When You Kill The Last One

Figured I’d post a little story here. Nothing to start a debate, and I’m going to stick to facts. None of what will be here is my opinion, it’s all what I know to be truth.

I grew up in Southern Mississippi and for the most part lived my life surrounded by woods out the back door. To this day, there have only been a few houses added to this immediate area, and only 3 of which would effect the subject of turkey (2 by which would occupy space where turkeys were, and 1 that would occupy by visual space from a distance of 300 yards or more only).

Layout of the land is 80 acres owned jointly by 2 families, and which this land joins immediately to the north approximately 1800 acres of mixed farmland in 1989 to now pines and fields that are not farmed. All this property joins continuous swampland that stretches over 30k acres and crosses state lines between Ms and La and is know as Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge. Some of the 1800 acres on the west side of what we called the big lake has been developed, so for sake of argument we will say the 1800 is more like 1k acres.

The area behind my house was known for having turkeys, my great grandfather had hunted them with his uncle there all the way back in the 1930’s. I know this because before he passed he gave he his uncle’s caller and told me himself. His uncle is the only member of my family that I know of that hunted them. I’m 1989 there were 2 turkeys gobbling behind the house I grew up in, and these were killed that spring by someone my dad ran hounds with.

To my knowledge, there has not been a turkey gobble in that area since 1989. No gobblers have been spotted, although I have over the years seen flocks of hens at times in the fields only during the late Spring and Summer months. There have been turkeys gobble on and in the area west of Palestine road, but the area that compromised where I lived…the area that had held turkeys through the darkest times of the turkeys, and much of which had been left unchanged in swamp forest that bordered fields with pasture with very little additional human intrusion. This area has to be very near to 3 if not 4K acres.

The changes that took place during the time of the last known turkey to me was the farmland north and east of our home was allowed to grow up and become thick while the rest of the farmland was continued to be managed the same. Coyotes came on the seen around 1983 or so was when my Dad remembered seeing the first one that his foxhounds ran through the bean fields, so they had become a regular presence by the time of 1989. The lack of a mature gobbler after the last 2 were killed that spring, even though hens have been visible at times since then. Katrina destroyed a lot of habitat in 2005.

Facts being stated above….and given the title of the post.

I think there are a lot of factors that affect our flocks. Do I hold the opinion that killing those last 2 gobblers is what caused the disappearance of a whole flock on 4K acres that connects to 36k acres? No

But I do believe it had a significant contribution. I think this area could hold turkeys, it just doesn’t have them to hold once they were gone. There’s suitable habitat there….but I think that the combination of flooding, land management practices that allowed the fields to grow up on the north and east side, combined with new predators, combined with killing those two gobblers and potentially followed by a poor hatch season did this area in.

The last two killed here were the last two I know about and that was 1989.

I hope we get a better understanding of what’s happening to our turkeys in this country before they are gone the way of the quail. Hopefully none of you have to experience not having birds on your land anymore like I have had to. I remember hearing those birds that spring. They were the first wild turkeys I ever heard.

Interesting. You’d think seeing the hens from time to time that there’d be one gobbling around somewhere.

I live a half mile off a county rd and in the 15 years I’ve been there I’ve only heard a 3-4 turkeys from my house, never killed one. There’s several hundred acres of a good mix of timber with several creeks and probably 100 acres of hay fields, everytime someone new comes over that turkey hunts they always say I bet you got turkeys everywhere and they swear I’m lying when I say we don’t. You can go just a few miles in any direction and find birds but for whatever reason they don’t hang around our place no matter what I do to get em there.

About the flooding - one of the best turkey properties I ever had in my life was in Marengo county in the 90s bordering a large creek - first year I was in it - I worked birds first 18 hunts I went on - could hav been tagged out in first 10 days but I called in few for friend they could not see bird but I could but let them walk off. Later I developed a no walk off policy. Called in like 30 birds first 3 weeks. Very next year - called in like 30 first 2 weeks of season - we shot something like 4 birds first 6 hunts. That next fall I was seeing flocks of 40 - more than I ever had in Feb. Place flooded real bad on Feb of that year. Only a few old named birds stayed around that spring- worked my butt off to kill 1 bird - many years straight the turkey hunting there sucked - after I left I heard they still struggle for years - flood changed where they stayed
Here is story within a story - I was teaching a guy on that place - it was a paradise pre flood and we were only ones hunting. I said whatever u do - never tell somebody bout our success - after first year - multiple people wanting to hunt and some were mad we were out there so much. We still had good year. Only way those club members new was by my buddy running his mouth. Found out my buddy bragged - he said - never dreamed it work out like this. I said - why u think I went into so much detail to keep mouth shut. The hunting never fell off until major flood and we were getting huge flocks week before flood. Place was under water for weeks - was tremendous place for few years

