Would you ever consider missing a season if..

[Sir-diealot]

I missed 17 seasons due to a car accident and last year due to a shoulder surgery, there is no way I am willing to miss any more. That said I would try some other spots for a season though.

[howl]

Hunt somewhere else or leave the gun at home

[hobbes]

I left local birds alone back home when they were just getting  established but it was legal to hunt them.  However, I never missed a season.  Ive never put all my eggs in one basket and relied on one small piece of property for something  I enjoy so much.

With that said, turkeys  aren't  isolated to one property.  How are the regional numbers? If there are birds in the region, another tom will gladly take the place of the one you kill.  Also, as long as those hens are bred, that tom alone has little to do with turkey numbers.

[Gooserbat]

I might not hunt that bird but I'd find one to hunt somewhere else.  To big of a word to limit myself to a single location.

[Cut N Run]

I've backed way off hunting one small farm for a couple of years and let the jakes pass (Jakes always get a free pass) to help the population recover. It definitely helped, as I killed a nice 3 year old and saw some jakes out there last year. Scouting there this year showed some great sign.

Jim

[kdsberman]

Thanks for the help guys.    This is the only farm I have access to hunt around here.  I probably should have re-worded the question instead of skipping hunting altogether would you take a year off THIS property?

As far as if there's hens they'll be toms, I usually would agree with this. But I remember a couple years ago there was ONE tom in this flock, and no matter how much I watched I never saw another tom around. Well, I shot him.  (At the time never thought if I did more harm than good).  My dad continued to hunt the same property and always saw hens but never a single tom nor jake.


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[TauntoHawk]

Thanks for the help guys.    This is the only farm I have access to hunt around here.  I probably should have re-worded the question instead of skipping hunting altogether would you take a year off THIS property?

As far as if there's hens they'll be toms, I usually would agree with this. But I remember a couple years ago there was ONE tom in this flock, and no matter how much I watched I never saw another tom around. Well, I shot him.  (At the time never thought if I did more harm than good).  My dad continued to hunt the same property and always saw hens but never a single tom nor jake.


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Yes I'd skip that property and hunt else where with more birds and work to improve the property for turkeys.. maybe chufa food plots would draw birds to your area and hold them

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[mtns2hunt]

As stated previously: "what are the regional numbers?" I find that in the early season flocks are still together to some extent and concentrated. Where they concentrate is the question. Is your neighbor feeding them.

Turkey hunting has changed and you need to adjust. As you have one band of turkeys and see one to two gobblers I would be sure there are some sub dominate birds around as well as a few groups of jakes. I run cameras all year around and hunt coyotes and any turkey egg eating critter that comes my way. You need to spend time observing to get a really good feel for whats going on.

Turkeys travel and I pull many birds off neighboring land by calling. While I have not noticed any decline in turkey numbers some parts of the country are said to be in decline. This makes it even more important to observe and manage your property. Just my 2 cents.

[kdsberman]

As stated previously: "what are the regional numbers?" I find that in the early season flocks are still together to some extent and concentrated. Where they concentrate is the question. Is your neighbor feeding them.

Turkey hunting has changed and you need to adjust. As you have one band of turkeys and see one to two gobblers I would be sure there are some sub dominate birds around as well as a few groups of jakes. I run cameras all year around and hunt coyotes and any turkey egg eating critter that comes my way. You need to spend time observing to get a really good feel for whats going on.

Turkeys travel and I pull many birds off neighboring land by calling. While I have not noticed any decline in turkey numbers some parts of the country are said to be in decline. This makes it even more important to observe and manage your property. Just my 2 cents.

Regional numbers? DOWN

I've always pulled birds off the neighboring properties as they don't roost on the 40 I hunt.

No, neighbors don't feed them. And as far as I know, I'm the only one that turkey hunts within the 3/4 - 1 mile radius.

