• Help Support TNDeer:

DEAD HENS!!!!!

H

Harvester

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2009
Messages
1,588
Reaction score
0
Location
Morgan County
I have found two hens dead since the opening day of turkey season. Looks like they have just cut the breast out and threw the rest away. :mad: Its not on my property and don't know who is doing it. My guess is TRESPASSERS!! I guess that maybe why I haven't been seeing the number of turkeys lately and what I have been seeing fly away as soon as they see me.
Sorry just had to vent alittle.
 
That sucks, but the could have been legal bearded hens.

One question, I have not seen many turkeys that don't spook when you walk up on them. Are yours usually tolerant of people walking around with them?
 
Setterman said:
That sucks, but the could have been legal bearded hens.

One question, I have not seen many turkeys that don't spook when you walk up on them. Are yours usually tolerant of people walking around with them?
Click to expand...

If they was legal bearded hens they wasn't checked out. Way off the beaten path. No they aren't usually tolerant of people but they would stay put for a few minutes at a long distance away (150 yards or farther) or just ease off. You don't even have a chance to see what they are. Now if they even see you for a second they are gone. No hesitation what so ever, they have never been this spooky in all the years that I have hunted there.
 
harvester said:
Setterman said:
That sucks, but the could have been legal bearded hens.

One question, I have not seen many turkeys that don't spook when you walk up on them. Are yours usually tolerant of people walking around with them?
Click to expand...

If they was legal bearded hens they wasn't checked out. Way off the beaten path. No they aren't usually tolerant of people but they would stay put for a few minutes at a long distance away (150 yards or farther) or just ease off. You don't even have a chance to see what they are. Now if they even see you for a second they are gone. No hesitation what so ever, they have never been this spooky in all the years that I have hunted there.
Click to expand...

With the internet check in now, it is hard to say whether they were checked or not. I know one of the birds I killed this year, I cleaned in the field, weighed him right there, and checked him when I got home. It was hot that day, and knew I wouldn't be home until after he spoiled, so I cleaned him and deposited the carcass in the woods. Nothing illegal about it, now with online check in.

My experience with turkeys is always the latter when it comes to spooking, if they see people they are outta there. But all birds are different, and around big farms where they see people more they may be a little more tolerant.

Not defending the folks who through the carcasses out, just trying to look at it from a different angle.
 
We don't need to kill hens, just because they make hunting tough for a few weeks doesn't mean they need to be killed. Hens should never be killed.
 
Setterman said:
We don't need to kill hens, just because they make hunting tough for a few weeks doesn't mean they need to be killed. Hens should never be killed.
Click to expand...

You mean in your opinion they should never be killed. While I certainly don't condone the illegal killing of hens. In the counties with large populations of birds there is nothing wrong with taking a few hens in the fall hunt where legal. In my opinion of course. ;)
 
Coach B said:
Setterman said:
We don't need to kill hens, just because they make hunting tough for a few weeks doesn't mean they need to be killed. Hens should never be killed.
Click to expand...

You mean in your opinion they should never be killed. While I certainly don't condone the illegal killing of hens. In the counties with large populations of birds there is nothing wrong with taking a few hens in the fall hunt where legal. In my opinion of course. ;)
Click to expand...

I kinda had the same response to this. Couldn't you get into the same situation as deer? As in the female to male ratio. I know where I hunt we take a few hens every fall. We have done this for a while and never, ever see a change in population. Heck we seem to have more and more birds every year.
 
WingNut said:
Coach B said:
Setterman said:
We don't need to kill hens, just because they make hunting tough for a few weeks doesn't mean they need to be killed. Hens should never be killed.
Click to expand...

You mean in your opinion they should never be killed. While I certainly don't condone the illegal killing of hens. In the counties with large populations of birds there is nothing wrong with taking a few hens in the fall hunt where legal. In my opinion of course. ;)
Click to expand...

I kinda had the same response to this. Couldn't you get into the same situation as deer? As in the female to male ratio. I know where I hunt we take a few hens every fall. We have done this for a while and never, ever see a change in population. Heck we seem to have more and more birds every year.
Click to expand...

Turkey populations fluctuate wildly from year to year, based on hatch conditions. They are much more dynamic and fluid compared to deer. A mast failure two years in a row with a bad hatch to start can literally decimate a turkey population. You just never know when a bad string of years is going to happen, and have to be careful wasting hens.

I do wonder now, though, that with current populations being so much higher then when most of the research was done, if much of it is false now because of statewide, region wide, county wide etc etc. Turkey populations being in great shape despite bad years and fluctuations.

In other words the law of averages has tipped to where really hurting the flock as a whole is going to be very difficult with current regs.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top