Gobbler controlling the volume of his gobble.

[blake_08]

Hello everyone, I was reading Chester's post about how a gobbler drums and it reminded me of something I wanted to bring up. This year hunting Easterns in OK, I was hunting on a bad weather morning and the turkeys that I knew were in the area just were not gobbling. At daylight, I was standing in a small grassy opening in the woods where I had been on some birds the days before and I stood in silence for 30 minutes after I should have heard something, and I didn't hear a peep. I finally decided to scratch off a few soft calls on my pot and when I did, a tom no more than 20 yards inside the tree line gobbled. Now if I hadn't have heard the rattle or thump in his chest during the gobble, I would have guessed the bird was 250-300 yards off. But this bird was close enough to me that I heard him fly down. His gobble sounded perfectly normal, it was just incredibly quiet for the distance that the tom was from me. He gobbled about 10 or 15 times on the limb and I could clearly hear the rattle in his chest that I typically only hear when a bird is inside 100 yards or so. I believe he was gobbling to the one hen he heard close by (me) and not necessarily gobbling to attract hens from far off. Once he was on the ground, he started going away from me gobbling and on the ground he was gobbling with what I would call normal volume.

Has anyone ever experienced a tom that you thought was controlling volume of his gobble? And no, vegetation on the trees or the direction the turkey was facing on the limb didn't have anything to do with this particular circumstance.

[davisd9]

I have had them in an open field 100-200 yards away and the only way I knew he would gobble was by watching his head.  I do believe they can control the volume just like we can as we speak.

[howl]

It's common with Easterns. They can gobble with the beak closed.

[Dtrkyman]

I have come to believe it, no real proof but it sure seems as though they do.

[HookedonHooks]

I have had them in an open field 100-200 yards away and the only way I knew he would gobble was by watching his head.  I do believe they can control the volume just like we can as we speak.

x2 this statement, witnessed it hunting field turkeys countless times. Without a doubt in my mind, personally.

I do know when you get real close to them they'll often choke off a gobble early too.

[Candyman]

It's absolutely real. I have been witness to it several times. Killed a couple that gobbled real low in volume and had another that fooled me and I walked up on him and his hens. I would have bet my gun he was 300-350 yards down in a creek bottom and after he gobbled at a wood duck I eased that direction looking for a place to kill him. I didn't walk 25 yards and there he was strutting at 75 yards. He never saw me but a hen did....   I caught a poacher that morning in that bottom too. Not sure if that is why the gobbler had gobbled with less volume or not.
 

[Chuck1443]

It's common with Easterns. They can gobble with the beak closed.

Ha that's funny


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[Tail Feathers]

Osceolas gobble silently.   

[Loyalist84]

Absolutely something that occurs. I watched a Tom come in this year who would go from 'conversational' to 'shouting' in his gobbling volume depending on whether he was answering a hen call, responding to another Tom, or making noise for its own sake.

[FLGobstopper]

Osceolas gobble silently.   

[Greg Massey]

If he's gobbling, I'm sure not going to pull out a decimal meter, to find out if he's on the low scale or high scale of gobbling .. I just hope he's not one of those super Jake's

[ChesterCopperpot]

I think they've got a handful of different gobbles just like hens have a handful of different yelps. Different meanings, different contexts. Definitely have heard them tone it down when their intended audience was in close proximity.


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[Gooserbat]

Fellow Okie and I have had them do the same thing. Actually had one do that this year as well on a less than perfect overcast afternoon in SE Oklahoma.

[Neill_Prater]

Yes, I have witnessed that as well. I have also, a few times, heard them give a "short", or abbreviated gobble which is maybe half as long as a normal gobble.

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[deerhunt1988]

It seems to be more common early season, in those 'winter woods' settings when they are still somewhat flocked up and not 'hot' yet. I've witnessed henless satellite birds probably do it the most, I assume to not draw attention from the dominant bird. But they will definitely do it all seasons. Took a Rhode Island bird a few weeks ago who was obviously controlling his gobble!