Man,

I hate to sound disgusted, and yea, I am whinning a little. but I have not heard a Gobble in Virginia since the week before the youth hunt. At that time I heard two. I think its time to make some changes. Please I am really happy for those that were succesful, and love hearing the stories so please keep them coming.

I feel that we (Viriginia) got to excited trying to compete with other states, with bag limits, and we ended up messing it all up. The Three Gobblers in the spring must go, and maybe we should cut back to one either sex in the fall. I have not seen turkey hunting this BAD since 1984. we have allowed the growth of bag limits, and have not had a great hatch probably about 3 years, maybe longer.

There are a few turkeys in the area; I can find small spots of scratching here or there. I have called in one lone hen. But there is no gobbling on the roost, and no gobbling mid day. I cannot even get a courtesy gobble.

I took off last week, and by the end of the week would rather stay home and cut grass, and tiller the garden than go. Man what a disapointing year. Bash me if you like, but if you think there should be changes, please complete the survey form this year and turn it in. From reading the other post, I am not the only one in this boat.

Coach.

Up here in Fred. Co. we've heard em almost daily. We back up to Sleepy Creek State Park in WV, The boss man up there is a friend of mine and he said there's lots of young birds(Jakes and two y/o.). So, to answer your question, I don't think the best is over, yet. I think it will be on the backside of bestafter next Wednesday or so(that is 10 days or so). So buck up, take a break and "git 'er done" the end of this week. Good luck.

Stay after 'em Coach. It's all about endurance. Can't kill one from the couch. I shook a three year monkey this year. As to whether we've already seen the best years, I'm still on the fence on this one. I can see both sides clearly, but as of now, I'm leaning that we are still experiencing good seasons. I'm hearing birds regularly and playing the game occasionally. Most of the birds I'm hearing are using areas they have frequented for several years. Haven't branched out much to see about any new areas yet this year.

sometimes the places we know the best can be tough hunting ..this year, I have nto killed a bird in thep laces that I have huntedthe hardest and know the best. It may still happen , as this is a weird spring , in terns of weather. You are correct ,though, in my opinion, as to the need to eliminate hen shooting in Va in the fall ...2 cts.

I know we have had at least three bad hatches in the last four years, with the areas that Dale and I hunt having three years of no mast. Last year was super tough with my gobbling numbers down almost 50% followed by the grouse numbers lower then 50% from the year before.

This year has really shocked me (not counting grouse ) Have counted 20 gobblers so far on 5 hunts which is up from last year. All but one hunt on public land.

I have hope that things will change, especially if we can pull another good hatch this year. We HAVE to start having some mast again though, that worries me.

As to the grouse I have heard NONE this year.

I have only had one trip so far where I failed to hear at least one gobble . . . and I hunt almost exclusively on public land. Even when my scouted spots are taken and I have to prospect in a new location I have been able to hear birds. I consider my personal experience to be very blessed when I hear other hunters complaining of sparse gobbles.

Now, I've yet to connect with Old Longbeard, but that's another story!!

Fri. late afternoon,I was putting birds to roost,and flushed a hen off her nest(7 eggs),so I thought the season was really just getting started,anyway we heard 5 birds fly up;went back very early Sat morn and 1 bird sounded off 3 times then with in an hour all birds had flown down and we didn't hear a thing the rest of the day.

Coach, I'm not hearing them either, but it's not over till it's over. Perseverance and focus are the keys to success!
Keep em Gobblin!
Struttinbird

Coach,
I'm definiately not going to bash you...cause I been there myself.
Even this year my favoriate area was void of any kind of turkey sign and I thought it was going to be a dud like last year. Last year I didn't kill any there and as a matter of fact I didn't kill any until the last two weeks of the season and those were in another area.
But this year I didn't give up hope and managed to take my limit from this area that wouldn't give up a single bird last year. And it happened April 3rd, 11th and 23rd thats fairly early in the season compared to my last years season. Turkeys are very unpredictable and most places where I hunt they seem to cycle in and cycle out for a few weeks at a time.
So keep loadin, listenin and thinkin positive.
Good luck
GS...

http://www.kentuckyhunting.net/forums/s ... hp?t=15498 some folks in Kentucky are having a bad season and asking the same questions you are asking...somehow I sense Tenn harvest will be down this year as well...in the face of that, Tenn is expecting to respond by setting the season limit at four birds statewide next year for the spring. Guess raising the non-resident licence fees to around 250 dollars needs some justifcation, so you can kill four birds for your money next year...

I have taken more birds in May than April and have less than half the days to hunt.

I have gone bust in a place that has produced at least 1 gobbler per yr for me since I started hunting it and multiples many years. Called up 1 longbeard on opening day and the 15yr old w/ me couldn't get on him(actually walked past him at 10 yds) anyway that was the last longbeard I have heard there. went in there early this am, nothing. I am hard headed and I have kept going back expecting action any time but I have to face facts for whatever reason they are not there this year. So I will be focusing my remaining days where I know the gobblers are there( and talking). Did call up 2 ,5 and 2 jakes there so maybe next year! What I,m saying is don't stay in a rut go find the toms !

Flexibility gentlemen is something that must become part of your turkey hunting toolbelt. TScott and I are very guilty of hunting the same old areas that have produced in the past. However, for the last two to three years we have attempted to explore atleast one new public land area. By exploring I mean but in some serious boot leather and really get to know the area's features and see if any game is using the area. This tactic is paying off. While we aren't killing birds every hunt, we have been in the game this year alot more than last year. Some of our go to areas have been devoid of turkeys for several years running. Some of our new areas are devoid of turkeys this year. We'll still keep hitting them through out the season to see what develops. I've said it before and I'm saying it again, you can't kill one from the couch unless it happens to be on Ol' Three Toes deck with him sitting beside you!

This was my 5th year turkey hunting in VA and by far the worst. There are three of us that hunt and we heard 1 bird gobble in 6 days of hunting. 1 BIRD!!!!!!!! And we all hunt seperately on Nat. forest in Augusta County. The first year there, I heard 9 different birds the first morning alone. We have been hearing less and less each year and and also seing much less sign and we have 8-9 different GOOD spots we have found. All of our hunting is very deep into the forest away from most other hunters. The average walk in is 1.5-2 miles from the nearest forest road, where we have seldom seen fresh signs of other hunters. Mostly sign from deer hunters. I did however see and hear more grouse this year than ever before. I also have seen the most coyote sign(scat) I have ever seen in my life this year. I literally walked past 150 piles in one morning this year. Its everywhere and we heard a lot more of them this year too. But not just in one spot, every place we hunt, and they have never been this abundant before. We also seem to see a lot more deer sign every year and bump quite a few while hunting. In my opinion, at least where we are hunting...........the birds are vanishing.
I'm with you Coach

This is true, no exaggeration at all. I have not heard a gooble in the state of viriginia since the the weekend before the youth hunt.

things are bad in Goochland County.