I know turkeys love chufa, but my question here is how does the chufa affect them once spring is here and the gobblers have split up? Are the hens on it everyday still bringing the gobblers with them?
Just want to hear some personal experience from you guys that have planted and hunted it during springtime
Never hunted over bait....Chufa is bait
Quote from: LaLongbeard on January 31, 2019, 07:47:20 PM
Never hunted over bait....Chufa is bait
So I guess it's fair to assume you would never hunt a deer over some clover or oats you planted in the ground either?
I planted it one year and it was dug up before the season ever started, they hit it hard in January and february
I have never planted it, but I would image if the patch was in a bird's range it would visit at some point in time. If not to eat then to socialize and be seen.
I have hunted it and planted it before. Birds will use it every day and will bring birds with them.
I planted it with great success. Think it's one of the best things that ever happened to turkey hunting!
Quote from: PSEoutlaw07 on January 31, 2019, 08:07:12 PM
Quote from: LaLongbeard on January 31, 2019, 07:47:20 PM
Never hunted over bait....Chufa is bait
So I guess it's fair to assume you would never hunt a deer over some clover or oats you planted in the ground either?
You assume right I have never planted or deposited bait of any kind anywhere and have not had problems killing deer or turkeys. The hens come to the Chufas bringing the Gobblers not much sport. Tom Kelly wrote about the Chufa hunting crowd in a couple of his books. Really funny reading if you get a chance check it out.
I love to hunt kill turkeys and yes they do give me problems doing it but the real reason most plant chufas is to help the flock on your land. Most people that will bash you or hate dont have private land and tractors and equipment to do so. The best thing they can do in this situation is say I dont need that to kill birds when in most cases they dont have that luxury. Just my thoughts and if you want to help your birds be healthier and happier plant away
Quote from: chufagold on January 31, 2019, 09:25:31 PM
I love to hunt kill turkeys and yes they do give me problems doing it but the real reason most plant chufas is to help the flock on your land. Most people that will bash you or hate dont have private land and tractors and equipment to do so. The best thing they can do in this situation is say I dont need that to kill birds when in most cases they dont have that luxury. Just my thoughts and if you want to help your birds be healthier and happier plant away
I have land and tractors I still would not hunt over Chufas. People that want to help the turkey populations on there lands plant foods that will sustain the turkeys thruout the year not plant a patch of Chufas that once dug up an eaten are gone. How many of the Chufa patch sitters replant after they "hunt" over the Chufas lol.How much help to new born poults do you think Chufas are? Most plant just enough to attract the turkeys shoot a few to show everyone how skilled they are and then forget all about the turkeys until it's Chufa planting time next year. Throwing out corn is baiting and so is hunting over Chufas the tractor doesn't legitimize the act.
actually they only eat chufa here in georgia for about the first week or so of the season. Usually plant about 3 acres and they start on it about mid November and feed until first week of April then done. U plant less than that and u will definitely never hunt on it because it's gone way before then. some times they stay on it all day in Jan and feb so I think it keeps them fat and happy through the winter so that makes me happy.
You also must really care about the birds to plant it because u have to spend a grand in June. A month after the season is out and according to some people just move on to the next thing. Not for Chufa planters... we are committed to helping our flock and not just in it for the kill.. were still out there grinding away in the heat of the summer knowing that it will be another 6 months before they can start to eat it.
Quote from: chufagold on January 31, 2019, 09:54:05 PM
You also must really care about the birds to plant it because u have to spend a grand in June. A month after the season is out and according to some people just move on to the next thing. Not for Chufa planters... we are committed to helping our flock and not just in it for the kill.. were still out there grinding away in the heat of the summer knowing that it will be another 6 months before they can start to eat it.
Lol Yea that's why people that are so concerned about turkeys plant something besides Chufas, something that would help the poults which has more to do with helping the population than sitting over a Chufa patch. I didn't know Chufas cost 1000.00 to plant....what's that come out to per pound of turkey meat lol.
