There isn't much I enjoy more than spending time outdoors and unless the weather is really bad, I spend all day a lot of days in the woods deer hunting and fall turkey hunting. Our legal hunting hours in the fall are from sunrise to sunset, but in the spring It's a half hour before sunrise to noon. The time seems to fly by and there are so many days in the spring that I wish I could hunt all day. I'll take the gun home some days and go back out just to watch the birds, but It isn't hunting.
I understand that our DEC sets the hours to protect the nesting hens, but when I'm hunting spring turkeys I don't spend much time stomping around in the brush, and I doubt many other people do either. Regardless, the law is the law and I follow it.
I'm just curious what the hunting hours are in other places. Till noon, all day, or otherwise?
Bob
PA is till noon the first 2 weeks of the season then all day the last 2 weeks.
MD is till 12 the first two weeks then all day after I believe.
That's interesting. Never knew there were places that split it up like that. Years ago, we had a split season here in NY. If you killed a bird at some point during the first 2 weeks, you couldn't hunt till the second 2 weeks. It made you think before you pulled the trigger on opening morning.
Thanks!
Bob
Down here in ms. You can hunting all day everyday. I know we are lucky. Couldn't imagine working a hot bird and having to quit at noon.
Here in Iowa it's half hour before sunrise till sunset. I have hunted Missouri a couple times and I believe they close at 1 in the afternoon if I remember right.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on February 07, 2016, 02:16:49 PM
Down here in ms. You can hunting all day everyday. I know we are lucky. Couldn't imagine working a hot bird and having to quit at noon.
It stinks to say the least, but it is what it is. I've had to walk away from gobbling birds many times over the years. ::)
Bob
All day hunting in North Carolina. Never had any hens get busted off the nest while I was hunting. That is a stupid law. Most Biologist disagree with needing stop hunting at noon due to hens being on the nest. Where I hunt most folks hunt mostly in the morning. So there is not that many hunters in the woods in the afternoon. I love hunting in the afternoon. While the hens are on there nest the gobblers are a tad easer to call them in.
I agree with you guys. In over 30 years of hunting, I've moved one hen off her nest that I know of and I'm sure within a short time she went back to setting.
It's actually kind of funny, but it was almost tragic. I came up to a small creek that I could usually walk across. The water looked to be over the top of my boots that day so I took the shell out of the chamber, backed up a couple steps, got a running start and jumped. I was in mid air looking at the spot I picked out for a landing, when a hen flew up in the exact spot, I never saw her. The next thing I saw was a nest with ten or twelve eggs in it right where my feet were headed. I landed spread eagle with one foot on each side of the nest. It threw off my balance and the momentum carried my body beyond the nest and into the wet stuff face first. It was worth it though. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd landed on those eggs.
Bob
Minnesota is 1/2 hour before sunrise to sunset each and every day that our spring turkey season is open.
Jersey is til noon only until the last 2 weeks, than its all day.
Close at 12 then all day rest of the season. This is one of the dumbest laws I can think of ever. The reason is not to disturb nesting hens. Ummm well ok, the last 2 weeks of the season when we can hunt all day is when most are sitting. Kinda defeats the principle.
Yeah I wish NY would at least adopt what PA is doing...all day hunting the last 2 weeks..I've hunted other states with all day hunting and it can be very effective sometimes the difference between tagging out or not..But DEC wont do it...I've walked away from many hot afternoon birds and it SUCKS....
I have on a few occasions spooked hens off nests...do they just come back and sit on them again? or is that considered a dead hatch?
MO is til 1300. KS is 1/2 hr before and after
IL is till 1:00 years ago it was till 12:00. The hen nesting is false. You would be more apt to bump a hen off early when it is cool out. The 12:00/1:00 closing is old school tradition and politics. I hunt public land so in IL if they did change it to all day hunting,public ground would still shut off at 1:00 due to mushroom hunters. This is why I like fall turkey hunting and going out of state in the spring.
The biologists really don't scientifically know the why for for the mid-day closings. One of their group surmised the theory and it was adopted without study. Much like the long time ban on killing does. At least the ban on killing hens has a mathematical basis to fall back on.
