Went out this morning to my trusty listening spot. You can hear a TON of real estate from one hilltop. 53 degrees and breezy........
NOTHING................
Not a PEEP.
That ain't cool.
They seem to have taken a thumping from the winter in my area as well. Seen a few here and there. We never really ever had a high population but its worse now. Thinking I aint gonna kill too many on my usual stomping grounds this year and give them a chance to recover. Gonna give it another week or two to see what moves back in before I decide.
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Unfortunately, this same scenario is playing out in Ms and Alabama this far. I went 4 mornings last week, heard 2 birds gobble one time each.
Hoping they just haven't broken up and gotten fired up yet. I covered 10 miles last weekend and only cut 1 hen track. No gobbles all weekend. Very unusual compared to past years
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Quote from: tazmaniac on March 11, 2021, 10:01:27 AM
Hoping they just haven't broken up and gotten fired up yet. I covered 10 miles last weekend and only cut 1 hen track. No gobbles all weekend. Very unusual compared to past years
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They're still bunched up here. Couple more weeks and that'll start to change. If not get too excited about not hearing one gobble just yet. But, things may be different where y'all live so,...
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My brother and I covered 2 different areas in our county the other morning. I heard one gobble once on roost and twice on ground leaving roost area. He heard only one as well. We were about 5 miles apart or more. Seems gobbling way down from our perspective.
notice it declining in pa as well...i think alot of people were out last year because of no work and covid more birds harvested. also with todays ammo and gun technology it has to be taking a effect on the birds as well.
Let's not forget all the extra pressure these birds experienced last year during the lock down. Record licenses sales in almost every state and from the few kill reports I have seen.....a larger harvest than normal. Unfortunately, I think we're all in for a tough season. I pray I am wrong.
DD :OGturkeyhead:
Quote from: DUCKDIGGLER on March 12, 2021, 07:55:43 AM
Let's not forget all the extra pressure these birds experienced last year during the lock down. Record licenses sales in almost every state and from the few kill reports I have seen.....a larger harvest than normal. Unfortunately, I think we're all in for a tough season. I pray I am wrong.
DD :OGturkeyhead:
Yes, hunting pressure was up dramatically last year, and harvest rates up some... Lots more jakes killed.
My feeling is that unless populations numbers are really low, that bird harvest has little effect on population numbers though... Spring breeding conditions and overall habitat & weather conditions play a much larger role in actual overall bird populations.
I do think that increased hunting pressure can move birds out of an area... Especially the increases in hunting pressure I saw last year (i.e. seeing 12 cars parked in a 30 acre hunting area, where previously I have never seen a vehicle).
I have been reading up and following the population data in our state. The records show a holding population and harvests have been normal. The thing that concerns me this year is a very important measure of how our season might go. The Mean Brood Size has been recorded every year since 1985. The 2020 mean brood size is 2.33. This is the 3rd lowest since 1985. 2003 had a MBS of 1.82, 2009 had a MBS of 2.30. This is concerning, time will tell after spending time this season in the field. The snow has melted here, I start my regimented scouting now till the opener. A lot of hiking/listening and scratch searching will give me a better feel of what to expect. Best of luck to all.
Here in Massachusetts been seeing birds still bunched up but signs of dispersing. Looks like we're going to have a good year up here. Looks like they got thru the winter in good shape. :)
Really odd here too. I've gone at first light listening for gobbles. Tried waiting a bit and drove around looking for them. I'm seeing and hearing very few
Quote from: Bowguy on March 12, 2021, 06:19:29 PM
Really odd here too. I've gone at first light listening for gobbles. Tried waiting a bit and drove around looking for them. I'm seeing and hearing very few
A few is better than none my brother :turkey2:
I've been out twice in Alabama and heard zero. I did see a good bit of hens and a couple Jakes on the last trip but haven't heard or laid eyes on a gobbler yet.
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It's been quiet here in Virginia but it's still a couple weeks early.. plus we've had a hard winter. I was looking over the published kill numbers and they are basically the same as the last 5 years so I'm thinking it has more to due w the weather right now.
Been a long winter up here in CNY... snow is just giving way to bare ground. Saw my first strutter yesterday. Pointless to even think about listening for another month up here. So much can change with birds in the week before season it can be frustrating keeping tabs on properties. The whole late winter/early spring flock breakup is a big factor for us. Depending on the weather it can be early/mid april- first week of may. That said i cant wait to get the ball rolling!!!
Spent a month in Georgia my 2nd season hunting. I cold front came in a couple days prior to the season opener. Temps down in the 20's for daytime highs and a little snow. Them southern birds did not like that cold one bit. Took 3 weeks before I heard my 1st gobble and that was hunting everyday. Seeing some birds but no gobbles. After that they let loose and were gobbling very good. Not sure when the start date was back then. I'm guessing I didn't hear a gobble til the end of march/ 1st week in April.
Lack of preseason gobbling never bothers me, neither does lack of sign in areas that I know. What concerns me more is even when I'm tagged out I go listen the last several days of the season and on a average year i know where 6-8 gobblers that made it through the season are, some years considerably more. I only heard 2 last year and they were about 5 miles apart and I was covering a lot of area. They got pretty hammered last year, plus I only saw a couple jakes all year. We will just have to see how things shake out this year I guess.
Just because you aint hearing turkeys, dont mean turkeys aint there. Ive been scoutimf the past couple weeks. Two gobbles, both within 2 minutes of one another, is all ive heard. Lots and lots of sign though. Idk where everyone is located that isnt hearing birds, but the SW and SE both just had a major historic winter event, and it was in the 20s for almost 4 days here in SC last week... I didnt even both to go listen those mornings.
Quote from: Pluffmud on March 13, 2021, 08:52:46 AM
Just because you aint hearing turkeys, dont mean turkeys aint there.
This: plus I scouted this am and did not hear a bird. I did follow what looked like a cattle stamped up one hill. Large bunch of turkeys working the ground. Found some gobbler sign and one dead Gobbler. I suspect a Bobcat. I will be after him this fall. Already have the cameras out and found tracks along one of the creeks. Already killed one this season but appears the population may be healthy. We will see.
Went out today and the birds were fired up. Heard 8-12 gobblers. Lots of grouped birds still. Big boys were out in green fields strutting away. Bird population looks as good as it has in a few years. Attempting to shoot first bow bird. Southern Indiana.
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They have been logging the farm above my hunting spot the last 6 months,on the ridge the turkeys normally roost on. I went out Wednesday morning and didn't hear or see the first bird. So I covered some ground and listened around other places and they are tight lipped.
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