Last three times I've been out I've heard zero gobbling and am seeing solo hen's just about everywhere. In folks opinion, are we basically done now and the hens are all on the nests? PS. I've watched 2 hens hit the field for 20 minutes and then go back to the woods. Assume they are feeding and then hot footing back to the nests. Falling into the FWIW, category, I had a bear try to eat my Thugs Turkey chair. Actually carried it off in the woods 30 yards and ripped it into pieces. Maybe my butt smells like Chocolate? Least I wasn't sitting in it at the time.

Ive been out of tags for two weeks anywhere so have not been out at daylight---but I have been fishing streams a lot that are in turkey country. Im hearing and sometimes seeing some very lonely gobblers mid morning through mid afternoon along those trout streams. Some gobbling many many times and covering a lot of ground doing it. They are clearly looking. Whether the hens are through I dont know but I do not see many single hens wandering in the fields alone or along the roads as I did three weeks ago. Cannot believe all the hens are bred and through.

It's been a really weird season for me this year!! My place that I hunt in Bedford County, I have yet to hear a gobble.. Matter of fact, I haven't seen one gobbler in person or on trail camera. My place typically holds at least 2 or 3 birds every year, and i haven't killed one on my property in 2 years, so where'd they go..... Who knows.... I have been to a couple other places in Bedford County and on one place, little to no gobbling, but I was fortunate to harvest one on the opener, have been back a clue more times to no avail, not a gobble any where close to us, once again in Bedford County. Another place that we have been, up until this past Saturday, we hadn't heard a gobble since opening day, and then this Saturday, we got "in the game" twice on on gobbler, to no avail! But it was nice to hear a gobble (a bunch at that) since I hadn't heard one since the opener!! I know Bedford is known for a bunch of turkeys, but this year, it appears that (at least in my areas that I hunt) it's either a bunch of silent turkeys, or quite a bit fewer turkeys period! Im hoping they're just getting going in this area, otherwise, we missed it entirely or it just won't happen at all...

Or.... It could be... Just turkeys being turkeys!! But it's definitely been a challenging year, just to hear a gobble for me!!

I think we are a few weeks ahead this year. Hens are nesting now.
V

Some years we start the season right where we are now. Ebb and flow people.

Gobbles are few and far between in MD and WV for me. In 25 years I've never had this many gobble less mornings as i have this season. Almost every single day, I think 10 in total, I have seen lone hens from opening morning on. Had two hens in the field with me for over an hour this morning just feeding, only thing that made them leave was when i got up to leave. I'll keep after them but it's a hard sell when zero gobbling is becoming the norm.

Was out this morning. Heard 2 gobbles and that was it. Walked back to the barn and two hens were behind the barn picking and preening. As I was leaving I saw a solo gobbler walking along the road minding his own business. Today is the first day I've heard a gobble at all in 4 trips out. Single and double hens out just walking around feeding. Tis an interesting year IMO.

Hello, My name is Zack. I am an avid spring gobbler hunter, and have followed this site for several seasons. I thoroughly enjoy the content and the conversations. I have never joined until today.
I was happy today to see this thread pop up regarding this season. Reading, it makes me realize that possibly I am not alone in having a difficult season. Bluntly, this season has so far been the 2nd worst I have experienced. Last year being the worst in my opinion because: 1-no gobbling (literally), 2-it rained almost every day I was able to hunt.
So far this season, I am truly struggling to hear a single gobble. I know that there are mature gobblers in the areas I hunt. These areas are primarily several counties in the New River Valley, as well as Bedford County.
I have not heard a bird in the last 10 days. The only bird that I have heard this entire season was early last week on the roost, he flew down the other way and that was pretty much it. It's just strange why gobblers won't gobble in the prime time of the season. But hey, the challenge is why we all love it! Although, it would be nice to hear a bird every so often.

Nice to meet u, Zack. The game is definitely not the game that it used to be.

It is days like these that try a man's soul.
V

This season has been odd here as well. The few times that I have been able to hunt, I haven't seen or heard a hen and the gobblers that I have seen or called in have been in groups. The action has not been hot early in the morning, but by 9:30 or so it seems the gobblers are ganging up and moving long distances to try to find hens. I do a little bit of hunting with a couple of guys from work. They both have reported the same circumstances. Very few if any hen sightings and grouped up gobblers.

We just cancelled a Va trip for me due to lack of birds per my host. Never been that low around his place in decades.

We hunt in Buckingham VA and we have had a somewhat normal season. However the last two times out it has been rough. For the first portion of the season there was a ton of roost gobbling but pretty quiet after they hit the ground. Me and my brother were both able to get one on the ground but that was about it and that was in the exact same area. I had been hunting the far side of the property and I had been getting worked over by the numerous hens. Both birds were shot after 9:30 after they had broken away from the hens.

My experience has been that the gobblers would break away from the first hen and may start heading my way but would get picked up by another hen before they got to me. I personally witnessed this on some public land earlier in the season.

Then on Wednesday we heard no gobbles and yesterday I heard one gobble on the roost a long ways off and that was it. Multiple set ups and cold calling for 6 hours both days. Hopefully things will heat back up for all of us. We go full day starting on Monday and some of the game cameras are showing some gobblers in the evenings so after work we are going to try to slide back in and wait them out.

Good luck guys and keep getting after them. You can't kill a turkey laying in the bed or sitting on the couch so make the most of the rest of the season. It will be over before you know it.

Great thread. Love all the input from the different areas.
Here it is a little better then average. So far as why and what the birds are doing is the reason turkey hunting is so addictive. It is better then chess.
For me there is no difference in 60 years of birds behavior. Just more birds today. Folks say the good old days but to me the good old days are today.
I believe we had a 7-10 early breeding this year from my own and others information. From nest sightings of eggs in them from folks calculating in from the number of eggs in them at the time then figuring the time bred to laying first egg to number of days for an average clutch it appears breeding was occurring from the 12 of March on at least here on the Q.
The gobbling trend seemed to peak around the 23 of April here.
But all one can do is the days you can hunt just be out there, never know when you may run into the one that wants to play.
The last bird I called in for a guy here Tuesday 30 Apr. I used fall winter calling tactics (gobbler yelps and clucks) at first he wanted nothing to do with hen calls.


Earl

^^^^^^^THIS IS PRETTY GOOD STUFF.

In may in the day i was still usually trying to fill a tag somewhere in southern appalachia in the mountains. and not in pastures. It was always amazing how many reassembled groups of . gobblers were around in May and how vulnerable some were to gobbler talk or some passable imitation of a gobble call, blown, shook or on a box. It was the only way I could really deal with some of those mountain groups in May. Seen some doubles and triples in May using gobbler talk. fwiw