I own 20 acres can I harvest a bird every year?

[bszweda]

I just recently bought 20 acres and was wondering if I should attempt to harvest a bird every year.My neighbors property has the roost tree,but I have the food plot and I know they use my field.  I am not sure if my neighbor turkey hunts, but do you think 1 bird a year is ok to harvest?

[jblackburn]

I guess it depends on how many birds you see and where you are.  If you are in Rio country, then I'm sure you can kill one, maybe two every year and still have plenty of birds.    If your in SE Louisiana, one per year may be too much.

By roost tree, do you mean the one and only tree around or a patch of woods they roost in?

[bszweda]

I meant the patch of woods they roost in. These are eastern in ne mo I am not exactly sure on how many birds, but from the tracks / poop it would indicate quite a few.

[jblackburn]

I would think that one mature tom per year would be ok in that part of MO.  you can also improve nesting habitat on your place in addition to having good food plots to ensure more poults hatch/survive.  I'd hunt it pretty passively so not to push them away from the place.

[darn2ten]

I'd say it has more to do with your surrounding properties and the habitat. Is your area pretty rural, surrounded by farms or timber on most sides? If so then I'd say that the size of your land is kind of insignificant. Yes you might not be able to move around a lot or very far, but if your neighboring properties hold birds then you have the possibility of any number of gobblers using or passing threw at any given day. Run a few cameras and try to get a idea of your turkey population. By your description, I don't think 1 bird a year would be a problem, but only you can really answer that.

[Honolua]

I just recently bought 20 acres and was wondering if I should attempt to harvest a bird every year.My neighbors property has the roost tree,but I have the food plot and I know they use my field.  I am not sure if my neighbor turkey hunts, but do you think 1 bird a year is ok to harvest?

Food Plot's a good start... I'd say it's doable. Maybe you should talk to the neighbor and see if you could turkey hunt over there in exchange for letting him hunt on yours or maybe doing some work over there.

[TauntoHawk]

Birdsgo where there is good habitat, if it's a good spot new birds will move right it. Especially if there's plenty of hens new gobblers will move in and take over.

I wouldn't be concerned about punching a tag each year, and there's something about taking an animal on a food plot you worked hard to put in and attract them into.

[Hooksfan]

You are not going to do damage if you and 2 of your friends fill both of their tags (6 birds).  If there are birds in the area, there will be more next year.  The success of the hatch will be the determining factor in what the population will be from year to year, regardless of what is killed during the hunting season. 

[nativeks]

This is on my 24 acre property. I have no hunting government ground to my south and trust land on 3 sides. With the right piece I don't think it matters. If you start whacking hens in the fall that changes things a bit.

[g8rvet]

I think you will get a feel for how the birds use the area and how many birds the neighboring properties hold.  There is often no rhyme or reason. I left a mature gobbler and 2 jakes on the 400 acres I hunt and have season nothing this year.  3 years ago, I tagged out (2 birds) pretty early and there were still 2 longbeards left.  2 years ago I killed one longbeard and knew there were two others there because he was with them and hunted a lot elsewhere (we had a public land bird that became a mission - he did die, my brother got him).  The guys that deer hunt it give me a report on the turkey population from the fall and it is pretty much meaningless.  Some years they say they have seen few and I kill (or call in) several birds.  This year, there were 2 longbeards seen (one with a limp-I found his messed up track already this year) and several jakes. I have seen nada. 

I agree, chufa planting would be nice.  Get them to using your acreage all year and the hens will tow the gobblers in.