Dont understand it

[woodsman2230]

Hey guys I was wondering what your thoughts on this subject would be. I have about 100 acres of land directly behind my house and another 100-150 acres across the road. I was talking to a guy that lives at the upper part of the parcel about the turkey hunting the past few years. He said the same thing that I did. The turkeys just dont act like they used to around here. It used to be that you would hear gobblers sound off all the way through the morning and hens as well. It used to be that I could walk back there and work at least one gobbler almost every morning I would go out. Now you dont hear them at all. they dont shock gobble or anything. The guy I talked to goes out every morning and listens for them and he hasnt heard one all spring. A hen or a gobbler. He said that its not the hunting pressure because the only acess to the land is right beside his house and he has only seen 5 cars there the entire season and he is always outside during the day and has heard no shots either. I was thinking that maybe the predators have got them pretty quiet. I have seen a few coyotes back there and a ton of coons. I was thinking that maybe they stopped gobbling because everytime they do a coyote is right on top of them. And the hens dont talk because they dont want the raccoons to tear up their nests. Also the only male turkeys that I, or my father have seen have been toms, very few hens and no jakes at all. Is there any reason for there being no jakes? Is there any validity to these theories? If its not hunting pressure or predators, what could it be? Just seeing what everyone thinks about this. Thanks for reading.

[8ptbuckpa]

I don't know about validity but where at in Pa are you located,

My family just purchased a camp in Elk County (12 miles from Kane) and the land we where hunting was loaded with coyote scat and tracks and we saw one as I was calling trying to locate birds this spring.

[woodsman2230]

I don't know about validity but where at in Pa are you located,

My family just purchased a camp in Elk County (12 miles from Kane) and the land we where hunting was loaded with coyote scat and tracks and we saw one as I was calling trying to locate birds this spring.

I live in Crawford County in Northwest PA. There are some coyotes that live in those woods along with an abundance of coons.

[Bachflock]

I think there is likely some validity to your ideas. I hunted 200 acres this year and I literally found more coyote scat than turkey sign. I heard gobbles every morning and evening but basically no noise in the middle of the day. I'd be willing to be that the coyote population is up and creating a little natural pressure on them making them more wary. However, I'd also be willing to bet they are being pressured by people more than you may have guessed. The fact that no shots were fired would not be a good indication of no hunting pressure - maybe just inexperienced hunters calling too loud, walking even louder, etc. That would certainly educate the birds. Shock gobbles - LOL. I couldn't get a turkey to shock gobble for the life of me. I was using a crow and an owl call but had them gobble at me maybe twice. However, the morning about 6 fire trucks flew past the property the entire woods gobbled for 15 minutes while the sirens were still loud enough to hear.

[Rhino]

No jakes is a problem too. That means you had a very poor hatch last year and those jakes would have been the birds that would be more vocal next year. More so than the older birds which is probably what you have now. Having that many coons around is going to continue to hurt the prospects for a decent hatch around there.

[buckbuster11]

I've noticed gobbling has been way down the last few years also. And I have also wondered if it has a lot to do with the coyote boom around here.

The decrease in gobbling and the mucho increase in coyote sightings around these parts starting happening about the same time.....I doubt thats a coincidence.

[need2hunt]

Well I'm not from PA. I hunt Missouri and also pay a good deal of attention to friends that hunt here in Illinois as well as try to keep an eye on people's seasons here on the forum. From what I've seen and heard it's been a very different season for most people across the US. I don't have any answers I just think it was a difficult season.