Best time to hunt

[Southern Sportsman]

It depends on the number of birds you have available.

Realize that HALF of the ENTIRE season's kill is now just in the first two days of the 6 week season.

Not to derail the thread, but is this a result of the strutter decoy fad/explosion? Dominant territorial birds getting killed with relative ease right off the bat?

that may have a little to do with it, but I'm guessing it's more to do with people getting fired up and going and killing a bird or two and then getting burned out and quitting.

Yeah, no doubt there will always be higher kill numbers around the opener for a number of reasons. But the way mega phrased it, it seemed like there is a more recent trend. He's pretty well read on the subject, so just curious what his take is. Not intended as a slight towards decoys. But there is no question they are WAY more prevalant now than just a few years ago.

 

[Andy S.]

.....but I'm guessing it's more to do with people getting fired up and going and killing a bird or two and then getting burned out and quitting.

......as well as getting distracted by traveling baseball/softball, crappie fishing, camping, spring festivals and car shows, etc. There are very few turkey hunters who eat, live and breathe it like we do and try their best to stay in the woods until season ends, either hunting, or guiding if they have tagged out early. Another thing, you would not believe how many turkey hunters I've encountered over the years that will only hunt first week or so because they claim they've seen more snakes middle to latter part of the season. I wish more were like them.

 

[Hawk]

Generally when dog woods are blooming.

 

[hbg1]

When dogwoods begin to bloom

 

[TheLBLman]

Each portion of the season offers different advantages & disadvantages, and this is particularly true to different styles of turkey hunting.

If you're an adaptive turkey hunter, you can make each part work more for you than a against you, and enjoy the best of what each day brings.

The best time to go turkey hunting is whenever you can.

 

[TheLBLman]

From an overall perspective, I guess for me the best single week would generally be around the middle of the season.

Harold Knight always said the best time to hunt gobblers is when the oak leaves are the size of a squirrels ear...

Nice way of putting it, and he should know.

 

[Setterman]

.....but I'm guessing it's more to do with people getting fired up and going and killing a bird or two and then getting burned out and quitting.

......as well as getting distracted by traveling baseball/softball, crappie fishing, camping, spring festivals and car shows, etc. There are very few turkey hunters who eat, live and breathe it like we do and try their best to stay in the woods until season ends, either hunting, or guiding if they have tagged out early. Another thing, you would not believe how many turkey hunters I've encountered over the years that will only hunt first week or so because they claim they've seen more snakes middle to latter part of the season. I wish more were like them.

Exactly and so many turkey hunters throw in the towel the first silent morning of the season. I know for me I could go two weeks not hearing a peep and if I've got an empty tag I'm still going. It's a disease and after a while you learn that even when it's brutally tough it can all change in seconds and a bird is dead or on his way to dying. For the diehards they embrace the season from day one until it's over, the good and the bad. It's all part of it and the spring woods are a wonderful place.

Wish there were more snakes maybe we'd have the woods to ourselves

 

[megalomaniac]

It depends on the number of birds you have available.

Realize that HALF of the ENTIRE season's kill is now just in the first two days of the 6 week season.

Not to derail the thread, but is this a result of the strutter decoy fad/explosion? Dominant territorial birds getting killed with relative ease right off the bat?

Pretty sure he meant to say the first two weeks, which has been the norm for some time now.

No, I meant the very first two days....

it's a bit of an exaggeration, but still valuable information one needs to know when choosing when to hunt.

Lets look at last year.... according to the hunter's toolbox (whose information may not be exactly correct, but is the best we have), 27,302 birds were killed last spring (including 1216 birds during juvenile). If you take out the kids birds, a total of 26,036 birds were killed during the 44 day spring adult season.

Opening weekend alone, 7076 birds were killed... so 27% of the entire harvest was taken during the first 4.5% of the season length. Impressive.... then just add the following Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to opening weekend kills, and you are up to 12,471 birds taken in the first 7 days of the season. That's a whopping 48% of the entire season's harvest in just the first 16% of the season length!

The harvest definetly DOES seem to be shifting to front loading. It USED to be 50% of the harvest was in the first 2 weeks of the season, but now 50% is happening in just the very first 7 days of the season (and not even counting the 2nd weekend). The major reason is simply because there are more people hunting opening weekend. But part of the reason is that even inexperienced hunters have better chances for actually killing birds with modern decoys, etc.... that really doesn't bother me, as most of those birds killed over full strut decoys would probably have been killed otherwise by those choosing to stalk turkeys rather than call them in.

There is something potentially alarming about the recent trend of the season's kill becoming frontloaded to the extreme in first 7 days of the season however. I surmise (but have no proof statewide, just on my farms and the areas surrounding my farms) that the season is becoming so frontloaded because of the overall decline in population. There are fewer birds available in many areas, and after they are removed, there just aren't any more to hunt in those areas. I know from personal experience, I have had to shift my vacation time back a week to the opener and hunt younger birds. By mid season, mature males can be hard to find, as most have been removed, and I prefer not to take the last couple remaining mature males off the farms to improve nesting success.

Is the sky falling? Of course not. But I've been on here for almost a decade saying that TN's turkey population is going in the wrong direction. Can we continue present season dates, kill limits, etc??? Not without accepting the FACT that TN's turkey population will CONTINUE to slowly decline. A few simple tweaks could reverse that trend. For example, making jakes illegal to kill would ensure that males would remain in the population to breed the following season. Pushing season opener back 2 weeks would ensure that virtually all adult hens will have been bred and can initiate fertile clutches. Eliminate fall hunting until the population trend reverses itself. Keep the 4 gobbler limit... or heck, raise it to unlimited in the spring.... as long as there are adult males to breed all the hens prior to killing them, it won't hurt the population (but we won't be hunting for anything except 2 y/o birds... trophy birds would be rare as hen turkey teeth!).

