I read an article from Dr. Williams the other day that pretty much said no matter how early of a spring it is, hens do not come into "heat" early, and that it is all determined by the amount of daylight (photoperiod), since mother nature is not "dumb" enough to rely on the weather for determining when turkeys (and deer) should breed. He said that the early spring and warm weather will get the gobblers all fired up and gobbling earlier, but the hens will not be bred any earlier.
I have a friend that was just hunting down in texas and he said the hunting was really tough. He said that the birds were all bred already and the toms showed no interest in any decoys, calls, etc..
What say you guys? Have some (or all) hens been bred already?
I am heading to Kansas in two and a half weeks, and Im a little worried about what its gonna be like if what my friend said is the case..
A few of the hens have been bred but were still in full force here.
Just remember a bad day of hunting is better than a good day at work.
Ive already had phenomenal hunting while a few miles away my buddies were getting whipped. No gobbling, turkeys not interested, henned up in one place, but not another. Interestingly, the whitetail rut is the same. One guy says theyre rocking where he hunts, the next guy claims five miles away the rut never even happened. Its all in location and timing, and prob some factors we dont entirely understand. If u cant try a diff area, u just have to be persistent. Ive seen the dead sea turn into a crazy jungle room in 24 hrs, and ive seen it do the opposite. I believe dr williams. The timing rarely fluctuates more than a week or two any direction. Pa had the same warm, early spring. A buddy just observed a hen laying her first egg. Right on cue, april 2nd right about where they should be, puts her sitting nest about may 1st, just like most every year in PA. Poults should hatch around memorial day or first wk of june.
Yes some hens have been mounted. I've never seen where they have just been done. Sometimes the toms may take a little time off, may not hit it as hard, but never just up and done. Iowa's 4th season is completely after breeding in May, and probably the best/easiest time to call toms. Have fun and GOOD LUCK in Kansas, Cornfed!
photopriod is the key. hens on average are beginning to lay now. some have already layed some will begin in a few days. april 6 is our median date for egg laying to begin.
Good info guys..thanks.
I was unaware that some hens were typically bred by this time on "normal" years anyways..
This season proves that photo period crap ain't true, these guys that get thier education in a classroom and not in tha woods can say what they want but here in bama were 3 to 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Hens have left the gobs and are nesting. Better killem while u can it's getting close to being done here.
They are gobbling good most places here and none I've worked or harvested this year have had hens with em.
Set up on a bird in Linden al. last Sat. morning.9 hens flew down with the tom being last at 7.20am.Don't think they are through yet.!!
Right on schedule in southern missouri. Gobblers gobbling on the roost and shutting up when they hit the ground, gobblers loaded with hens all are typical of the first week of april. I believe it has more to do with the daylight hours than the weather. Just like the whitetail rut, it might vary by a week or so from year to year but not much more than that.
Quote from: bushwhacker on April 04, 2012, 06:07:10 PM
Right on schedule in southern missouri. Gobblers gobbling on the roost and shutting up when they hit the ground, gobblers loaded with hens all are typical of the first week of april. I believe it has more to do with the daylight hours than the weather. Just like the whitetail rut, it might vary by a week or so from year to year but not much more than that.
Thats what I like to hear :icon_thumright:
Quote from: zach20065 on April 04, 2012, 03:52:50 PM
I think we are pretty much right on schedule here in WV. The turkeys are still really bunched up and every single gobbler is with hens right now from the roost in the morning on, and while some hens are being bread some havent yet, just like the whitetail rut some are early some are late just depends. By the time season comes most hens will be on the nest and gobblers will be lonely and looking.
The first couple weeks of the season are going to be epic this year.
Quote from: mrclif on April 04, 2012, 03:37:43 PM
This season proves that photo period crap ain't true, these guys that get thier education in a classroom and not in tha woods can say what they want but here in bama were 3 to 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Hens have left the gobs and are nesting. Better killem while u can it's getting close to being done here.
They are gobbling good most places here and none I've worked or harvested this year have had hens with em.
I'm not saying crap to photo period but I believe we are three to four weeks ahead of schedule here in Eastern NC as well. I've been scouting for two weeks prior to Saturday's Youth Day 4/7 and have heard a total of two gobbles early in the morning. We are seeing birds but it's Gobblers by themselves and alot of single hens feeding by themselves first thing in the mornings. Haven't seen the Gobblers and hens together at all. Got on one Gobbler Saturday, had him gobble once, strutted once worked him to 60 yards but he wouldn't commit and walked away. I'm also hearing some of guys say they have seen hens with poults already also. I haven't though. The Weather Channel website said that March was the warmest March on record ever. Still looking forward to chasing the birds but I believe we'll have to work very hard for birds this year. That's why we call it Hunting instead of Killing. Good Luck to Everyone and Be Safe.
I've had this discussion many times and it's hard to tell. The daylight is the same in Florida and Alabama vs. Va, but they have been gobbling and breeding for two months there. I know here in Va. I watch for the dogwoods to bloom and that's the peek usually. It happened around March 15, which is about 7 to 10 days early. Youth day this past Saturday we had numerous birds gobbling well after fly down . A couple of long beards had hens with them yelping back. I think the hunting Will be just fine well into May here!