I think it actually does help the poults more than anything u can do for them. If their mom is super fat and healthy/less stressed through the winter then she is much more likely to produce more eggs which equals more poults. During the summer there really isn't anything you can do to help them because there is plenty to eat everywhere and when it does get cold in November they can eat chufa which starts the cycle all over again. Yes it very expensive when u factor in fuel/ weed killer before u plant/ seed/ a a few hundred dollars in fertilizer. I think it's the greatest thing you can do if u truly care for the wild turkey
Quote from: LaLongbeard on January 31, 2019, 09:37:37 PM
Quote from: chufagold on January 31, 2019, 09:25:31 PM
I love to hunt kill turkeys and yes they do give me problems doing it but the real reason most plant chufas is to help the flock on your land. Most people that will bash you or hate dont have private land and tractors and equipment to do so. The best thing they can do in this situation is say I dont need that to kill birds when in most cases they dont have that luxury. Just my thoughts and if you want to help your birds be healthier and happier plant away
I have land and tractors I still would not hunt over Chufas. People that want to help the turkey populations on there lands plant foods that will sustain the turkeys thruout the year not plant a patch of Chufas that once dug up an eaten are gone. How many of the Chufa patch sitters replant after they "hunt" over the Chufas lol.How much help to new born poults do you think Chufas are? Most plant just enough to attract the turkeys shoot a few to show everyone how skilled they are and then forget all about the turkeys until it's Chufa planting time next year. Throwing out corn is baiting and so is hunting over Chufas the tractor doesn't legitimize the act.
You said "how many chufa patch sitters replant after they have hunted it"
THAT is when you plant chufa, AFTER the season is already over, while everybody else fishin and going to the beach in June the " chufa sitters" are sweatin to death planting food for the wild Turkey, if you sweatin in June for turkeys, I'm sure you do other things for management as well
It's clear y'all have finally found a way to be successful at killing turkeys. It's unlikely anything I could say would change your mind. It is a 100% fact there's nothing you could say that would convince me that sitting over a Chufa patch is hunting, so we're finished here.
To be clear I think I care for the wild turkey more than some. Anybody can just say hey its turkey season and just go sit in the woods and call which I think Is pure disrespect knowing u could have contributed during the year.
We plant Chufas every year and have for the past 5-6 years. Our turkeys love them and in my opinion it helps the hens by increasing their weight and overall health. Do we hunt over our Chufa fields, no we don't. That may be where we differ from others on this forum. But I do have to agree with some people on here that it would be no different than hunting over a cut corn field, clover field, or milo. In the long run were all here to enjoy turkeys and hunting them. If Chufas help them survive through the winter into spring and increase my population then I'm all for it. To each his own.
same here dont hunt over it at all. By the time season comes in its starts greening up and they leave it. maybe a few hens here and there but if u think it gonna sit on it and kill a lot of mature birds it's not gonna happen
To the OP since this kind of got sidetracked, yes, Chufa works great if done correctly and the amount needed. To me it is great for the whole flock and if you have issues with birds moving to the neighbors then if there is anything left then the birds will be there. I do not hunt over it but without it the birds are on my neighbors place. LaLongbeard, assuming you are from Louisiana like myself, so you say you don't plant plots for deer or turkey, sounds counter productive. Suggesting clover is a great idea but it's no different then chufa and it doesn't last year round either. If the op or anyone wants to hunt over it then that's their right
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Quote from: Turkeyslayer7 on February 01, 2019, 04:06:21 PM
. LaLongbeard, assuming you are from Louisiana like myself, so you say you don't plant plots for deer or turkey, sounds counter productive.
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Not if you know how to hunt deer and turkeys. Yes I'm from La and sitting in a box blind staring at a patch of oats, clover corn etc. was unheard of when I started hunting. I learned to find the deer or whatever I was hunting without bait. The fad of plot watching is the number one reason most La hunters are completely hopeless when hunting public land were no bait of any kind is allowed. You can rationalize Chufas or corn or whatever your consence will allow but baiting ain't hunting.