 

[Andy S.]

........it's a bit of an exaggeration, but still valuable information one needs to know when choosing when to hunt.

10-4

My comment was based on the fact that we have killed north of 30k birds the last 14 years, and it typically taking 12-14 days of hunting season (including juvenile weekend) to bust 15k. I can think of at least two seasons in the past decade where we hardly killed anything the first five days due to terrible weather.

 

[megalomaniac]

........it's a bit of an exaggeration, but still valuable information one needs to know when choosing when to hunt.

10-4

My comment was based on the fact that we have killed north of 30k birds the last 14 years, and it typically taking 12-14 days of hunting season (including juvenile weekend) to bust 15k. I can think of at least two seasons in the past decade where we hardly killed anything the first five days due to terrible weather.

Here's a screenshot that gives an idea of the harvest.... wish I could fit the while season on the phone screen

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[Setterman]

For that data to be usable and relevant you'd need to know how many hunters and how many hours were spent during each portion.

I don't disagree that our population is in decline and the reasons I've listed before are twra liberal policies, decoys, blinds, and many other natural factors.

 

[Andy S.]

For that data to be usable and relevant you'd need to know how many hunters and how many hours were spent during each portion.

Agree, and I bet the trend line for hours afield would closely align with the harvest data mega posted.

 

[Setterman]

For that data to be usable and relevant you'd need to know how many hunters and how many hours were spent during each portion.

Agree, and I bet the trend line for hours afield would closely align with the harvest data mega posted.

It would be fascinating for sure and to be clear I'm not slamming megas data or point of view, if anyone has researched this it's him and I agree with many of his points

 

[Andy S.]

.... wish I could fit the while season on the phone

Here you go for 2016 season, statewide harvests (private and public ground). As you stated, it is very heavily front loaded, with concurrent spikes (checked kills) on each successive Saturday, which is to be expected based on when most hunters are afield.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I've actually got more turkeys of all ages now than in the recent past (though I know this isn't typical). Of course when you start out with very few, there's nowhere to go but up.

With the exception of the very last part of the season when it's a hot, buggy, jungle hunting is generally good from day 1. Agree with Setterman that some days are better than others and diehard turkey chasers take the bad with the good. For me, there really aren't any "bad" times to to turkey hunt. Even if I don't hear a single solitary gobble it's better than being stuck in the office on a pretty spring day.

 

[catman529]

.....but I'm guessing it's more to do with people getting fired up and going and killing a bird or two and then getting burned out and quitting.

......as well as getting distracted by traveling baseball/softball, crappie fishing, camping, spring festivals and car shows, etc. There are very few turkey hunters who eat, live and breathe it like we do and try their best to stay in the woods until season ends, either hunting, or guiding if they have tagged out early. Another thing, you would not believe how many turkey hunters I've encountered over the years that will only hunt first week or so because they claim they've seen more snakes middle to latter part of the season. I wish more were like them.

lol that's funny but I believe it!


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[TheLBLman]

There is something potentially alarming about the recent trend of the season's kill becoming frontloaded to the extreme in first 7 days of the season however. I surmise . . . . that the season is becoming so frontloaded because of the overall decline in population.

Can we continue present season dates, kill limits, etc??? Not without accepting the FACT that TN's turkey population will CONTINUE to slowly decline. A few simple tweaks could reverse that trend. For example, making jakes illegal to kill . . . . . Pushing season opener back 2 weeks . . . . . . Eliminate fall hunting. Keep the 4 gobbler limit... or heck, raise it to unlimited in the spring.... as long as there are adult males to breed all the hens prior to killing them, it won't hurt the population (but we won't be hunting for anything except 2 y/o birds... trophy birds would be rare as hen turkey teeth!).

I agree -- spot on.

However, I believe we all that's needed to reverse this trend is even less than you stated (some respects).
I'd like to see turkey season open just one week later, the annual limit go from 4 to 2 or 3, and of course, eliminate that fall hunting BEFORE it becomes a yet bigger issue by it's promotion. ONLY in the fall are females being killed in masse (legally), and by only a tiny percentage of those who turkey hunt period.

Interesting to note, it has been TN's most southern counties that have generally had the greatest population declines.
Then note, where do turkeys tend to breed earliest? Opening the season only a week later MIGHT have prevented the worst of this?

 

[Andy S.]

For me, there really aren't any "bad" times to to turkey hunt. Even if I don't hear a single solitary gobble it's better than being stuck in the office on a pretty spring day.

Amen! :tu:

 

[Woodsman10]

Personally, I like all season [WHITE SMILING FACE]

But there are positives and negatives to each.
Early season: more birds and unpressured birds, but open woods and hens aren't nesting yet.
Late season, hens are nesting and gobblers are lonely, but there are less gobblers and some are call shy. You also have cover to move and call later season.

I don't care how good you are at turkey calling, if the woods are too open and he can see along ways he probably ain't going to come. The leaves on trees help him to come look for you.

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[Woodsman10]

There are more birds killed on opening weekend though because that is when the most hunters are out as well as the most gobblers. This will always be the case for this reason, decoys or not.

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