Strut Report: Henned-Up Gobblers Cause Mid-Season Slowdown

Although some toms are henned-up, hunters are still experiencing success throughout the southern states. (Photo by Danita Delimont)

Hunters in some southern states are reporting abundant gobbling on the roost, but say the birds are mostly shutting up as soon as they’ve hit the ground. Despite their tight beaks, many a gobbler is still finding itself at the end of a shotgun barrel with reports of success throughout the region.

Realtree.com Editor Will Brantley has been squeezing in as much turkey hunting as possible over the last couple of weeks, hunting in Central Texas, western Kentucky and western Tennessee. Although he and his family have shared some great hunts and moments of success, he says overall, the hunting has been tough at every stop.

“There've been plenty of turkeys around, but we're in that ‘doldrums’ phase of the mid-season, when the longbeards are henned up and the hunting pressure has been substantial,” Brantley says.

Down in Texas, he says the turkeys were gobbling just a bit on the limb and then shutting up for the rest of the day after they hit the ground.

“We killed two longbeards, both at midday, in a week's time. One gobbled a little bit, and the other just strutted,” Brantley says. “I expect that by now, and especially by next week, the hens down there will be nesting pretty heavily, and it should be a great time to find a workable bird again. We saw a ton of jakes in Texas this year, and that bodes well for next season.”

After the Texas hunt, Brantley and his family came home for the Kentucky opener, which was April 12.

“I'd been getting trail camera pics of three gobblers in one of our food plots here close to home, and so Michelle, Anse, and I started there,” Brantley says.

The three of them had a bit of a late start on opening morning, though, and couldn't get to the spot they’d wanted to sit before daybreak.

“All three of the gobblers were roosted nearby and hammering on the limb, and so we sat down in a ‘B’ spot, figuring we'd have to move to do any good,” he says. “The gobblers had some hens with them as well, and it took the flock a while to work into the food plot after they flew down. I think they were waiting for the sun to burn away some of the dew. Once they did, we were able to get one of the hens talking, which fired the gobblers up, and they came marching in, side-by-side. We managed to pull off a triple with three shots, which I haven't done too many times in the past. All three gobblers were 2-year-olds.”

The Brantley family tripled with three nice longbeards during the Kentucky opener. (Photo by Will Brantley)

Despite that great opener, Brantley says the hunting has been very tough since then.

“In fact, I've hunted until noon the past two days in a row in Tennessee and have not heard a single gobble or seen a male turkey,” he says. “It's a reminder to take the good days with the tough ones and enjoy it all, because turkey season doesn't last for long. The late season is actually my favorite part of the season in these parts. Some of the hunting pressure has subsided, and the gobblers seem to get vocal again closer to the end of April. By the end of next week, I expect the report to be better.”

Realtree Timber 2 Table Editor Michael Pendley says he and his family are five days into the Kentucky season, which started a bit slowly with birds gobbling on the roost but getting quiet on the ground and staying henned up.

“Things are starting to pick up,” Pendley says. “The past two mornings have been a good time to be in the woods. Yesterday, my wife Cheryl and son Potroast hunted together and had birds working most of the morning. It turned out to be a flock of two longbeards, four jakes and seven to eight hens. Each time the gobblers would move near shotgun range, the hens would ease away, pulling the longbeards with them.”

Pendley and his daughter, Michaela, hunted a different location on a high ridge. Strong winds kept morning gobbling down, but it only took about 45 minutes to work in a longbeard, jake and hen.

“My daughter took the longbeard at about 15 yards,” Pendley says. “This morning was cooler, just above freezing, but calm. Birds gobbled well on the roost and continued to be vocal after fly down. About 30 minutes after fly down, I heard a distant shot and received a text from the wife that she had taken her first bird of the season. Potroast said the hens sailed down off roost into the open field below them. The longbeard flew down into the woods and walked into the open, going toward the waiting hens. When he saw the jake decoy, he turned and made a beeline straight to it.”

Pendley says a few minutes after hearing the shot, Michaela nudged him and nodded her head to the logging road they were set up on.

“The two gobblers we had been working had just stepped out into the open and were working our way,” he says. “When the lead bird dropped strut at 20 yards, Michaela filled her second tag. We could still hear birds gobbling in the distance as we took photos nearly an hour after the shots.”

Realtree’s David Blanton has been hunting for the past few days as well.

“The birds I’m encountering are gobbling good early,” Blanton says. “For about an hour after fly down, they’re receptive to calls within their ‘bubble.’ The midday gobbling is pretty decent. I’ve heard a few hunters say they killed birds that never gobbled. They came in silent. These are usually older birds.”

Michael Arnold says Tennessee’s opening weekend was not as expected.

“There was a lot of gobbling on the limb for the first hour or so then total silence,” Arnold says. “It's looking like most of the hens are bred and some gobblers are grouping back up.”

Arnold says the gobblers are spending most of the day in strut zones in shaded areas due to the 80-degree weather, with limited birds gobbling throughout the day.

Michaela Pendley shows off one of two Kentucky birds she’s taken during a two-day span of hunting. (Photo by Michael Pendley)

“On opening morning we sat up on a hillside in a large field,” he says. “We had several gobblers and jakes with several hens behind us and three gobblers with no hens on the powerline across the field. The flock went the other way, while the three were answering my every call. They came off the hill gobbling hard, saw our decoys and kept going right past us.”

He says the birds became quiet by 8 a.m. and they didn’t hear a gobble the rest of the day.

“Yesterday afternoon, my son-in-law called up those same three birds and they came right in and he was able to harvest one of them,” Arnold says. “Gobbling has slowed somewhat, but if you get out and cover some ground, there are still some lonely toms that will work. It should pick back up in the weeks to come.”

Realtree’s Michael Pitts has been hunting in his home state of Georgia where he says the turkey behavior has been pretty good.

“A lot of gobblers are still with hens, but they’ve been workable,” Pitts says. “They are responding to calls and coming in to investigate. Here in the near future, the hens will start to nest, and it will be a good time to be in the woods midday to try and catch that gobbler alone and looking for attention. Midday hunting is often overlooked, but can be extremely productive.”

Reid Duvall, director of finance for Turkeys for Tomorrow (TFT), says he’s been hunting in Coosa County, Alabama, where he’s experienced very limited gobbling activity.

“I witnessed several lone hens that appeared to be on their nests,” Duvall says. “What little gobbling we witness ended after fly down. This morning, I was fortunate to tag a bird in Bullock County. It was a beautiful morning with no shortage of gobbling activity. I heard four to six different birds, with reduced activity after fly down, however we were able to strike a bird around 9:30 that was keen to come check us out.”

BC Rogers III, TFT board member, says gobbling on his place in Mississippi has been slow this week.

“I attribute this to a few factors – one that is glaring,” Rogers says. “The birds we’ve been hearing have gotten a free ride in the back of several different pickup trucks. That’s great for our fellow Mississippi hunters, but not so great for serving turkey nuggets at the Rogers household. That said, we had one great hunt this week that ended in a stalemate. Still no shots fired, but the spring woods are as majestic as ever and we have had a great stretch of weather that should eventually pay off.“

Jody Pagan, TFT board member, hunted in South Texas where he says the gobbling has been fair to good.

“There are absolutely a ton of jakes,” Pagan says. “I saw no lone hens that appeared to be nesting, but the drought conditions and body condition may have been the cause for lack of nesting. Dry is an understatement.”

This is the last southern Strut Report for 2025. Overall, it’s been a great season for hunters throughout the region. With gobbler activity sure to pick up during the late season, hunters have several more productive weeks of hunting in the southern states to look forward to if the weather cooperates.