Early Season
We're two days in to the spring turkey hunting seasons in northern Vermont and New Hampshire, and it's been a bit of a challenge so far. The weather, in short, has not cooperated to this point, as we have had our share of low pressure (showery yesterday and thunderstorms early this morning) fronts moving through the last two days. I'll take rain over snow any day however - yes, we've had openers in the snow in past years ...
In general, low pressure can result in quieter turkeys in the morning from what I have observed and read over the years, and this has certainly been the case so far. Yesterday morning, I heard three gobbles, while I may have heard only one this morning. Even the thunder and lightning didn't illicit responses from the turkeys, but they were still around nonetheless, preferring open fields in the rainy conditions.
Of course, we all prefer those crisp, bright mornings where the turkeys are sounding off incessantly. Not only is it more exciting for us hunters, but it also gives us an idea of where the turkeys actually are. Without gobbling, we really have to rely on patience and quiet, hoping that a bird comes our way. The good thing the last two days (even though there were few turkey vocalizations) is that there was a good amount of fresh scratchings and scat around to confirm that we were in the right places. Sometimes that's all you can do when the turkeys aren't gobbling.
More turkey stories to come ...
In general, low pressure can result in quieter turkeys in the morning from what I have observed and read over the years, and this has certainly been the case so far. Yesterday morning, I heard three gobbles, while I may have heard only one this morning. Even the thunder and lightning didn't illicit responses from the turkeys, but they were still around nonetheless, preferring open fields in the rainy conditions.
Of course, we all prefer those crisp, bright mornings where the turkeys are sounding off incessantly. Not only is it more exciting for us hunters, but it also gives us an idea of where the turkeys actually are. Without gobbling, we really have to rely on patience and quiet, hoping that a bird comes our way. The good thing the last two days (even though there were few turkey vocalizations) is that there was a good amount of fresh scratchings and scat around to confirm that we were in the right places. Sometimes that's all you can do when the turkeys aren't gobbling.
More turkey stories to come ...
