That’s correct, I heard this theory from Eddie and he heard it from Dr. Kennamer. Dog breeders can breed characteristics in and out of dogs in just a few generations. Although, unlike dogs, turkeys do not learn from their mistakes. But it’s certainly possible that over time we can alter the way they act. Gobblers primarily gobble to attract hens. They also tell every predator in the woods their exact location each time they sound off so they don’t like to gobble any more than necessary. It makes a lot of sense to me that all predators including coyotes are altering the way they act. A friend of mine called in a bobcat with hen yelps the first day of the season here in Athens Co.
Speaking of Eddie Salter and Athens County, Eddie made his annual trek to SE Ohio last week. He’s hunted with us the past 24 springs and killed 24 gobblers. This year my son took him as I had a work commitment that morning. Eddie told Ryan that he heard more gobbling in 1 morning up here than his entire season in Alabama.
A bigger problem in some areas is gobbler to hen ratios. This is why established flocks, (like Vinton Co), are harder to hunt than areas where the numbers are expanding. It’s not that the birds aren’t there; they’re just not as vocal. I don’t believe Gobblers that inhabit heavily hunted areas like most public land are any more “wary” than unmolested birds…they just have less competition for available hens. I also agree that a turkey’s mood can change with the wind.
The hatch is regional in scope. A poorly timed thunderstorm or 40 degree rain will greatly alter the hatch from one township to the next. Apparently, my area was spared the past few years as we are having an excellent season…if a few of my friends could shoot a little better we’d be averaging over 1 a day. We like to hunt mushrooms and it’s been a banner year for them also. I can’t remember a spring going back to the early 80’s where the turkey and mushroom hunting were both this good in the same year.