Your season in a nut shell

[aaron]

Im in ohio, and the general trend is they are getting tougher.  I guess I should say its getting tougher to find a bird to hunt.  Once you find one it isn't always terribly tough to kill him.  In the early 2000's we were killing 25-26,000 a year.  Now we are down to 16-17,000 a year.  the flock is a fraction what it once was.  I hunt strictly private and hunt numerous smaller farms.  typically 60-100 acre parcels.  In the hay day there would be 3-4 gobblers on every farm I hunt.  No youre thanking your lucky stars if you hear one. 

[TauntoHawk]

My season fit perfectly into the normal, but had to work a little harder. I didn't encounter many birds that wanted to run in strutting and gobbling all the way to the gun, I also battled temps that were about 18 degrees above average for a large part of my days afield. Birds still died at roughly the same rate I just had to adjust to how they were working this season. My sucess (shooting/calling) afield was 54%, the previous 3 years (62.5%, 50%, 58%).

I obverserved slightly less mature birds on most properties but saw a very healthy dose of Jakes so I have no concerns for future flocks.

I scouted harder, hiked further, and stayed out longer to get to the birds I got but wouldn't change a thing. 

[NJGobblerHunter]

I got skunked again, making this 9 years in a row without a bird. Hopefully I tag my first gobbler next season.

[Tail Feathers]

It took me longer than average to get my one bird limit at home.  So I put harder than average.  I kept running into weather and set-up problems so maybe it wasn't all the birds' fault.

[Scout24]

Got my one in NH and two in Ct but called in birds for both my boys which really made for a memorable season. Nothing like watching the kids getting so into it, I've killed enough in 20+ years, not like it used to be, couldn't get enough when younger. One of my buddies has an older gent hunting nearby that we used to joke about as he'd say, "Can't wait to shoot my bird so I can get back to my golf!"  I'm beginning to understand now.

[Greg Massey]

Filled all 4 of my tags in Tenn within the first 15 days of season. All long beards ...Didn't hear a lot of gobbling but still the same I had another great season.. in 2014 filled all 4 of my tags within the first 12 days of season. As I tell people patience is the name of the game and don't stop hunting just because it 10 clock in the morning.. I kill a lot of my birds from 10 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon..

[Boonelli14]

Lots of birds talking on our farm in southern Ohio....seemed like they were pretty henned up the majority of the season. My buddy scored a real nice bird there but it was pretty much a sit and wait them out kind of deal. I was striking out till the end when I was fortunate enough to get on three hot birds and put one nice one in the back of the truck. To me....dead birds=success. Sure they could have worked better for us but I'm happy overall

[Cut N Run]

Pretty normal season for me.  Gobblers were quiet and busy with hens early on. By the end of the second week, the hens were going to nest and gobblers were looking for action. I tagged a nice 3 year old on private land at one of my favorite spots. I tagged a good two year old on public land in the middle of the third week to tag out. I learned a new place that should pay off in the future.

Jim

[kyturkeyhunter4]

2 Ky Birds, son tagged out also wasn't  easy but overall had a great season in ky.

[wytrat785]

Normal for the most part. The weather this Spring has been the real challenge. It's been a long time I had to deal with this much rain. Digital rain gauge says 12.25" so far this month. I'm hoping for a dry weekend since it's my last to fill my remaining tag.

[crappieangler]

I was fortunate to hunt 6 states, but 3 were new to me so I have no basis for comparison. In my home state the birds were just weird compared to normal for myself and many of my buddies, and remained the case through the whole season. Was able to fill my two tags in 4 hunts and help a buddy get his in a morning. KS and NE was pretty normal. MN birds were maybe the toughest birds I've ever hunted, but was able to get one to come in the second evening of two solid days of hard hunting. Got birds in SD and WY in snow storms, those WY Merriams sure do talk a lot and made it fun. Black hills birds on the other hand seem like they could give you fits.  I never heard a bird, so resorted to driving and finding birds.....they were few and far between and weren't responsive to calls so I had to resort to spot and stalking the 2nd group I located. 

[mudhen]

Filled tags in 3 states, so I'm thrilled!

Very visual year...almost every bird worked into a jake decoy set up....I learned much about how setting up the jake decoy can affect the birds...

Not a typical year for sure, but great in my opinion!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ceejay]

I have 2 best buddies that I try to turkey hunt at least one time with each spring.  This spring on separate hunts they each connected on a nice gobbler while I was hunting with them.  So, a very good year. 

[jepcho]

I had a very good year dont get me wrong.  Killed more this year than I ever have, but most of them, including the birds I helped others get, were pretty tough.  The kinda acted weird, I dont know how to describe it.  Just didn't quite act like they do most years.  But that is turkey hunting, you never know whats gonna happen.

[WildSpur]

Probably my worse year in SW PA.  Happy I got a longbeard on the opener but i could not fill #2.  After my first one I heard 5 other birds on various hunts.  All but 1 either had hens yelping back at us or would keep heading away leading me to believe he wasn't alone!  Otherwise the wind was a howling almost every day I went out.   So hens and wind did me in but the birds and sign were there.