Here is another story w in a story - I learned this the hard way - if u killing birds all time and hav major success - realize it all about having turkeys and it starts w that. I hav since tagged out on very tuff public land and had great success all across the country - but I learned at that one really great spot - it is all about having turkeys! U can b best turkey hunter in world - if u got bad spots - gone hav bad season. I will be both humble and greatful and silent if I ever get another good turkey spot

I would find it hard to fathom that killing 2 gobblers 35 years ago, has voided the area since then.

A lot of things have to come together for turkeys to thrive, and I don’t think any of us understand it completely.

Look up turkeys and Parthenogenesis. You'll learn some thing

On a place that used to be ate up with turkeys now there is barely one or two on. Used to my grandpa,brother, and me would limit out on gobblers every year and still would have several birds gobbling after the season ever year. Like a flip of a switch it went from tons of turkeys to hardly any. The major change on the property was hogs. We never had them then all the sudden they showed and there was a lot of them. Then my uncle started cutting the grass patches for hay every year about the time they were nesting. I don’t know what the cause was but we went from having tons of turkeys to hardly none at all. Now five to 8 years later it’s still that way. There might be one gobbler a year show up on that property with a few hens and never has improved. Few miles down the rd we went from having one gobbler and a hen or two every once in a while to a good bit of turkeys. Now it holds the birds. What we started doing there was predator management.when we started thinning out the coyotes and other predators our turkey numbers went way up.

If you are seeing hens, I think it's a pretty safe bet that there is a gobbler around somewhere. There can't be any hens without gobblers doing their part.

Yeah , not always true . Lol

Hens , some hens will lay and hatch without a Tom around

https://www.vox.com/2014/11/27/7299377/turkey-facts-fun


This seems impossible, but it's not. Occasionally, the eggs of female turkeys will — without any sperm involved — spontaneously develop into embryos and then into baby turkeys (which are always males). This process is called parthenogenesis and has also been recorded in many other types of animals, including bees, lizards, and sharks.

I did some reading on that yesterday evening after you posted it and must say, I was absolutely fascinated.

Parthenogenesis in vertebrates is very rare . Insects and reptiles would do it more readily than a warm blooded animal . Although it is possible , the chances of it happening in a wild turkey population would be way less than 1% .

All I've read is its rare . Never read what the chances of it happening were . It reads that several things can cause it

just having no males around may cause it . Could be why restocking turkey population were so successful.

Er, how did the hens come into existence if there are no gobblers to be their daddies? . That was my point.

Gobblers move around a lot during the spring. I have been amazed watching the turkeys around my house at how quickly a gobbler gets replaced. They tell us that the average range of a spring gobbler is 2500 acres. That isn't going to be a square block; it will be irregular and stretch for many miles. If you are seeing hens, there are gobblers somewhere around. The closest one might be 5 miles away at any specific time, but the fact that you don't see him doesn't mean that he isn't there.

I've read they can travel up to 12 miles in a day .

When a turkey makes up his mind to be somewhere, he walks at least as fast as a man. How far you reckon you could walk in a day? Dang Rios make a lot more than 12 miles a day in my opinion.

If he wants to, 12 miles is nothing in my opinion.

I’ve walked 7-10 miles in the hills of Bankhead several times. I know a turkey can put me to shame..

Them rios are running half time. Looks like Jurassic park and no telling how far they travel in a day.

One day..awhile from now..we gonna look back through the years..nobody..had any idea about about nothin..bein talked about ..anything..anywhere..anyway..no how..our knowledge we think we have is gonna look like a carbonclimber runon sentence..then it will be realized..maybe we wudnt smart as we thought we wuz

Mean turkeys.

my brother and several more guys hunted a 40 a cure spot next to Liberty Park several years ago. I seem to remember they killed like 15 gobblers one season. I tried to tell em they killed too many. The next season I think they struggled to kill 3-4 birds. When I hunted Liberty Park and USX around there I always left 2-3 gobbling birds in any area I hunted...and I always had birds even after killing 20+ birds every season off those properties.