Gobbler Nation

Back years ago when dealing with henned-up gobblers it was popular among some of us to wish for a fall season to thin out the hens. (I have always wanted to shoot a hen, but for different reasons.) Now, many of us are dealing with populations that have dwindled to the point where hearing a gobbler is rare. What I have noticed over the past few years of especially low numbers, versus years with high numbers, is that the gobbler stay henned up longer into the day. Of the last several I have killed, only one was without company.

So, I'm saying for y'all that have lots of birds this year don't feel bad about the henned up situations. It could be much worse! Like going out the last several mornings and not hearing a peep for one...

henned up turkeys don't intimidate me at all. let em fly down and do their thing and usually by mid-morning they are ready to play ball. I find turkeys that suddenly realize their alone to be very easy to kill no matter their age.

Back when we had plenty of birds you could catch them alone like that. Past few years they've been henned up well into the afternoon.

I know what your saying. Anymore our Toms, if you can find any, are henned up from March thru May even into June. Days of hearing 2 or 3 from one spot have been long gone for a long time. Even with the lower hen population there's enough that it's hard to find a lone bird or even one that gets lonely mid day. I doubt it will ever change for the better with the habitat changing, increasing turkey hunter numbers and the tactics being used and thought of that make even a novice hunter turn into a killer.

Same thing here in NY last Spring.

Probably the #1 excuse I hear. Truth is most gobblers are henned up at some point everyday before, during and after the season. You either figure out how to killed henned up gobblers or you spend most of your time trying to find a lonely gobbler.

Last year, between OH & NY, I saw 5 gobblers & was lucky enough to kill 4. The gobbling was sparse & I didn't see many hens & only 2 jakes. Not sure what was going on.

Last year was nice here in the midwest. Two years ago, the farms I hunted were packed with hens and jakes. But last year, those jakes turned into nasty gangs of two-year-olds who did all the breeding and chased off older, solitary toms. The tables got turned and only the older toms would work, while the two-year-olds stayed glued to the hens.

I could loan ya a couple dolls to play with.

guesswho wrote:Probably the #1 excuse I hear. Truth is most gobblers are henned up at some point everyday before, during and after the season. You either figure out how to killed henned up gobblers or you spend most of your time trying to find a lonely gobbler.

Exactly. You either adapt or waste a lot of season trying to find a suicidal bird

Henned up theory really busted !!

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"Henned up" and population density are two totally opposite subjects. In one situation you can still kill them with patience and good woodsmanship, in the other, you're SOL. I've been in both situations and I'll take "Henned Up" toms any time.

Unfortunately a few of the properties I've hunted for nearly 20 years are in that later situation, lack of population. As the population went out, I didn't notice birds being henned up any more than they always were. Kill rates are down 41% here in La(I feel worse than that in the Northern portion of the state), yet hunter numbers are higher than ever. It's a bummer, but it is what it is. I have places to hunt where we whacked them for many years, that you wont even find a track in now days. It's hard to let go of some of those spots. I stayed in one lease that I had a 10-15 year lucky streak in, but haven't killed or found much sign at all in the last 3 seasons. I hit it hard the first 3 days this year for old time sake, but never struck a bird or found sign other than an occasional hen track. Time to let that place go. I wish there were "henned up" toms roaming around

What I have seen since opening day is that with the population dip, they're contracting to core areas and being more sociable. I think turkeys being social animals means they need affirmation of contact with other turkeys. So, when there are less turkeys the ones that are left stick together more. This means different calling and set ups for me. The big plus is that any new areas found to have concentrations of birds will likely be new honey holes from now on.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm gonna kill anythang this year.

Hopefully you won't have to wonder but about 30 minutes into the next hunt.

OLE RASPY wrote:I'm beginning to wonder if I'm gonna kill anythang this year.

If all else fails, a 6 pack!!

Im curious about what preceeded the decline of the flocks in areas where there was a decline.

Here there was a flock decline after deer died from blue tongue and chronic wasting disease. The deer carcas predation caused an increase in predators such as coyote, raccoons and fox's.

The excessive number of predators then began devouring eggs, poults and adult birds along with fawns. Normal predation is about 50% of nests and about 70% of the hatched poults fall to predation. The numbers are much higher with the explosion of predators! There are not enough people trapping to control the number of predators.

My buddy and I don't have time to trap but we did come up with a solution that is helping to rebuild the flocks. We put natural ingredients in dusting bowls and made dusting bowls that repel numerous predators. We used different amounts and combinations in different areas to see which work best. It's been only a year and we are seeing an increase in flock numbers in two of the areas.

So, there are less turkeys now or they just aren't as vocal as used to be or both?