Got back from a trip out West from WI. Been out there the past several years and had decent action. 6 of us were out there for 3.5 days and we killed one bird. I put around 25 miles on the boots and hundreds on the vehicle- the lack of birds was nuts. In all those miles we ran across one group of 5 jakes, 2 toms and some odd hens here and there. The few gobblers there were wouldnt respond to calls for the most part, they would gobble back on the roost of course, fly down, gobble a few more times then wander off. The closest I got was one on the roost that was gobbling well but then another hunter was also on the same bird so I gave up on that one.
We tried getting FAR off roads, we hunted until almost 2pm each day which was 9 hours. Every bird we ran into was within 200 yards of a 'major' road . If you put on that many miles/hours here in WI you will blindly run into dozens of birds. I had talked to Fish and Game prior to going and they noted populations were 'good' , whatever that might mean. We talked to other hunters and experiences were the same, some guys killed a couple jakes but never saw a Tom in 7 days. Another group hunted 3 days and never heard or saw a bird.
Anyone else having similar experience across the west- MT,NE, SD areas? I just couldnt believe it after having the past several years be pretty good and no 'bad' reports from F&G of populations being down.
We tried getting FAR off roads, we hunted until almost 2pm each day which was 9 hours. Every bird we ran into was within 200 yards of a 'major' road . If you put on that many miles/hours here in WI you will blindly run into dozens of birds. I had talked to Fish and Game prior to going and they noted populations were 'good' , whatever that might mean. We talked to other hunters and experiences were the same, some guys killed a couple jakes but never saw a Tom in 7 days. Another group hunted 3 days and never heard or saw a bird.
Anyone else having similar experience across the west- MT,NE, SD areas? I just couldnt believe it after having the past several years be pretty good and no 'bad' reports from F&G of populations being down.