When do turkeys start to gobble

Even if no toms talk you should listen for heavy wings thumping up into the treetops. If you hear a turkey gobble or fly up, you know where to hunt the next morning. Slip into the area well before first light, set up to yards away from a turkey's roost and wait for tom to roar.

Then give him your best calling. That's right. You might come back the next morning and a turkey you roosted won't gobble. Or he might gobble his fool head off, fly down and run straight away from your calling. You just never know. Still, you should try to roost a few birds each spring. It sure never hurts to plan a morning hunt in an area where you put a gobbler to bed the night before. Decoy Setups. We've developed a love-hate relationship with decoys over the years.

Granted, some lovesick toms run to fakes. But we've watched far too many birds stop 50 yards out, explode into strut and wait for the "hen" to walk the rest of the way to them. Here's a good way to cut down on some of those hang-ups. Stake a fake hen 20 yards past a calling setup. This puts you smack between the decoy and the gobbling turkey you're yelping to.

If the bird works in and stops 50 yards from the imposter, great! He's 30 yards or so off the end of your shotgun barrel. Set the trio on their stakes; they'll spin enticingly in the breeze to catch the eye of a gobbler. Setting a jake or strutting Tom with a hen or two is important, as a mature gobbler will sometimes see him and come in to kick his butt the old guy thinks the jake is courting a hen.

Decoys work best in fields, logging roads and other open areas where gobblers can spot them a long way off. If the turkeys wont come to your calling, try letting the decoys do the talking for you. Just setup two or more decoys in an open area and wait. Turkey Hunting Conditions Back Up.

As a rule turkeys gobble best on clear, calm, high-pressure mornings in the spring. Stand on a ridge or bluff at dawn and you're apt to hear birds gobbling a mile or more away in all directions. Not only can you hear well on a nice day, your calls also ring true and carry far. Any mouth or friction call works well. Since yelps and cutts carry nicely, you don't have to hammer away on calls. Soft to moderately loud calling is most realistic.

In the fall flocks are vocal on calm days. Pause on a hardwood ridge and you might hear birds clucking, yelping and purring to yards away. Listen for birds flying down from a roost, or scratching in the leaves for feed.

About the only down side to a calm day is that turkeys might hear you coming and spook, especially when the fallen leaves are dry and deep in October or November. In this case try to walk along field edges, logging roads and the like. Pause often to call and listen for turkeys calling back or scratching. Windy Days Back Up. Wind is the bane of turkey hunters. For one thing birds don't gobble very much after they're been whipped around in trees all night.

Same thing in the fall; birds don't feel like roost clucking or yelping much after windy nights. Even if birds gobble or yelp a few times you probably can't hear those calls because of a stout breeze. Rainy Days Back Up. Turkey hunting is poor in heavy rain. The birds are neither vocal nor active, so there's really no reason to get out there and get drenched.

But say one morning a low front passes through. The sky brightens and the sun pops out after a night of downpours or storms. Hit the woods! In the spring many toms start gobbling for hens.

And in the fall flocks begin to move around and feed. If it's misty, foggy or raining lightly put on a rain jacket and go hunting. Some toms gobble great on gray days. On rainy mornings in the spring turkeys tend to stay in their roost trees longer than normal. I've called to gobblers that didn't fly down until or even a. Same thing in the fall, flocks linger in trees well after first light. Keep this in mind as you walk around and call. Fields, food plots, power line rights-of-way and similar open areas are great places to check for single turkeys or flocks on rainy days.

Many turkeys don't like to hang around in dripping woods, largely because their hearing is impaired. They move out into openings where they can hear better. Also the birds try to avoid water-soaked brush and saplings. Forget about using wooden box calls or natural slates with wooden pegs-they won't ring true on rainy or misty days.

Use a diaphragm or an aluminum or glass pot with a carbon striker. Of course diaphragm or tube calls work okay. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

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At what age do a tom start to gobble????? Thread starter black star Start date Sep 12, Sort by date Sort by reaction score. Dec 11, 22 0 I have 5 standard bronze toms , they are about 5 months and just wondering. Jul 17, 25, 2, North Central Kansas. I did a little research on old BYC threads. Seems to be quite a range of when they start. This isn't a very definitive thread but here is one person's response. Premium Feather Member. Jul 16, 46, 83, 1, Wisconsin.

My young ones don't gobble unless I sit and make noises to excite them, they are a bit over 3 months. Another month or so and they will be gobbling a lot. Hardemans In the Brooder 5 Years. May 8, 98 9 I have some 8 week old Narragansett poults. They are already doing a "pre puberty" gobble.

Kinda funny to hear. SunHwaKwon Crowing. Jul 19, 5, 2, North Central Florida. My neighbors Tom gobbled for the first time the other day when I was at his house. Mine is 4 months with no gobble. I tried playing YouTube for him and he freaked out running all over and pecking the other turkey female.

I'm questioning his gender.