No gobbles on opening day?

[MihajloSimsic]

Last season I hunted a stretch of apple orchard properties with great success, while at least seeing a jake or getting a couple gobbles even during bad weather. This opening day? Not a single gobble or tom/jake spotted even from the road over three properties spanning 5km. I sat in both the morning and afternoon today. Even the hunter on the neighbouring property could be spotted walking around confused. There is at least 150 acres of bush between the three properties. Is it really possible that these turkeys just aren't gobbling on opening day even?

Edit: It was also sunny all day with no more than 17km wind as well. As perfect as a day can get.

[fratri]

I have had that on some days too.... In particular I remember this one farm on Saturday morning had about 5-6 or even 7 birds gobbling like crazy off the roost..... The next day I decided to go back with my bow (at the time there was no Sunday gun hunting)..... Not one single gobble at all.... I was so pumped to be in the right spot only to hear and see nothing, big disappointment....I guess my point is you really never know why they do what they do.....
One day of no gobbling is not enough to count the place out
Best of luck

[MihajloSimsic]

I have had that on some days too.... In particular I remember this one farm on Saturday morning had about 5-6 or even 7 birds gobbling like crazy off the roost..... The next day I decided to go back with my bow (at the time there was no Sunday gun hunting)..... Not one single gobble at all.... I was so pumped to be in the right spot only to hear and see nothing, big disappointment....I guess my point is you really never know why they do what they do.....
One day of no gobbling is not enough to count the place out
Best of luck

Thanks for your input. My thoughts exactly. Definitely going to spend some time property hunting but I'll keep my eye on this place.

[oaknut]

Not hearing birds for one morning dosen't mean a thing, they may be back tomorrow. Turkeys can cover a large area in a day and you never know what may have been harassing them yesterday to push them out.

All I heard this morning was the faint whoof of a shotgun and shortly after my phone buzzing with some smiley faces.

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[Flash1]

I had the same type of day on Saturday. Perfect weather-wise but no turkey to be heard. I'm relatively new to turkey hunting so if your morning starts with no responses to your calling and you don't hear any distant shots or gobbles do you hang around for the rest of the morning or do you just pack it in?

[rick_iles]

I had the same type of day on Saturday. Perfect weather-wise but no turkey to be heard. I'm relatively new to turkey hunting so if your morning starts with no responses to your calling and you don't hear any distant shots or gobbles do you hang around for the rest of the morning or do you just pack it in?

First off , do you know there are birds in your spot ? If so, very often birds won’t gobble if roosted with a bunch of hens. They don’t need to. Typically, they feed for a while after fly down, then eventually the hens will leave the gobblers to lay. That’s when the gobblers will prowl looking for hens, are more susceptible to calling, and are more apt to start gobbling again. This happens more, later in the season. I have shot many more birds at 11.00 am, than I have shot at early light.
So, if you know birds are around, hang in there !!

[SongDog]

I didnt hear a gobble on the roost saturday morning. First hour didnt hear a peep. 7am I had 3 gobble to my calls, Tom and 2 Jake's. Heard them gobble about 30 times on the ground from 7am-8am. They had about 15 hens with them when I first seen them at 8am so they weren't in a hurry.

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[Sinker]

Didn't hear a sound, shot a jake at 638.

S.

[marky.mark]

First off , do you know there are birds in your spot ? If so, very often birds won’t gobble if roosted with a bunch of hens. They don’t need to. Typically, they feed for a while after fly down, then eventually the hens will leave the gobblers to lay. That’s when the gobblers will prowl looking for hens, are more susceptible to calling, and are more apt to start gobbling again. This happens more, later in the season. I have shot many more birds at 11.00 am, than I have shot at early light.
So, if you know birds are around, hang in there !!

I second this!

Between 11-2pm is some of the best time to hunt in my opinion. They will gobble and come in on a string fassst!!

[Flash1]

Thanks for the encouragement rick-iles, marky.mark. I'll hang in there for a little longer. I know there are birds in the area, trail cam full of pics from weeks before. I just wasn't sure if hanging around after 10:30am would be worth it. Most of the pics on that camera were early morning and mid to late afternoon. Good luck to everyone.