Turkey season 2024

[Friend]

The KY Turkey season starts tomorrow. Bird numbers are extremely low in my area. I am still planning on giving them a go.

Hope all outrTrad Gang hunters enjoy a fine season.

[mnbwhtr]

Our season opens next Wednesday in MN. I've been practicing at 14 yds in my basement.

[Friend]

Very nice...Score on a longbeard...

[mjh]

Set up the blind this PM in a likely spot.   It's been a few years now since I've gone after turkey.   No longer have access to the river bottom lands so I'm  up a bit on small piece of property.  Have a hen or two around so the toms aught to come courting.....
Planning on getting out Tue, Wed, Thur am of this week--well see the week after??  Archery season runs 6 week--that is a plus.

[rastaman]

Good luck to you guys.  Just a few years ago, we had a pretty decent turkey population on our property. Fast forward to the last two or three years and they are practically gone.  We've killed a little over 100 wild hogs since the end of deer season this year.  We've also killed quite a few raccoons and a few coyotes.  Hopefully we will see a rebound of the turkey population in the next few years if we can get the predators under control.

[Wudstix]

Good luck fellas, glad you'll be getting after them.  Still looking for someplace to hunt myself.
 

[mnbwhtr]

I've had a great season so far but no shots at longbeards. The property owner said there were a lot of birds around and he wasn't kidding, the first morning I had 9 jakes by my decoy and 3 others with scraggy 5-6 inch beards but held off shooting. On Sat I took my son in law out for his first hunt of anything and he shot one of the jakes with a shotgun! Pretty happy boy!

[Hud]

In a recent article in Oregon Hunter, Scott Haugen said he used trail cameras to keep track of spring turkey and found that of five hens with poults, only one still had poults after ten days. The cameras picked up a lot of predators hunting poults and bobcats catching some that lived long enough to roost in fir trees. As President of OH association he wants the state to improve the management of predators. Another factor affecting their survival is the weather. Cold and wet weather results in higher mortality.

Here is a separate article about turkey reproduction.

https://wildturkeyzone.com/wildturkey/species3.htm#:~:text=A%20single%20mating%20is%20sufficient,through%20most%20of%20the%20country.

[Wudstix]

We have major predator issues in TX, between the bobcats, racoons, coyotes and hogs the turkeys really are stressed.  Throw in a cool and wet spring and that is a major detriment to the flock.
 

[mnbwhtr]

Last 3:30 wake up for me this season, at 6:10 this morning this gobbler came and beat up my decoy so I shot him in self defense! 20 lbs 9 1/2 beard and 1 inch spurs. Not my biggest but the fish have been calling lately and I have to go.

[Wudstix]

Congratulations Randy.
 

[Trenton G.]

Numbers around here this year seem very low. Fields that I pass on my way to work that are usually full of turkeys this time of year have been completely empty. There's still pockets of birds, but not nearly as many as in previous years. That being said, I managed to find a bird with the scattergun that wanted to cooperate on our opener Saturday morning and was back home for breakfast by 8:15.

[CAPTJJ]

Been waiting since March, when I had a good hunt in Florida, for NY to open this coming Wednesday. Have some not far from home, including a bearded hen.

[Wudstix]

Looks allot like PA woods, there Capt.
 

[stagetek]

I'll be at it starting Wed 5/1. We had a very easy winter in WI. Hoping for good season.