Moved up here for residency training and the limited time I've been able to spend hunting this spring has been lackluster. Heard one bird gobbling late March before season on some state forest land that has since had a pick-up parked on it the one time I was able to circle back. Walked back in there when the spot was deserted and saw no turkey sign at all and haven't heard any gobbling there again since season started. Spent some time out in the Washington National Forest and have seen a single hen and have not heard a gobble (the wind was up the one morning I was out before daybreak). Tried a WMA in the southern part of the state as well on a morning I would have expected to hear a bird and nothing at all. I've also wasted time walking into areas that looked good/fenced off access roads, but found that the areas I wanted to hunt/listen from had way too much undergrowth to make for good turkey habitat. Has anyone found a way to determine old growth hardwoods from newer growth on satelite imaging? I've only got four days left I can hunt this season and I'll be back in Texas next year, so if anyone is feeling charitable and would be willing to share areas I should look into via DM, I can certainly provide info on areas with merriams turkeys in New Mexico. I'm in the Richmond area, would prefer not to travel more than 3 hours which honestly makes most of the state huntable other than extreme SW portion.
I feel your pain. I hunt in central VA and have several properties that have been very good in the past. I have hunted every day (except Sundays) and have only had birds respond on three days. Very strange year for me.
Same here in Suffolk. I've heard gobbling in the morning maybe 5 times. Seen very few mature toms compared to previous years. The only one I've seen strutting I've killed. I have seen hens and a crazy number of jakes most mornings. Yesterday morning I saw 9 jakes together in one spot. Odd year...
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Has been odd with the gobbling for me too. Have seen plenty of gobblers but they seldom gobbled. Haven't killed one myself yet but my hunting companions have been quite lucky on the same land I'm hunting.
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I spent 5 days there last week. The lowest amount of gobbling I've heard in many, many years in that state. And what I did hear, shut up once they hit the ground. Odd year for sure.
Hunted VA mountains this past Saturday through Tuesday. Killed on Tuesday at 11am after hunting the same bird for 3 days straight. Walked 30 miles in 4 days of hunting. This was our second time up there on public land. The bird we killed gobbled 2 times Monday and 3 times Tuesday. Had to really stick with him to kill him. Figuring out that the majority of the public land up there isn't worth looking at
I feel everyone's pain. I have hunted hard in several different county's this year have heard one bird off in the distance, he gobbled about 6 times and quit. Been hearing a lot of people say the same thing here in Va. Over the past several years it seems to get worst every year. I am going to keep trying but the excitement just isn't there this year
As was stated above ... i feel your pain
Regardless of Virginia having record harvest the last few years, I can tell you, the population is down in many areas. A lot of southwestern Virginia especially. I've been traveling the last week and a half so I haven't hunted there in a bit. But when I left they were gobbling good and my buddies say they still are where there are actual birds. But many places I always hunt in CA, there aren't any birds. Or very few, when in years past the places have been loaded with birds.
To answer your question, look at your hunting app (OnX, HuntWise, whatever) and compare it to Google maps. Obviously you won't be able to tell how thick the woods are but you should be able to tell mature forest from cutovers, etc.
Good luck. And just keep at it. Persistence is key but just know Virginia is on the decline and hopefully it will rebound in the upcoming future.