went silent about 30 minutes after daylight. I figure there were hens close by with them. :shrug:
I can't hunt tomorrow but will give it another go next week. :wink:
Good luck everyone!
Al,
I havn't been seeing them behind my house yet. There were several that were regulars down there last year. They would wake me up in the morning gobbling so loud. Haven't even heard any so far. I did see five or six crossing the road about 500 yards out the road from the house one morning. Are you sure it's not too early for them?? I can't remember what time of year it was when they were so active here behind the house last year. Seems like it was in turkey season though. I hope to try to get after them a little more this year! I'm just a beginner though. Hoping some of my buddies can help me out a little!
Jim
I found a nest weeks ago and if you remember there were several posts back then from MSmith and others of strutters....
It would be more likely too late than too early. :rolleye:
We got Turkeys all over hell. Ya gotta drive down the road holding the horn on.
Ya can't stand outside and have a conversation cause the gobbling drowns everything out.
They're just like rats running around feedmill.
Trade ya some for some more warmer air. :biggrin:
DEAL! I expect them by tomorrow.... :innocentwhistle:
QuoteYa can't stand outside and have a conversation cause the gobbling drowns everything out.
Same everywhere I have been. Here AL, TN ,KY and Illinois. I hunted Illinois last weekend for turkeys and they are everywhere. In 2 weeks it will be better hunting there most of the hens will be breed and the Toms will come running.
Also had a miss understanding on the Illinois coyote season and ran down to KY for two coyote sets.
Here is a small clip from Sat and Sun Morning last weekend.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/Plumbrich/th_turkeycoyotesIllKY.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v202/Plumbrich/?action=view¤t=turkeycoyotesIllKY.flv)
A turkey was spotted right behind my house today so they are starting to get a little more active now :yoyo: :biggrin:
Cool clip Richard but I think yer holding out on us........ :innocentwhistle:
We found some that were gobbling in Ohio but not for long......We will see....supposed to rain for several days then we shall give em a shot. :biggrin:
Great clip, Rich! That coyote was close enough to slap! :eyebrownod:
Yeah, he's holding out on us. One minute the turkey's rubber necking trying to see whats up, the next thing I know, he's slung over someone shoulder. :laf:
The coyote appeared to come trotting in while Rich was introducing us to the crew via the video camera, now that's some good stand location.
So did the coyote step on a thorn or why was he hopping around like that? I never heard any shots. :wink:
Richard probably told it to dance........... :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
Quote from: FinsnFur on April 19, 2009, 09:44:53 PM
So did the coyote step on a thorn or why was he hopping around like that? I never heard any shots. :wink:
nah jim they just used one of these so the sound wouldnt scare him
Cool deal!! Hope I get some pics today too!! :yoyo:
Good luck Glen......I stayed home....Afraid of melting..... :laf:
Heard 4 birds this morning. Two of them were huntable close but there was no way to get setup on 'em. Saw 4 or 5 hens come out of the trees and sail to the gobbling, then silence. :sad2:
Trying to sneak through my ice damaged woods is almost impossible. Everything I step on crunches. But I'll keep trying...... :wink:
Semp,
You just need a few good rains like we have had here. When you step there is no crunch - just a sucking sound when you pull your boot out of the mud.
Jerry
Semp it don't matter how much noise you make as you still have a way better chance at them than me. I'm really starting to want to hunt a turkey after reading about the fun you all have at it. On a good note the little guys in the brooder house sure come to the turkey calls Don and I play with. :yoyo:
I was out at my friends farm the other day for a groundhog hunt. He said there were four longbeards out in the front field in the morning. As I was standing there BS'ing with him I noticed a single hen working her way across the top of the big field. He said there was a dozen hens with the gobblers in the morning. Long story short, I commenced to hunting the the big field for some chucks. I could hear the hen up in the woods 200 yards away yelping. The gobblers were cutting loose up in the woods in front of me, and to the side of me! Later when I shot the first of three chucks, they cut loose at the crack of the rifle shot! LOL! I believe I know where I am going to be hunting for our opener this Saturday!
Jerry....we have had lots of rain and normally that would quiet things down in the woods but due to the ice storm there are lots and lots of small twigs, branches, limbs, trees uprooted, etc. that makes anywhere you step go crunch. :nono:
Barry.......if ya ever try spring turkey hunting once I think you'll be hooked on it. There's nothing else like it. :eyebrownod:
If it keeps up the way it is around here I'll be taking Frogmans scuba course soon. :rolleye: Didn't hear any gobbles. I finally found a place to hunt on my 3rd try this AM too. Lots of sign there but no birds that I seen. I did hear a few shots tho.
The upside is my new rain suit works. :wink:
Keep after em Glen.......no rain till late morning here so off I go at 5 AM........ :yoyo: :yoyo:
Some one posted this on the WV Sportsman forum ......Thought I would share it with you.....
April 11, 2009
Gobbler season: Late or great?
West Virginia's spring gobbler season begins April 27. That's a sore spot with many hunters, who believe Division of Natural Resources officials bring the season in too late. Outdoors writer John McCoy sat down with Curtis Taylor, the DNR's wildlife chief, to go over that and other common criticisms of the DNR's turkey management strategy.
By John McCoy
Staff writer
State wildlife chief Curtis Taylor doesn't believe the state's spring gobbler season begins too late. He says DNR officials time the season opener for late April to take advantage of turkeys' gobbling habits and provide hunters their best chance of bagging a bird.Advertisement - Your ad here
West Virginia's spring gobbler season begins April 27. That's a sore spot with many hunters, who believe Division of Natural Resources officials bring the season in too late. Outdoors writer John McCoy sat down with Curtis Taylor, the DNR's wildlife chief, to go over that and other common criticisms of the DNR's turkey management strategy.
