Gobbler Nation

[quote="guesswho"]If he's strutting chances are good he's also drumming.[

I dont think I killed very many turkey's that I didnt hear drum. Thats my favorite sound in the woods.............

I agree. I have seen turkeys walk around in strut for long periods of time without spitting and drumming but most of that was during the winter. During the spring when turkeys are strutting they almost always spit and drum. That is also 1 process. The spit and drum go together. A turkey does not just spit without drumming or drum without spitting. I have actually seen flem come out of a gobblers mouth when they spit. I was inches away from my tame gobbler when I saw it.

TRKYHTR

Ive heard wild gobblers drum without spitting....they spit then drummed, then let out of strutt and then drummed again, but never a spit that wasnt followed by a drum

I think they use the spit and drum to call hens to them. I think when they are showing off for a group of ladies, but dont want to leave and they hear another hen....they just spit and drum to the hen they cant see.

Ive been around gobblers roosted by themselves and watched them strutt on the limb but not gobble. somehow hens knew right where to come.

Last spring I witnessed a gobbler yelping his hens up in SC. He didnt gobble a single time. Another gobbler was roosted away from him about 100 yards and was gobbling. The other gobbler started yelping and the hens all started yelping and cutting back at him and they all went to him instead of the gobbler that was gobbling. I had it on video, but deleted it. i may still have part of it, Ill check my camera.

savduck wrote:\
Last spring I witnessed a gobbler yelping his hens up in SC. He didnt gobble a single time. Another gobbler was roosted away from him about 100 yards and was gobbling. The other gobbler started yelping and the hens all started yelping and cutting back at him and they all went to him instead of the gobbler that was gobbling. I had it on video, but deleted it. i may still have part of it, Ill check my camera.

C'mon man you can delete Christmas Parties, Birthday Parties, vacations but man that sounds like a great piece of footage, something you would not delete.

savduck wrote:

Last spring I witnessed a gobbler yelping his hens up in SC. He didnt gobble a single time. Another gobbler was roosted away from him about 100 yards and was gobbling. The other gobbler started yelping and the hens all started yelping and cutting back at him and they all went to him instead of the gobbler that was gobbling. I had it on video, but deleted it. i may still have part of it, Ill check my camera.

i witnessed the exact same thing in Iowa back when i was 17. craziest crap ever. that was before I knew what the gobbler yelp sounded like. All the turkey hunting videos only showed the gobbling back then. and HS strut tape videos where all that I knew 15 years ago.

I've also seen hens spit and drum.

TRKYHTR

ICDEDTURKES wrote:

savduck wrote:\
Last spring I witnessed a gobbler yelping his hens up in SC. He didnt gobble a single time. Another gobbler was roosted away from him about 100 yards and was gobbling. The other gobbler started yelping and the hens all started yelping and cutting back at him and they all went to him instead of the gobbler that was gobbling. I had it on video, but deleted it. i may still have part of it, Ill check my camera.

C'mon man you can delete Christmas Parties, Birthday Parties, vacations but man that sounds like a great piece of footage, something you would not delete.

I talked my lady into some pole dancing on tape. Had to make room . I may still have some of it on film. got to go check it out.

Ok I'll say it. Show us the pole dancin.

I was waiting on that.

Other than the occasional stupid one that comes running in where you don't have much time to remember anything, I can only remember one turkey that I have ever killed that didn't drum almost constantly from the time they got within hearing until the time I pulled the trigger.
This particular one I think for some reason wasn't capable of making the sound. He was close enough that I could hear him spit and they have to be very close for me to hear that, but I never heard the drum.

My ears hear certain frequencies better than others. My left ear cannot pick up a cricket chirping, or a shell rattling, for instance. Too many days hunting ducks and doves with no ear protection as a youth. But my right ear hears well. But I can't hear drumming as well as a lot of folks I hunt with. It's a hearing thing with me, not a recognition thing.

hawglips wrote:My ears hear certain frequencies better than others. My left ear cannot pick up a cricket chirping, or a shell rattling, for instance. Too many days hunting ducks and doves with no ear protection as a youth. But my right ear hears well. But I can't hear drumming as well as a lot of folks I hunt with. It's a hearing thing with me, not a recognition thing.

This is exactly my problem, as well,...except I think mine is more as a result of running too many high-frequency power tools throughout my life. I was unaware of the seriously diminished hearing in my left ear until I was out one day and got into a rattler. He started rattling when I got close and was on my right side. I turned around to look for him so that my left ear was towards him and I could barely hear him rattling at all. Turned back the other way, and the rattle was much clearer and sounded much closer. I knew I had a real hearing problem at that moment!

