Weather Opinion

[Bottomland]

Here is the southeast its been considerably warm (70s and 80s) for 2 weeks now and supposed to have another week of this weather.  Some plants are starting to bud out and bloom.

How do y'all think its gonna impact the turkeys? Season is still 20+ days out. Haven't scouted yet so don't know if they are gobbling.

[LaLongbeard]

Early springs will have them gobbling earlier and the breeding will start early as well. I keep a hunt log from every season and include weather scouting etc. In my experience when the springs early the opener usually falls in a gobbling lull by the time it opens the hens have grouped up with the gobblers and there's not much gobbling on the roost and the gobblers pitch down to a pile of hens and it's real quiet. But it will get better after the hens start to lay just gotta hang with it. I usually hunt everyday of the season.

[WNCTracker]

I thought that most breeding in birds in general was due to photoperiod and length of day.  I know it's common practice to supplement natural daylight with full spectrum bulbs in hen houses to keep the optimal photo period for laying.  It does seem like they gobble and strut earlier in warm winters. I think it's like the whitetail estrus cycle and more about photoperiod than weather.

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[Happy]

Never paid to much attention to when early/late springs. I just hunt and play the hand i am delt. I actually like the second half of our season better than the first usually. All the part timers have quit and the Tom's are getting lonely. Just cause all the Tom's aren't bellowing their lungs out don't mean it's over.

[davisd9]

Photoperiod effects more than weather

[dirt road ninja]

I would bet the house they gobbling in SW MS, with the warm weather we've been having

[davisd9]

They gobbling here in SC


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[Smooth_Operator]

Spring is always early in the Southeast, can't remember the last time we didn't get warm weather early and start to see trees budding out, only to be followed by a freeze soon after. Weather is great right now but I can't help but think we are in for another cold snap before late March. This weather will get birds gobbling but IMO breeding is based primarily on photoperiod, as davisd9 mentioned already.


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[MK M GOBL]

Of course we are the ones who measure time... turkey don't know it's Monday or Friday or March or April...
Breeding is primarily based on photoperiod, but the weather is a factor (from what I am guessing is a consistent temp range) , I have seen this in our farm birds. Maybe seems to swing by a week or so early/late at best, dad kept notes on his chickens, ducks, geese, guineas and turkeys. The birds were all "free range" just on the farm, we had incubators that we ran and collected eggs for. Now this is based where I live here in WI, as you travel south the breeding season is earlier ( by latitude) just like when the rut hits in the fall or seeing migratory birds returning in the spring.



MK M GOBL

[Spitten and drummen]

I would bet the house they gobbling in SW MS, with the warm weather we've been having

and you would win. I heard 7 hammering this morning.

[Panhandle_strutter]

They are definitely gobbling, saw 2 strutters with a group of hens a couple days ago as well. I was a little worried with it being 80°+ here in NW FL but like Smooth said we always seem to get another shot of cool weather to bring things back to normal. Like deer hunting, I think the weather helps get things started but everything generally happens around the same time based off their internal clocks

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[davisd9]

Can strut and gobble all day, but the hens say when it is time.


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[LaLongbeard]

I agree with the photoperiod being the main determining factor it's in all the books and that's what the experts say. Looking back to last year in SW Louisiana the last day we had in the 30s was Jan 29 @ 38* Feb started in the 60s-80s everyday with 3 days in the high 40s that ended in high 70s for the day. March 16  I flushed a hen off a nest with 11 eggs in it ...that hen was bred in Feb no doubt and was early for the area per the book. Hens are the ones that decide when it's time but they don't have calendars. 2014 Spring same area it was in the high 30s most mornings of the season cold late spring Gobblers remained in bachelor groups well into season and it was near the end of April before things were close to normal everything was set back about 3 weeks. There was the same amount of daylight per day in each month from 2014 -2017 it was the weather that was the determining factor.

[Tail Feathers]

Photoperiod effects more than weather

As the biologists tell us, weather can fool even turkeys and would be a poor indicator of when to breed. The photoperiod is a consistent  indicator for breeding and will better ensure the species carries on.  And nature definitely instills the ability to carry on.

[LaLongbeard]

Lovett Williams wrote about a cold snap in Florida in the low 30s after nesting had started he says the hens stayed on the nest and the eggs survived the cold. If photo period was the sole determining factor the breeding/gobbling/ nesting dates would be more defined instead of an approximation from year to year.