Quote from: LI Outdoorsman on February 07, 2016, 03:40:56 PM
Yeah I wish NY would at least adopt what PA is doing...all day hunting the last 2 weeks..I've hunted other states with all day hunting and it can be very effective sometimes the difference between tagging out or not..But DEC wont do it...I've walked away from many hot afternoon birds and it SUCKS....
I have on a few occasions spooked hens off nests...do they just come back and sit on them again? or is that considered a dead hatch?
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I'm no biologist but I can't imagine them not coming back after being spooked off. Possibly not if they were repeatedly spooked, I don't know. The one I mentioned in my last post hatched her eggs. I went back and checked on the nest later in the spring, and there was nothing but some empty shells. And by the looks of them, they'd hatched and not been broken by a predator.
Bob
Quote from: silvestris on February 07, 2016, 04:52:15 PM
The biologists really don't scientifically know the why for for the mid-day closings. One of their group surmised the theory and it was adopted without study. Much like the long time ban on killing does. At least the ban on killing hens has a mathematical basis to fall back on.
That makes more sense than most of what I've heard on the subject.
Bob
Quote from: Gobble! on February 07, 2016, 01:25:09 PM
MD is till 12 the first two weeks then all day after I believe.
Yep....except we can't hunt sundays...
Quote from: JLH on February 07, 2016, 06:14:55 PM
Quote from: Gobble! on February 07, 2016, 01:25:09 PM
MD is till 12 the first two weeks then all day after I believe.
Yep....except we can't hunt sundays...
I find that offensive especially in light of the fact that I find it easier to find Christ in his natural world than in a 501(C) corporation. To me, freedom of religion means absoulutely no state involvement absent criminal activity.
In GA it is 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. As many people that are hunting turkeys now I prefer the afternoons as the hens are on nest and the casual turkey hunters are fishing or playing golf.
We can hunt certain public areas in Allegany,Garrett and Washington counties now. Page 21 in the regs. Some other counties let you hunt private land on sundays.
That was in reference to Md. Left that out. My bad.
As has been stated, Missouri closes at 1 pm. I personally believe the rule stems from some sort of MDC regulations Committee drinking game where the last person conscious got to propose the most ridiculous regulation they could think of. Pretty much sums up how I feel about it.
Also, word on the street is that Missouri will go to all day in 2017.
Wisconsin's current hours are 1/2 hour before sunrise and end at sunset*. When I started turkey hunting we were the noon closure...
MK M GOBL
Quote from: silvestris on February 07, 2016, 06:31:54 PM
Quote from: JLH on February 07, 2016, 06:14:55 PM
Quote from: Gobble! on February 07, 2016, 01:25:09 PM
MD is till 12 the first two weeks then all day after I believe.
Yep....except we can't hunt sundays...
I find that offensive especially in light of the fact that I find it easier to find Christ in his natural world than in a 501(C) corporation. To me, freedom of religion means absoulutely no state involvement absent criminal activity.
I'm with you 100%
But the liberals here won't be happy until all hunting is abolished.
It's actually the deep pockets of the horse community that is keeping Sundays closed....they have to be able to ride their horses without rednecks shooting at them cuz they look like a deer!
It's true we are getting some Sundays in certain counties, but on private land only.
Maryland...a great state filled with crappy people... ???
Yea I wish the NY DEC would adopt some changes also. All day hunting or even doing what PA does would sure be nice. The people its hurting the most is the young hunters still in school with limited hunting time.They are the future of our sport. The almighty $$$ is only thing the NY DEC cares about and they don't make much from turkey hunters so nothings gonna change. What they did for our fall season last yr was too little,too late to help our struggling population.
FL is daylight to dark on private but 1:00 on the public land. They did run an online survey that asked if you were in favor of all day hunting and several other ?s regarding the subject. Then they were gonna do a trial run on a few WMAs last year and let them hunt all day but I haven't heard how it went as I don't hunt those. Looks like they may possibly be heading towards all day hunting statewide.
New York turkey numbers are plummeting and 5 short years ago there were plenty of them.
I'm glad they cut the fall season from 7 to 2 weeks and glad New York gives the birds a break in the afternoon. They don't need to be doing anything to increase harvest opportunities.
We hunt all day in SC.
Sent from the Strut Zone
Quote from: Treerooster on February 07, 2016, 02:33:48 PM
Colorado is 1/2 before sunrise to sunset as are many states I hunt...NE, KS, etc.
