SC Hunters

[Vaughnrp2]

It ends today or at least for the SC guys on here. So for the SC boys how did it go this year? I killed two so I can't complain but I didn't hear as many birds or as much gobbling has the last few years.

[THattaway]

Got my own opinions about the season here. The May 20th opener on private land statewide put pressure on birds early before green up and probably had something to do with less gobbling heard though we are in a down cycle on numbers. April 1st was the general opener on public and on opening day I hunted a section that bordered private. Found several places where hunters had kicked out spots to sit against trees that obviously were done prior to the public opener and also the youth day leading up to it. That said, there was some cheating going on I believe. I finished tags by April 9th, got my son a big public youth day tom and helped another friend call in an additional tom. Son missed a jake and another big tom this week. Hunted with another friend several times and chased some gobbling (fairly certain we were chasing gobbling jakes that wouldn't commit) but heard less gobbling overall. I called in 24 separate jakes while I was in the woods and that should be great for the areas I hunted in the coming years. Normally see about half that number each year. So, that said, if the jakes are like that everywhere I am sure Charles Ruth and the tag reduction this year will be hailed as a tremendous achievement while recruitment is probably more the case. Apparently recruitment was much better than the dismal report he gave on it for last summer. As I've stated here before, to borrow on what Will Ferrell as Dr. Rick Marshall said in "Land of the lost": I would title the book about the 2015 turkey season as "Charles Ruth can suck it".

Also, almost forgot, let's not forget the legalization of baiting for deer two seasons ago which legalized it for the upper 2/3 of the state probably had an effect on where turkeys were at. Obvious to me that it probably changed turkey habits and where they hung out because many of said feeders and piles kept right on providing up to the season. As an example, a new neighbor 1/2 mile up the road ran a corn feeder in his back yard since last fall. Where we traditionally have 2-3 toms on the farm each year we didn't have one show up till this past week. Said neighbor had 30-40 turkeys in his yard daily till the shooting started and lesser numbers as the season progressed. Instead of resolving baiting issues for dnr LEOs as intended (during deer season) I think it only created bigger problems overall.

[Vaughnrp2]

I have a good friend how thinks Mr Ruth may know less about deer and turkey than anybody in the state.

[THattaway]

My sarcastic "suck it" comments are mostly just my frustration at losing two tags. I don't agree with Mr. Ruth on everything but I have no doubt he is a very intelligent and committed DNR biologist. I almost never see what his recruitment report states once the following spring arrives. However, I am only hunting a portion of the state and realize he is reporting for the whole. In email correspondence with him it was clear why he wanted a tag reduction, he has been against 5 tags from the beginning, even when we had record harvests (and recruitment) in 2001. Funny how those always go hand in hand.

[scbowhunterspbg]

I tagged out but the gobbling was off and the number of birds seemed lower versus previous years as well.
I believe the number of hens has a lot to-do with gobbling, seems their were lots of jennies this year.
Called in 8 jakes, 3 2yo, and 4 mature birds.

[trash2]

Season date change is terrible for the lowcountry. Birds where on fire early (before season) and quite late. Past 10 days the lowcountry has pretty much been poor, but when I've hunted inland towards williamsburg etc it has been good still. Amazingly I think they actually had it right before they tinkered with it. Maybe give the upstate some more days in May but move the season back to what it was, just my .02. Saw plenty of Jakes as well and cannot get excited for the reduction of tags, however it does make it more likely I'll be traveling more to hunt which is a plus. Recap: early season on fire, late season terrible. Saw birds die on both ends, even when they don't gobble they don't disappear

[Vaughnrp2]

I hunt around lancaster and kershaw and I think you are correct about birds still being hot inland. I went yesterday morning and heard two birds gobble pretty strong. I'll also agree that I think it would be better for the top 2/3 of the state to have more days in May and start the season on April 1st. I was actually talking with a friend about this yesterday. On March 20th  alot of the birds in the upstate have not been bread. Just my 2 cents.

[trash2]

Yep hunted places on the coast that are loaded w birds this past week, 0 gobbles. Move inland to a few places that have birds but not near what the coastal property has and consistently hear 2 or 3.

[WNCTracker]

tagged out the 2nd weekend of the private season in the lowcountry, they were really active.