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Late Breeding?
Topic Started: May 12 2007, 07:22 PM (323 Views)
Posted Image Brooke
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Hanover, Ontario.

Hey folks, am I the only one noticing the toms are not real fired up yet? I shot a nice bird on opening day that was more interested in beating up my strutting jake decoy than breeding a hen. Last week I saw 2 toms and 2 jakes and they paid no attention to any live hens or my calling. The toms only wanted to run off the jakes. Another morning I heard 4 gobblers on the roost and heard them fly down and get together then they went silent and never responded to my calling. Has anyone else seen this? I have heard it from other local hunters too.
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Posted Image Paul Beasley


sounds like the effects of hunting pressure and the birds are getting smart.

A tom trying to throw a jake around isn't a lack of interest in the hen, his first priority is to show who's boss and then he'll go looking for courtship.

I went out scouting this morning and couldn't believe all the lone hens I saw. They are showing up in places they haven't been all season and not one hen had a gobbler with her. I think the odds are really in the hunters favour to kill right now. These toms are going to be increasingly more lonely as more and more hens are dedicated to their nests. Just my opinion, I'm far from an expert.
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Posted Image buckstop
buckstop northern wisconsin

hens are definately on the nests here in wisconsin. fields that used to have 6 or 8 hens on are now empty. you see a lot of toms wondering around by themselves. an excellent time to call one in. as far as toms gobbling and then flying down and being quiet. that happens alot around here it seems. toms will actually gobble and gobble up on the roost and have hens on the ground come to his roost tree . he flies down and has all the lovin he wants and doesn't gobble the rest of the morn. alot of times they are roosting right beside the hens and a hunter doesn't stand much of a chance to call him in. i've watched many many times when a gobbler is all by himself and won't come to a call. he'll strut everytime you call and pace back and forth but not come an inch closer to the caller. they want the hens to come to them. i've had good luck with a gobble call when they won't respond to hen calls but be careful as other hunters might zero in on your calling. we do alot more cutting than yelping and seem to have alot better results. i know what your talking about as far as some being more interested in other males than hens. sometimes nature is weird and hard to figure out. frustrating when your hunting them.
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Posted Image Brooke
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Hanover, Ontario.

In the past I've seen that gobblers are easier to call when the hens are nesting. The opposite seems to be true here right now. Kind of seems like the pre-rut when bucks fight. Time will tell, it is only mid May.
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Posted Image dobber
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Team Ontario Trophy Bucks

watched 2 hens walk around all morning with a jake closer to one than the other. I don;t think the birds in my area are on the nests yet.
Hope they start soon, not many more days left for me to hunt.
condescending twat
Someone who looks down on other people and is beyond arrogant
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Posted Image buckstop
buckstop northern wisconsin

i'm really surprised that the birds up there would be that far behind ours but you guys are probably right. around here in northern wis. if you tried to call in a gobbler two weeks ago you'd be cutoff by hens almost every time. right now the hens are sitting and you just don't hear them at all in the mornings. we are on the very tail end of the breeding season. i believe the only hens that are cooperating are those that lost their nests to predators and are renesting. the toms are starting to group up and it's almost over with . i've got my last tag for the last of our wisconsin seasons coming up on this wednesday. it will be interesting how they respond to calling.
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Adrian J Hare
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Brooke, what you have seen is exactly what is going on. The birds are just now acting proper. The first week the gobblers were grouped up...
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Posted Image Brooke
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Hanover, Ontario.

Thanks Adrian, I figured if the Toms had bred the hens already the Toms would still be wound up and easier to call. It was just my take on it and wondered what everyone else had been seeing. Of course it can vary from place to place. Lot's of time left, if it was real easy it wouldn't be any fun!
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