Are turkeys getting harder to kill?

Will_m

WKR
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
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Southeastern subspecies, specifically. But mainly because those seem to face the highest pressure.

I know the theory about gobbling being evolved out of turkeys based on harvest rates has floated around (and makes sense to me) but what is everyone else seeing?

I feel like 20 years ago, a turkey would be more vocal and more willing to come to a call. Now, it’s like 1 out of 10 at best. AND when they come in, it’s like a deer slipping in cover and sneaking around. Definitely get a suicidal one now and again, but I swear this is not the turkey I remember from the 90’s and early 2000’s.

Don’t even get me started on the amount of people you have to contend with now. Thanks THP and the pinhead guy that pets dead turkeys.
 
I get into gobbling Rios almost every time I go Turkey hunting, this morning was no exception, but they seem to pull the exact same strategy every time: no matter what, they will go to the top of a ridge. If you’re calling from a ridge, they’ll go to the top of another. If you call to one cruising down low, he’ll gobble his way up a ridge. It’s entertaining to keep birds vocal for hours, but, it’s pretty damn hard to actually call one in. The ol’ saying, “you’ll never call a Turkey down a hill” rings true.
 
Hunting pressure has increased a ton. That’s why I believe they are quieter now on public. I hunt a buddies private land for Easterns in Florida every once in a while. Straight up gobble fest in the morning till about an hour after they fly down. Then silent. At least the Easterns and Osceolas I hunt are much different then Rios or Merriams out west. Can get a shock gobble out of them all day long.
 
Our season was ill timed here in coastal southeast. They bred the hardest the week before opener...the opener was active but in a wind down window and the hens were on the nest before our second tag was good.

Maybe yours were gobbling before season started?
 
Flocks of owls and crows which hover six foot off the ground will shut gobbling down. Almost as bad as the flocks of hens that don't yelp once if they don't follow it with six more and start off every single time with a shrill kee to find their roll-over. But that all falls under pressure, so I repeat myself.

I did forget to mention that retirement and DEI put people in charge of burning up turkey nests who don't know how to read a calendar.
 
It’s funny that they will walk through my yard when I’m getting the kids on the bus for school, but if I move a muscle in the WMA 1/2 a mile away, they won’t come near me.
 
It’s funny that they will walk through my yard when I’m getting the kids on the bus for school, but if I move a muscle in the WMA 1/2 a mile away, they won’t come near me.

They come thru our front yard several times a day. I had a tom about 25 yards behind and to the left of my 100 yard steel plate a few days ago around 2pm and he could care less. Ting Ting Ting. Pecking away at the soil.
 
I think people are calling at them more. Hunter numbers seem up and bird numbers seem down across the southeast as a whole. Every time I’ve scouted this year I’ve heard other people owl hooting or yelping at them.
 
Not unlike elk hunting. Plenty of old timers used to whistle bulls in. The fancy guys would carry a piece of gas line to whistle into.
 
Rios in Oklahoma apparently didn't get the memo, they still gobble like they always have. Some days more and some days less.
Oklahoma Rios are pretty dang dumb and very vocal (at least around my place). I just got on a new lease in Pushmataha county and have heard from other members that the easterns there are very tight lipped. I’m going to find out for myself on Wednesday.
 
I do not find mature gobblers any tougher than they were 30 years ago. The one thing that has changed is the number of hunters in the woods wearing out every call they have. I have to change tactics and tone down the calling though. Turkeys will always be turkeys, some take a lil longer to kill than others.
 
20 years ago in our part of Illinois there were NO turkeys. I didn't see or hear a turkey for a decade. Now we've got a robust population and we consistently have success. This isn't a highly pressured area though. So I don't think they're being called to a whole lot. I've seen no change in their behavior over the past decade of hunting them hard. Some days they cooperate and some days they don't.
 
They come thru our front yard several times a day.
Had a neighbor buy a new truck with a big wide, chromed back bumper.
A "terd of hurkeys" would walk across his driveway everyday and the gobbler would stop and fight his reflection in bumper!
Turkeys are CRAZY!

Are they getting harder to kill?
Should we bring back the 8 gauge with a 1/2 pound load of #9 TSS at 2500 fps? 😉
 
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