Quote from: mrclif on April 04, 2012, 03:37:43 PM
This season proves that photo period crap ain't true, these guys that get thier education in a classroom and not in tha woods can say what they want but here in bama were 3 to 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Hens have left the gobs and are nesting. Better killem while u can it's getting close to being done here.
They are gobbling good most places here and none I've worked or harvested this year have had hens with em.
Nice, guess this is what you say when you don't like what your doctor tells you too. Sorry to piss on this thread, but when someone dumps on education b/c it doesn't jive with what they believe just really sticks in my craw.
I posted on this topic a week or so ago but I have seen in the past few days that my assumptions are correct. Turkeys here in southern missouri aren't gobbling much at all right now.
I have been in areas the past few days where I was hearing as many as ten two weeks ago and haven't heard a gobble. I think they are coming into the peak breeding here and our season starts 4/16, so they are right on schedule or maybe a week early at the most. Now I'm not saying this is true all over the country but this is just what I'm seeing here.
Quote from: sugarray on April 10, 2012, 01:03:44 PM
Quote from: mrclif on April 04, 2012, 03:37:43 PM
This season proves that photo period crap ain't true, these guys that get thier education in a classroom and not in tha woods can say what they want but here in bama were 3 to 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Hens have left the gobs and are nesting. Better killem while u can it's getting close to being done here.
They are gobbling good most places here and none I've worked or harvested this year have had hens with em.
Nice, guess this is what you say when you don't like what your doctor tells you too. Sorry to piss on this thread, but when someone dumps on education b/c it doesn't jive with what they believe just really sticks in my craw.
I tend to be very scientific but I scout 3-4 days a week and i cannot reconcile what I am seeing and hearing through science.
There seems to be a lot of disconnect between scientific theory and natural application this spring.
Science cannot reconcile the nests in the woods and the fact that my taxidermist's turkeys have been laying for 2 weeks with one sitting. This normally doesn't occur until the first week of may. The presence of the eggs and the sitting hen is empirical scientific data.......
I can tell you that some gobblers are still henned up in Bama, but most of the hens are bred. They are nesting. I have been seeing lone hen tracks since the opening week! When I say henned up the hens arent walking right past the gobblers without paying them any attention even running off. But the gobblers are still running around after them.
Hens started laying/nesting about 7-10 days earlier than normal for the areas I hunt in central/north Mississippi. The second peak in gobbling was also about a week earlier than normal.. Photoperiod is still the primary factor for breeding, but this season made it apparent that other conditions affect it too. Kind of sucks because our season has 3 weeks left and gobbling has dropped DRASTICALLY already. Last two weeks will be really rough.
Right on schedule here. Watched a gobbler breed a hen today at bout 75 yards.
I think its better the more that r bred. Toms r lonely and respond more.
Quote from: mrclif on April 04, 2012, 03:37:43 PM
This season proves that photo period crap ain't true, these guys that get thier education in a classroom and not in tha woods can say what they want but here in bama were 3 to 4 weeks ahead of schedule. Hens have left the gobs and are nesting. Better killem while u can it's getting close to being done here.
They are gobbling good most places here and none I've worked or harvested this year have had hens with em.
I don't know where you hunt but our Alabama birds are right on schedule.
I just got back from NW Kansas and saw hens by themselves quite a few times. My grandson's gobbler came to the call about 8:30am by himself but my gobbler was still with hens. I had numerous gobblers answer my calls but wouldn't commit to coming in. They were just walking and talking.
Well, it's looking like the guys who get winter weather are ahead of schedule and where the snowbirds go is right on time. Now, at least in Northern Iowa, on a normal year the turks are in big groups yet and the frost is just coming out of the ground. I know ground temp is the way things happen here. I had a biologist tell me. If you don't have the ground up to temp, the nest won't incubate. We don't have big groups and the hens are searching by 8am. We are at least 2 weeks ahead here.
Here in Pa, hens have not begun incubating, as i'm still seeing them feeding throughout the day aside from the mid morning to noon or so stretch when they are laying and tending nest. They are also still roosting in trees, not sleeping on the nest at night. Gobblers are henned up early, then mostly alone past ten am, till early to mid afternoon. Incubation should begin very soon, but we're not much ahead of schedule at all. Week or two tops. Season should be good and youth hunt is next wkd. My son is going nutz with excitement!
i can also tell you that where i was hearing 3 to 4 gobbles a morning two weeks ago im not hearing anything now. nothing not a thing. still seeing signs tracks and feathers along with some scat. not a bird gobbling though!
Don't believe they are finished, even here in Southwest Louisiana. Just 5 days ago I was trying to get a gobbler away from hens, he wouldn't come so I went and found one that didn't have hens. :fud: :OGani:
I don't know any of the "mumbo jumbo" scientific stuff, but a friend of my saw a hen with about 6 poults last week here in WV.
It's been a normal year for me here in East Central Alabama and Central Georgia, except for warmer weather most of the season.
Gobbling and hen chasing has really intensified here in NH.
Looks like we are right on schedule, and I think our season looks promising. :icon_thumright:
You guys are lucky. I didn't get to hunt yesterday. Today I went to Jefferson Co. WV to what is usually hot property and again there was not a peep. My brother was also along and he heard nothing. We actually left the woods around 9:45 cold and disgusted. At my home in Hardy Co. WV and friend said he saw a hen with 6 poults about a week ago. I'll be out again in the morning. Good luck to you guys.
Jim