Would you ever consider missing a season if..

[Chris O]

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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I bet there is at least a 2year old hanging close by on the outskirts at least

[davisd9]

If I was worried about the population then no I would not hunt it. I am fortunate to have a few spots, but there is plenty of public land as well. I would prefer to give the birds a chance to do their thing and one good recruiting cycle can do wonders. Just my opinion.


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[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.

Not all Jakes have viable sperm to breed


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The hens are going to get bred regardless. Matter of fact they've probably already been bred by the time the only known longbeard is killed. Most jakes will be mature enough to breed and have viable sperm count before the hens become less receptive. 

[kdsberman]

Thanks for all the help guys.  Like I said, I should have worded my original post differently. I don't want to skip turkey season. That's for sure. And I understand there could be toms around that I'm not seeing.  It just looks really bad that for the past 5 years I've seen the total number of turkeys decline, and consistently seen no more than 2 toms and very few jakes each year - within the mile.  And during deer season seeing one tom by himself or 2 max, where you'd normally see several.  It just doesn't look good. And it used to be the complete opposite.  So much where I was upset that Michigan only has a 1-bird limit. Right now, I'd NEVER want the limit to be raised, or at least would never consider taking more than 1.

So again, not necessarily worried about skipping hunting altogether, just more of should I not take a tom on this particular property.

I'll continue doing predator control, especially the raccoons and opossums.

On a side note, maybe it's a good year to be limited on hunting time?


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[kdsberman]

I will add this though - every year my father in law gets 5-6 toms on his trail cam during deer season, and he only hunts about a half mile away. When spring comes those birds are no where to be found. 


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[Meatseeker]

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


X2

X10...I can't imagine not turkey hunting...  I would travel

[ThunderChickenGetter]

Once i took to the ground that i Turkey hunt with my hounds, i have seen a huge  increase in Turkey population. On my farm, i took 46 coon with my hounds from September-January. And shot every possum i seen in the process because my dogs never tree possums

[rifleman]

Dublelung said it perfectly.  I do agree with predator control.  Turkey populations have dropped where I hunt in WV and VA because no-one coon hunts or fox hunts any longer.  In the 70's during the high prices for fur even lazy guys hunted and killed coons and good dogs were sold at premium prices.  During that period turkey populations exploded.

[kdsberman]

Once i took to the ground that i Turkey hunt with my hounds, i have seen a huge  increase in Turkey population. On my farm, i took 46 coon with my hounds from September-January. And shot every possum i seen in the process because my dogs never tree possums

I've been doing as much trapping as I can for coons, but this most (and others as well) is really motivating me to kick it up a notch with these raccoons.

Wonder though, if I can only hunt/trap them on my 40, how much of a difference can it make overall?  This is assuming the neighboring properties are loaded with them too.  Do raccoons travel a lot?

Thanks


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[Chris O]

Does your state have laws limiting you to only trap your ground? Many people grant permission for raccoon trapping because they can be destructive to property. Just learn your states trapping laws and abide by the law. It only takes a mistake and catch a non target species and it can put a hurt on trapping in your state so just use caution on where you set traps.


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[Gamblinman]

Most seasons are set to allow the receptive hens to be bred before hunting starts, so I doubt harvesting toms this year will affect the future population dramatically, just the present.

Another tom may move in this season, if not, then next year. Toms will travel quite a distance to get with hens for breeding purposes.

[ThunderChickenGetter]

Find someone in your area that you can trust that has decent, non trashy coon hounds and grant them permission to hunt your place. Speaking from experience, any coon hunter would be more than willing to come and hunt for no charge because most of us want more ground to run our hounds on. Trapping works well, i also trap but i have much better luck with my hounds than i do trapping. Last year in total, i trapped close to 70 coon but i treed close to 200 between my hounds and my buddies. Of course we didn't kill them all because we like to leave some to run the next night but by thinning the coon, possum, and skunk population i have seen a definite increase in Turkey population. Also i don't what kind of ground you have but my farm used to be all big hardwoods and hay fields and there weren't a ton of birds in the spring. We did some select cutting and allowed some undergrowth to form and create some thicker, more ideal nesting habitat and the number of turkeys increased also. Hens need somewhere to nest and will go to where they can, the longbeards will follow.

[kdsberman]

Find someone in your area that you can trust that has decent, non trashy coon hounds and grant them permission to hunt your place. Speaking from experience, any coon hunter would be more than willing to come and hunt for no charge because most of us want more ground to run our hounds on.

That wouldn't be a bad idea.   Maybe I'll get into raccoon hunting - never done it, don't know anyone that does.  Sounds fun though.



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[g8rvet]

I was not really gonna add anything, but a smallish farm I hunt (300 acres with a creek running through it) does not always hold birds all season.  But on years when the numbers are down, I lay off it and hunt elsewhere until the last week of the season.  I figure that gives Tom as much times as he needs to breed every hen he can get to. I kind of hold that place in reserve and take one at the end.  A few years I did not kill one and was left with an empty tag, but plenty of years I have killed one in the last week.  And then there were birds again next year. 

[buzzardroost]

It's getting bad enough in my area of TN to consider skipping and going elsewhere. We just don't have very many turkeys left, used to be great years ago.


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