B
bulleyfever
Guest
I have an Arizona turkey tag and the birds are not talking for some reason there and before the season I heard one gobble but havent heard one since.I need all the help i can get.
B
bullwidgeon
Guest
The birds in unit 1 and across the line in New Mexico stopped seriously gobbling between 10-15 days ago depending on the exact area. Pretty much now they will only gobble on the roost, and they may not even do that. Most the hens have been bred and are starting nest sites. Right now your best bet would be to sit water or stake out a feeding area and wait that out. It was a crappy year to have a turkey tag unless you hunted the first week in NM or the first 2 days in AZ on the early hunt.
Bret M.
Bret M.
A buddy took me turkey hunting for the first time this year. It was definitely a learning experience for me! What a great time!
Where we hunted, the gobblers would make some noise from the roost, but after that they were VERY quite. The tactic we used was a 'less is more' mentality. My buddy said that since the birds were not making much noise, that we shouldn't either! We would get set-up in a likely spot (based on sign, or just knowledge that we knew the birds were somewhere within a 1/2 mile or so...), then he would call just ONCE! Maybe he would do a little follow-up 'cluck' after about 10 minutes. We would sit for 20-30 minutes at a time, with him only calling once or twice. We got some action several times doing this. The birds would come in quiet, and surprised us on a couple of occasions.
There were other hunters in the area here & there, and they stood out like sore thumbs with all of the calling they were doing! It was quite obvious that they were generally scaring the birds, as opposed to getting them in.
Anyway, as with all hunting, there is no single 'right' way, but this worked for us on that particular weekend.
Good luck!
S.
PS: We didn't get a gobbler, but had two different birds & lots of hens within range on different occasions over two days of hunting. This first time hunter couldn't close the deal!!! ;-)
Where we hunted, the gobblers would make some noise from the roost, but after that they were VERY quite. The tactic we used was a 'less is more' mentality. My buddy said that since the birds were not making much noise, that we shouldn't either! We would get set-up in a likely spot (based on sign, or just knowledge that we knew the birds were somewhere within a 1/2 mile or so...), then he would call just ONCE! Maybe he would do a little follow-up 'cluck' after about 10 minutes. We would sit for 20-30 minutes at a time, with him only calling once or twice. We got some action several times doing this. The birds would come in quiet, and surprised us on a couple of occasions.
There were other hunters in the area here & there, and they stood out like sore thumbs with all of the calling they were doing! It was quite obvious that they were generally scaring the birds, as opposed to getting them in.
Anyway, as with all hunting, there is no single 'right' way, but this worked for us on that particular weekend.
Good luck!
S.
PS: We didn't get a gobbler, but had two different birds & lots of hens within range on different occasions over two days of hunting. This first time hunter couldn't close the deal!!! ;-)
Well, my buddy went out for the last weekend and scored! This was in unit 23, down low. He said that he had 5 different gobblers working one large canyon by 5:15AM. He shot it at 5:40AM, after making just 3 calls in 30 minutes.... Wish I would have been there...
If I can get my hands on a pic I'll try to post it.
S.
If I can get my hands on a pic I'll try to post it.
S.
ELKMASTER101
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,392
heck the hens here already are packing chicks around with them.
R
RLH
Guest
the reason they aren't talking is because the strut is over. some years back our game and fish commission with their infinite wisdom allowed the us forest circus to talk them into moving the spring turkey season back a full month because they said the turkey hunters were causing damage to the wet and snowy roads. didn't matter that the strut is over and about the only way to get a turkey is to drive around until you see one. i quit even applying after they made it a "summer" hunt. when it was in late march and april it was great. i'd take my horse and ride around the snow banks and listen for gobbles. what a blast. too bad they ruined it. like was mentioned above, if a hen ain't herdin' chicks right now, she's dang sure on a nest.