Gazette-Mail: The most common complaint is that West Virginia's spring gobbler season comes in too late. Does it?
Taylor: It absolutely does not come in too late. Our season is set based on the biology of the turkey. It is designed to protect the turkey population and, at the same time, give hunters their best chance at harvesting a gobbler.
Gazette-Mail: How does bringing the season in when you do give hunters the best chance of killing a gobbler?
Taylor: The season is set to coincide with the second peak of gobbling, which coincides with the onset of egg incubation. So the hens are sitting on the nest. Once they start sitting, they stay on that nest for 28 days. During that time, they're not out there cavorting with the gobblers. The gobblers are without [female companionship]. They've been with for three to four weeks, and suddenly they are without a girlfriend. It's much easier to call a gobbler in when you're not competing with hens.
Gazette-Mail: What about the folks who say, "I've heard birds gobbling since the first of March?"
Taylor: I've heard birds gobble in November. Does that mean we should open the season in November? No. Male turkeys gobble every month of the year. The first peak of gobbling comes in early April when gobblers are trying to assemble their harems. At that time, the hens treat them like a bunch of teenage boys. They won't have anything to do with them during the last part of March and the first part of April.
Gazette-Mail: What triggers the actual breeding, then?
Taylor: It's a daylight-dependent thing, just like antler growth in deer. The increase in day length tells the hens and gobblers when it's time to do their breeding.
Gazette-Mail: Why don't we open the season at the first peak of gobbling?
Taylor: Because you'd have very good hunting - for about two years. Then it would be over.
Gazette-Mail: And why would you only have good hunting for two years?
Taylor: Because you'd kill them all.
Gazette-Mail: You'd kill all the gobblers?
Taylor: Yep.
Gazette-Mail: They'd be that easy to kill?
Taylor: They'd be that easy. Yes. Keep in mind that we have a lot more turkey hunters here in West Virginia than most other states do. A lot of our hunting is on public land. We don't have a lot of big hunt clubs. If you go to Alabama or Georgia or one of those states and if you don't hunt on leased land, you don't hunt. There might be three guys hunting on a lease of 5,000 acres. Does their hunting have an impact on the population? No. In West Virginia, we have a lot more hunting pressure. That much pressure has the ability to affect the population.
Gazette-Mail: It sounds as if you're saying that if you turn that many hunters loose that early in the season, the hunting pressure would be enough to severely depress the turkey population.
Taylor: Absolutely. In addition, you need to consider that we already get a lot of hens killed - illegally - in the weeks before the season begins.
Gazette-Mail: How prevalent is that?
Taylor: It's huge. I hate to say that, but it's huge. Our studies have shown that.
Gazette-Mail: Why aren't we doing anything about it?
Taylor: You can't have a conservation officer behind every tree. It's something that hunters need to police themselves for.
Gazette-Mail: Does our season coming in late help generate some of the hen shooting that goes on?
Taylor: No, because hens are on the nest during the season. That's why we believe our season is set perfectly. The hens that have laid eggs are sitting on them. The hens that are getting killed illegally are getting killed by people hunting before the season begins.
Gazette-Mail: What about the argument that it's too green at this time of year, too hard to see turkeys?
Taylor: I guarantee it's green in Florida right now, and people are having success hunting Osceola turkeys.
Gazette-Mail: What about the argument that it's too warm in late April?
Taylor: Anyone who says it's too warm to go turkey hunting shouldn't go dove hunting in early September, either. That's like someone saying it's too cold in December for deer hunting.
Gazette-Mail: What about the argument that by the time West Virginia's season comes in, the gobblers are all "gobbled out?"
Taylor: My answer to that begins with a B and ends with an S. They're not gobbled out. I had a guy tell me, "A gobbler is born with only 100 gobbles in it. Once he does those he doesn't have any more." Well, that's simply not true. When we were doing our radio telemetry study on wild turkeys, on July 4 I was out radio-tracking a hen. I saw her. She was out in a field. A gobbler came out into the field, went into full strut, gobbled, and bred her right there. So if they're gobbled out by late April, nobody told him.
Gazette-Mail: Don't other states start their seasons earlier than West Virginia?
Taylor: Yes, but that doesn't mean they're right. If you'd call the turkey biologist in any state you want to name, and if he could talk off the record, he'd tell you that the best way to open a season is the way we do it. Politics plays a big role in the way turkey seasons are set up in a lot of the southeastern states. Thankfully, we've been able to set our season based on biology rather than politics.
Reach John McCoy at 304-348-1231 or johnmc...@wvgazette.com.
Interesting article. ;yes;
As much as I hate to say it, he does have a point. I have noticed over the years that Hot, late season gobblers are few, but when you find one, he comes in quicker and easier. When our season came in earlier, years ago, finding gobblers was fairly easy, but competition with the hens was tough at times. It did make for more exciting hunting imo though. Oh well, it is what it is I reckon, and we'll deal with it or take up a different hobby.
I seen that post on the other forum and it has kinda changed my thinkin a little.
Well I went out today Hunting in Ohio.......Had one gobbler working for about 10 Min. and coming a little closer each time he gobbled then he just went farther and farther away gobbling very little.... I think we were cut off by a hen.
Good time out though........Too wet for pics.
We found some more birds to hunt but can not get to them due to high water........We will try and find them on Thurs. :eyebrownod:
I'm going out again in the morning. This time I think I will take my chainsaw to the woods so I can cut a path to the gobbler. :eyebrownod: