What size property are you hunting? Do you hear gobbling on the adjoining properties? What changes have occurred in the last two years on your property and adjoining, timber cutting, etc?

What I am concerned with is the night and day difference between the last few years and this one. Is this normal cyclical ebs and flows of turkey hunting? Is it due to the last two years the chufa crop failed? Did the drought do anything? Predators? Should we just suck it up and realize it was only the first weekend? I feel beat down and apathetic.

Turkey population has declined considerably all over the state in my opinion. I have places you could hear 15 birds a morning where you may hear 2 now, places where you may hear 8 a morning and now may not hear 8 a year. Sad sad times Imo

In my nearly 20 years of experience hunting the same grounds over & over, year over year, my answer would be -- it's the ebb & flow of your land... Some years, bumper crops, other years, sparse pickings... Having said that, dude, it's still early; chill & enjoy the ride... The birds outta open up in a week or two... Turkey hunting can go from zero to hero literally overnight...

Just had the same talk with my buddy. Like Guitardude said, sit back and wait. It goes from bad to awesome fast.

If you had a winter flock of 9 longbeard then that doesn't support the idea of a massive population decline. I think it's far more likely that your turkeys are either quiet or living somewhere else right now. Chances are that things will improve, since you know turkeys were there in the past.

The failure of your chufas patches could indeed be affecting things. However, I would look at in a different way than you do. I would think that the previous success of your chufas created a Bonanza for you several years, and resulted in more turkeys being on your place than is natural. With no chufas, your property is now supporting a normal spring population.

I went on my first turkey hunt in 1964 and have chased them in many central AL counties since then. I have NEVER had access to a place where I could regularly hear 10 different gobblers in a morning, and I wouldn't know how to handle it if I did. It's a good morning to me if I hear one gobble good, and if I hear 3 then it is a great morning. I can't remember a morning in AL when I heard 10 different turkeys during a day in the spring season. We once had a winter flock of 16, and I heard every one of them gobble at once many times one day in December. They stuck together until opening day, but only one of them was gobbling when the season came in. That year was great for both us and the neighbors, but it can't be viewed as normal. It happened only once in over 5 decades of hunting the same place.

I've been blessed to kill 2 this season. Neither of them gobbled on the roost, and they both gobbled twice on the ground. I consider it normal to have turkeys acting like that in the early season, especially right after 25 degree days like we had last week. Hang in there and things will probably start to improve.

I think some of you have had access to some superb turkey land. Sounds like Squeaky is on a place like that now. I don't think most of us can expect that sort of turkey hunting every year. Good hunting to all!

Boys the preacher's a preachin' this morning! Listen to what the man says and you'll be alright.