Quote from: Turkeyslayer7 on February 01, 2019, 04:06:21 PM
To the OP since this kind of got sidetracked, yes, Chufa works great if done correctly and the amount needed. To me it is great for the whole flock and if you have issues with birds moving to the neighbors then if there is anything left then the birds will be there. I do not hunt over it but without it the birds are on my neighbors place. LaLongbeard, assuming you are from Louisiana like myself, so you say you don't plant plots for deer or turkey, sounds counter productive. Suggesting clover is a great idea but it's no different then chufa and it doesn't last year round either. If the op or anyone wants to hunt over it then that's their right
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Yes and yes! I'm from Louisiana also. If you hunt small property it's imperative that you plant something to hold birds since everyone around you have "deer feeders " running year round! To the op because we have a wild hog problem chufa get rooted before the turkey have a chance to get to it. The better option for us is clover. Clover is very high in protein and when it gets tall the clover will provide poults "after the hatch" with a place to hide and catch insects.
I actually don't hunt over plots deer hunting nor do I bait. I took a rifle twice this year, I bow hunt. I do plant plots but it's for improving the herd or flock. I also plant trees and hinge cut main thing is planting plots can help keep deer and turkey around your land more
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Hijacking this now but where are you Louisiana guys from.
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Quote from: LaLongbeard on February 01, 2019, 05:16:09 PM
Quote from: Turkeyslayer7 on February 01, 2019, 04:06:21 PM
. LaLongbeard, assuming you are from Louisiana like myself, so you say you don't plant plots for deer or turkey, sounds counter productive.
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Not if you know how to hunt deer and turkeys. Yes I'm from La and sitting in a box blind staring at a patch of oats, clover corn etc. was unheard of when I started hunting. I learned to find the deer or whatever I was hunting without bait. The fad of plot watching is the number one reason most La hunters are completely hopeless when hunting public land were no bait of any kind is allowed. You can rationalize Chufas or corn or whatever your consence will allow but baiting ain't hunting.
I agree 100% that baiting is not hunting. I wish corn was illegal here but it isn't. I pride myself in being able to call a bird off the neighbors corn pile "joking ". If you have a small property I think it's wise to plant something just to keep turkeys around your area. I've shot several birds over the last few years that came from neighboring properties and they were slap full of corn.
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Quote from: Turkeyslayer7 on February 01, 2019, 05:54:23 PM
Hijacking this now but where are you Louisiana guys from.
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I'm from Livingston parish. I know, you can start with the jokes, I'm used to it!
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Lol na I wouldn't do that. I'm from Kentwood
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Well, look who has changed their username. Same song; second verse.
Who changed their username?
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I've planted chufas for several years and they're truly a turkey magnet. I plant them to pull and hold turkeys on our property but not to hunt over. I'm in the far south so I usually plant mid June so the chufas don't have to compete with the grass and weeds as bad. Late winter and early spring the turkeys are in the plots daily and you could easily kill every gobbler on the property by sitting over them. Turkeys continue to visit the plots through out season but become more sparse toward the end.
Just don't waste your time planting them if you have wild hogs on or near your property, they will destroy them over night.
I hunt private property and we plant food plots for deer and turkey. We started planting chufa about four years ago which we get from the NWTF in Edgefield S.C. We plant chufa during the summer and it is mostly gone by turkey season here in South Carolina. The birds love it and will come to it on a daily basis as long as it is available. We have some people who hunt over our chufa plots and some that hunt over the deer plots that contain clover. I personally don't hunt over food plots but do not hold it against those that do. I just wish they would learn how to hunt turkey without food plots in the equation and learn how much more fun and challenging it is than sitting on a food plot or chufa patch waiting for a bird to come in. We do have land with hogs on it and learned the hard way that planting chufa for the turkey on these tracks is a big waste of both time and money.