MT is 1/2 before sunset to 1/2 after sunrise. That's too late IMO.
WI is 1/2 before to sunset. WI use to quit at 1:00 then went to a 5:00 pm quit time then went to all day hunting. There turkey population has not suffered as a result of all day hunting. In the fall in WI the hours extend to 20 min after sunset. A lot of other fall game can be hunted until 20 min after sunset (deer grouse etc) and I think that's why they extend turkey hours in the fall.
I don't think there is a good biological reason to have noon or 1:00 quit times. May be a reason to manage hunters, but I just don't see how it affects turkey numbers.
;D ...Might want to go back and edit that.... :TooFunny:
I think an all day hunt in NY would be fine if the DEC reduced the bag from 2 birds to one . The real problem is poaching in my opinion which is nearly impossible to contain.
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on February 08, 2016, 06:44:37 AM
New York turkey numbers are plummeting and 5 short years ago there were plenty of them.
I'm glad they cut the fall season from 7 to 2 weeks and glad New York gives the birds a break in the afternoon. They don't need to be doing anything to increase harvest opportunities.
I agree with you completely and just to be clear, I'm not pushing for an all day hunt at the present. When I realised what shape the birds were in here this past spring, I stopped hunting them. I didn't hunt this past fall for the first time in many years for the same reason. I love these birds and I'll do whatever I can to help them. Whether it means shorter seasons, smaller bag limits, or even a closed season. There have been many times over the years though, that I've wished we could hunt all day.
Bob
We've been hunting all day in Wisconsin for many years with no documented effect on the turkey population.
We have, however, documented an effect on the members of our fifth season turkey camp. Rising at 3:15 a.m. and hunting until dusk is killing us!
The good news is that we've taken gobbling birds as late as 7:30 in the evening.
Although I do like to chase birds in the fall if I had to give up something for the good of the population it would be the fall season...close it all together..let the birds be for a whole year till spring..Then when you get your 1 gobbler in the spring your tagged out..Some guys will dog them the whole season till the end to get another bird...Me when I get one I'm content...Then I can move on to fishing or call in a bird for a buddy..I say NY one and your DONE! But you get all day to do it...
I would be all for a ban on hens here. Tho I don't think many hunt them in terms fall so it probly wouldn't make much difference. Our biggest problem is poaching. Wv is horrible for it and having rifles legal doesn't help our numbers any. Can't tell you how many times I've heard a rifle Crack as soon as it was light enough to skyline em. That and a ton get shot in deer season. Had a buddy have two shot of the roost in front of him here in Md. They were trespassing to boot. He tried to catch them but failed. People that have no respect for the animal really tick me off. But I am glad there are still some people that can be adults and have a sense of decency. If everyone followed the rules we would have twice as many birds.
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:icon_thumright:
Missouri has a 1:00pm closure. I like it and that gobblers are not hearing people yelp all day long and chasing after them. They seem stupid after resting a half of a day with our any one after them. It sure seems like they are easier to hunt than some states I have hunted later in their seasons that have all day hunting.
Quote from: Happy on February 08, 2016, 08:37:57 PM
I would be all for a ban on hens here. Tho I don't think many hunt them in terms fall so it probly wouldn't make much difference. Our biggest problem is poaching. Wv is horrible for it and having rifles legal doesn't help our numbers any. Can't tell you how many times I've heard a rifle Crack as soon as it was light enough to skyline em. That and a ton get shot in deer season. Had a buddy have two shot of the roost in front of him here in Md. They were trespassing to boot. He tried to catch them but failed. People that have no respect for the animal really tick me off. But I am glad there are still some people that can be adults and have a sense of decency. If everyone followed the rules we would have twice as many birds.
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We have the same problem here and I'm sure every place does to some extent. We live on a road that's perfect for it. My house on one end and another about a mile and a half away on the other, with several fields in between. The road "hunters" start about sunup, and drive back and forth all morning long.
I know one guy that drives it regularly and uses a rifle, shotgun only here. He shoots everything he can, including spring hens. It's the same during deer season too, and it all makes me so mad I could scream. Sometimes they don't even take the birds and deer, I've found both dead in the fields more than once. They never seem to get caught, and if they did the fine wouldn't come close to the damage they do. I've chased them them off, given the DEC plate numbers etc, but nothing seems to do any good.
Bob