One of life-long hunting buddies took up turkey hunting about 12 years ago. He loves it but had a hearing loss in his right ear. He thought it was the result of shooting (left handed) and resigned himself to turkey hunting with coursing difficulty. Last year, it worsened to the point where he saw a neighborhood friend who was a doctor. He wanted a referral to a specialist. The Doc happened to have an otoscope for ear examination and took a look. He laughed and was able to pull out a plug of ear wax that had sealed off his ear canal. Billy couldn't believe it. His hearing was restored in that ear and it has made a big difference in his life and in coursing birds. Gil

I have an extremely bad high frequency hearing loss and a bad case of Tinnitus...That being said I can still hear the low frequency drumming quite well. It's what gets my heart pounding and is the ultimate thrill before that gobbler steps into eye sight.
While bowhunting in TN last spring I had a bird drumming on the limb above and behind me for almost 20 minutes before he flew down into the field with the rest of the birds.
Had another in MO on a late morning hunt that shut up on me and over an hour later he was drumming like crazy just out of eye sight behind and left of me for what seemed like an eternity before he popped out and met his maker. That was one of those birds you could literally feel it in your chest each time he drummed.
Once your tuned into that sound there is no other that a turkey makes that is any more rewarding..

For those (like me) who have a hard time hearing drumming, this is the best video with audio that I've heard drumming. I heard it best with earbuds plugged in the computer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grv8z6_TJZU&feature=plcp

Excellent footage! If hearing that bird drumming don't get a turkey hunter pumped then it's time to start shoveling dirt over yuh!

Primos, the Truth 16 has some good spitting and drumming. its a hunt with Brad in Texas. The gobbler goes around him in a circle, you can hear it spitting and drumming the whole time.

GLS wrote:For those (like me) who have a hard time hearing drumming, this is the best video with audio that I've heard drumming. I heard it best with earbuds plugged in the computer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grv8z6_TJZU&feature=plcp

That sounds a little higher pitch than I have heard it, both in real life and recordings. He had the sound way up and maybe it a bit distorted.

I think its Primos 19(?) that has some good drumming too. Some guy they called Newman was the trigger guy and he was shooting an Encore. Good gobbling on that one too.

GLS wrote:For those (like me) who have a hard time hearing drumming, this is the best video with audio that I've heard drumming. I heard it best with earbuds plugged in the computer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grv8z6_TJZU&feature=plcp

Cool video. I had to put ear buds in but I could hear that gobbler drumming. It took putting in the ear buds though.

I know what it sounds like, mine is more of a hearing issue than a recognition issue.

Sounded normal to me. Love that sound!

Treerooster wrote:

GLS wrote:For those (like me) who have a hard time hearing drumming, this is the best video with audio that I've heard drumming. I heard it best with earbuds plugged in the computer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grv8z6_TJZU&feature=plcp

That sounds a little higher pitch than I have heard it, both in real life and recordings. He had the sound way up and maybe it a bit distorted.

I think its Primos 19(?) that has some good drumming too. Some guy they called Newman was the trigger guy and he was shooting an Encore. Good gobbling on that one too.

You may be right. I watched 16 and 19 the other day.

All I ever hear is the "clicking" sound. I guess that is the spit of the spit and drum. I've never really heard the "vaaroom" sound. Maybe I've killed my hearing with all the loud hairband music in the 80's.

Here is a video of a very close gobbler that my daughter killed. He is standing right behind us and the clicking sound you can hear really well.

http://youtu.be/PN8lPFbm-Pk

We have 8 Osceolas that we have raised from hatching that spend most of the day in our yard, we pin them up at night. I love to sit out back on the porch and listen to them talk to each other. Two of the gobblers are 20+ pounds and really put on a good show when they start strutting around. you can listen to the hens and really get a feel for the sudelty in tones and they way they communicate. on nice evening I will sit outside with a call and mimic the sounds they are making. My wife will fuss at me for getting them all worked up.

I know Steve, and there ain't a man more "ate-up" with turkey hunting than him! Well, the guy I see in the mirror every morning might rank up there somewhere, but Steve hunts only with a bow.

Drumming is my favorite sound in the woods, and despite a lifetime of hunting without earplugs and being a carpenter running powertools who doesn't use ear protection nearly enough, I can still hear that sound better than most of the folks I hunt with. Guess I was blessed with exceptional hearing to begin with, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Drumming really gets me fired-up and excited!!

gblack15 wrote:We have 8 Osceolas that we have raised from hatching that spend most of the day in our yard, we pin them up at night. I love to sit out back on the porch and listen to them talk to each other. Two of the gobblers are 20+ pounds and really put on a good show when they start strutting around. you can listen to the hens and really get a feel for the sudelty in tones and they way they communicate. on nice evening I will sit outside with a call and mimic the sounds they are making. My wife will fuss at me for getting them all worked up.

Toby used to have wild turkeys that he raised as well, for over ten years I got to experience what you are now, it's amazing, all the different vocals and behaviors you can learn from just hanging out with them...I miss those turkeys, I miss Toby too but I really miss those turkeys, lol....