There isn't much "adjusting" I can do. I have this 40 acre farm to hunt and that's it.  There's no moving around. It's either this property's birds or nothing.

[Bowguy]

Sounds like all your eggs are in one tiny basket. I believe in conservation so if you feel the need to lay off do so but why on earth not hunt elsewhere??
No excuse would get me to stop.
One year I tore my shoulder. It was hanging yet I still duck hunted one armed while I was off work healing. Years ago some medicine burned the skin clean off my crotch. Had to hunt wearing overalls and no underwear but I went. This year I had brain surgery. Had to learn everything over. Balance was off and my dominant eye was sewed shut. Still killed 4 deer, 2 decent bucks.
Do what you have to do if it's a lifestyle for ya. You'd kind of have no choice. If it's a passing hobby and you're ok w missing a season you could do that too

[kdsberman]

Sounds like all your eggs are in one tiny basket. I believe in conservation so if you feel the need to lay off do so but why on earth not hunt elsewhere??
No excuse would get me to stop.
One year I tore my shoulder. It was hanging yet I still duck hunted one armed while I was off work healing. Years ago some medicine burned the skin clean off my crotch. Had to hunt wearing overalls and no underwear but I went. This year I had brain surgery. Had to learn everything over. Balance was off and my dominant eye was sewed shut. Still killed 4 deer, 2 decent bucks.
Do what you have to do if it's a lifestyle for ya. You'd kind of have no choice. If it's a passing hobby and you're ok w missing a season you could do that too

Trust me - I don't want to SKIP a season.  To be honest, I was gonna be limited this year anyway due to work/newborn and the reason I'll be able to go is because of the short, convenient drive to the property. Having to go find state land is not going to be practical "right now" due to my at home situation.  That's why I'm just concerned about this particular area.


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[mtns2hunt]

Sounds like all your eggs are in one tiny basket. I believe in conservation so if you feel the need to lay off do so but why on earth not hunt elsewhere??
No excuse would get me to stop.
One year I tore my shoulder. It was hanging yet I still duck hunted one armed while I was off work healing. Years ago some medicine burned the skin clean off my crotch. Had to hunt wearing overalls and no underwear but I went. This year I had brain surgery. Had to learn everything over. Balance was off and my dominant eye was sewed shut. Still killed 4 deer, 2 decent bucks.
Do what you have to do if it's a lifestyle for ya. You'd kind of have no choice. If it's a passing hobby and you're ok w missing a season you could do that too

I think kdsberman says it better then me. No matter where you live there are tons of opportunities. I would motivate myself. Focus on what you have and develop plan B it that does not work out. One thing turkey hunting has taught me is to be innovative and to never give up. That's a common trait among most turkey hunters. Good luck!

[tha bugman]

Missing a season NO, but I would do everything I could to find a better place to hunt, in state or out!

+1

[dublelung]

There are usually more birds around than what you actually see. And 1 Tom can breed quite a few hens. One thing you could do this fall to help is set some traps for predators. Opossum and Raccoons are hard on nests and coyotes and bobcats are superb turkey killers.

My thoughts exactly! Even a jake will get the hens bred. Passing on gobblers where I hunt is an open invitation for a trespasser to come on in and kill him/them. If you've got hens then you'll have gobblers at some point in the season.

Trap those predators if you want to save the turkeys. They do more hen, nest, and poult damage than most other problems combined.

[davisd9]

There are usually more birds around than what you actually see. And 1 Tom can breed quite a few hens. One thing you could do this fall to help is set some traps for predators. Opossum and Raccoons are hard on nests and coyotes and bobcats are superb turkey killers.

My thoughts exactly! Even a jake will get the hens bred. Passing on gobblers where I hunt is an open invitation for a trespasser to come on in and kill him/them. If you've got hens then you'll have gobblers at some point in the season.

Trap those predators if you want to save the turkeys. They do more hen, nest, and poult damage than most other problems combined.

Not all Jakes have viable sperm to breed


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