I have personally laid eyes on 2 turkeys on my property over the last two years up until this summer. Last year I "planted" soybeans in a plot in early season that a turkey never stepped foot in even though I heard hens roosting maybe 400 yards outside the field.

This summer I've seen over 20 turkeys on several occasions, mostly young turkeys hatched this year. The difference ? We hammered the coons and possums last year, removing a combined total of 77 nest predators on my property and the surrounding land owner. We are at 38 for this year since the end of turkey season but really done in the last 10 days.

I trap my neighbors 2700 acres for free because if he has plenty of turkeys, I have turkeys.

A lot of that 2700 acre tract is thinned pines that is burned. Ideal turkey habitat. The rest is a mixture of river bottom and some clearcut. On the east side where there are beautiful thinned pine stands there is little to no turkey sign. But, it does join a large farm that has cattle and row cropping operations. I know they routinely apply litter to the pastures and have heard that they do not have a good turkey population.

I know a lot of people advocate burning in April and May saying any nesting activities disturbed will be offset by the habitat improvement. But, will the hen lay another clutch or 10-12 eggs or just 4-6 eggs? Why reduce the odds of a successful hatch when you can wait a few weeks before lighting that fire?

If the state was serious about increasing the turkey situation they would 1) encourage more trapping 2) limit nesting season burning 3) look into the chicken litter issue.