You're right about that DW, I never knew that turkeys scratched the corn out of cow poop until I saw it with my own eyes.

Sure will. Nasty jokers.

There's alot of insects in and under those pies, too.

Yea. But like at my dairy. This time of year the cows stays in about 5 acres. Them old red headed SOB's ha g out right steady. Pickin out that corn.

I don't quite follow what the argument is regarding the forestry practices. I don't believe that anyone is arguing that a pine plantation makes excellent turkey habitat in years 3-10. But starting about year 11, the canopy closes and turkeys will start using it again. Our place was clearcut and replanted in 1979. We had owned it since 1965, but my dad had to lease the timber rights to a paper company in order to afford it. We had great turkey hunting on it until it was cut, but never killed more than 6 gobblers in a season.

We killed a few around the edges until 1983, and then didn't killed a turkey on it again until 1990. My dad just happened to make a trip by late in the season that year and called up a flock of 7 gobblers and killed one. The next season, we started back hunting it and it had as many turkeys as ever. Its been decent turkey hunting ever since, but there was that period of about 7 years when turkeys just didn't use it.

Its ideal when the clearcut blocks aren't so big. Then turkeys can use the young plantation for nesting and have better habitat in the older plantations. That doesn't always happen, of course.

>>>>>I'm going to disagree with ya on land size Preacher. My brother hunted a small place of less than 100 acres. He and five others killed every gobbling bird on that place, all season long. Somebody was there near every day. Most of them were mid to good turkey hunters. I think they killed near 20 gobblers. I told em several times to stop and leave a couple of birds. Of course they were drawing off the surrounding land also, esp late in the season.

Next year...NO gobbling, I think they killed one bird and heard very few. Couldn't understand why???? They won't gobble out of a freezer......<<<<

Troy, that's an amazing story of killing 20 gobblers off 100 acres. That must have been some super habitat, and there must not have been much hunting on the land around it.

Our place is 700 acres, and its never produced more than 6 in a season. There is a 4000 acre hunting club that completely surrounds us, and we usually get 15 or so between us. If there is a good crop of 2 year olds, most of them get killed, but there's always some gobblers back the next season.

I don't doubt that hunting can cut down on the number of available gobblers on a place, but that really wasn't the point I was making. I was saying no place I've ever hunted had so few gobblers available that the hens did not get bred. Even in the very unusual example you gave, there was still some gobbling the next season, so there was almost certainly enough gobblers to breed the hens.

A place that goes 10 years without being hunted is likely gonna have more mature gobblers on it than a place that is hunted hard, but I think the Coosa Mgt Area proves that legal hunting of spring gobblers can't impact the overall population. There isn't a gobbling bird on that place that doesn't hear fake hens every day of the season, but there's always a bunch that survive to breed the hens and frustrate hunters the next year. I got this old warrior 3 years ago off it; he was at least 4 years old and I guarantee you he had heard hundreds of fake hens in his life, but he managed to survive. No matter what the limit is, there will always be a few turkeys like this one that learn how to avoid hunter and will breed the hens the next spring. This one's downfall was a cackle from a Hatchet Creek Screaming Green.



I say to stick with the system that has worked so well for at least 50 years. Good hunting to all! Won't be long now!

So why do any states have limits on gobblers? If it doesn't affect our population, I'm all for it!

smh

At what??
You're relentless with those short dry responses.

If the limit is 5, you should be able to kill them in one day.

horsechitt....

Why is that?

To me Brad, it's easier to enforce 1 a day than it is 5 per season. That's why I think it should stay at one a day.

see if you can figure it out all by yourself......if not you have no credibility as a turkey hunter.....