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Length of Season - TN

Setterman said:
I'm not going to hunt past mid May And i hunt high elevation mountain birds. At some point the woods get too dang jungle like for my liking. I'm totally fine with a 4 week season.

This has been the worst season I've had since my very first season in 1993. Most morning are silent, I mean zero gobbles. I've worked two birds, both in KY and they're both dead. I haven't had a TN bird answer me yet, nor heard one close enough to even call at. I am in shock how bad hunting is in my area.
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Same here, I'm hunting south Cherokee and haven't heard a bird. Had to travel to a middle TN wma just to hear a bird and that hunt ended when a couple hunters walked in on my gobbling bird. He was almost to the gun too, within 60 yards and getting closer. Horrible season for me.
 
Stlbaseball1 said:
I'm concerned with the length of season due to the push back and the potential for more hunters to effect hens on the nest at a vulnerable time as well as the possibility to disturb young poults (I mean we are talking about the end of May). If season is going to continue to open mid April I am all for a 4-week season (at most), especially if the limit remains at 2 turkeys. What say you?
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Totally against the late opener. I don't understand why we have to have a 45 day season. Cut the season to 30 days. I believe the 45 day season is part of the reason for the decline in the population. Open 1st of April, close last of April. IMO
 
timberjack86 said:
Same here, I'm hunting south Cherokee and haven't heard a bird. Had to travel to a middle TN wma just to hear a bird and that hunt ended when a couple hunters walked in on my gobbling bird. He was almost to the gun too, within 60 yards and getting closer. Horrible season for me.
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Spent 4 days in the South Cherokee. Lost creek area. Heard one gobble a mile off. No sign could be found. Forest Service has about burned the mountains down during nesting season. By the 3rd week in April you can barely see the end of your gun barrel.
 
Stlbaseball1 said:
I'm concerned with the length of season due to the push back and the potential for more hunters to effect hens on the nest at a vulnerable time as well as the possibility to disturb young poults (I mean we are talking about the end of May). If season is going to continue to open mid April I am all for a 4-week season (at most), especially if the limit remains at 2 turkeys. What say you?
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I can't imagine it has close to the impact as predators and the first cut of hay. Unless you're hunting pine plantations where nesting habitat is road edges, I think the disturbance in contrast with the aforementioned other factors would be minor.
 
AT Hiker said:
A mid May roost gobbler fired up, with no hens is like a kamakazi pilot coming in hot hyped up in meth.
Get close, few yelps before fly down and they land in your lap.
Should be illegal.
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I've called in late may turkeys while squirrel hunting without a call. Theyr'e particularly horny and lonely at that point.
 
I think a 4 week season is plenty. I wasn't necessarily against the delayed opening, I'm all for throwing everything went can at the problem and seeing what sticks.

Thus year has been tough for me as now I really believe there is a decline in the population. I have a farm that for thr past 5 years u wouldn't have bet my salary I could take you to and hear 10 different birds gobble. This year two birds on 170 acres is all I could hear.

I also believe something might be going on biologically that is making birds not gobble as much. I've read a lot of theories on the subject and it makes sense, just not completely sure.

Opening day I found 2 nests that were already busted up, and I trap the crap our of this farm. Yesterday spreading fertilizer I jumped a hen that was sitting on 10 eggs. That got marked on the map and will be avoided like the plague come mowing season!
 

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Willysman said:
Spent 4 days in the South Cherokee. Lost creek area. Heard one gobble a mile off. No sign could be found. Forest Service has about burned the mountains down during nesting season. By the 3rd week in April you can barely see the end of your gun barrel.
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reckon the burns are pretty good for the long haul though.
 
I'm fine with the late or early start, but I'd prefer 45 day season. I don't believe it has much impact on anything.
 
RoyalPrudent said:
I can't imagine it has close to the impact as predators and the first cut of hay. Unless you're hunting pine plantations where nesting habitat is road edges, I think the disturbance in contrast with the aforementioned other factors would be minor.
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I don't disagree at all that hunter disturbance is minor compared to predator disturbance but it is disturbance nonetheless.
 
My county has a severe problem with declining number's of turkey!Wish we had a 3 week season,starting mid April and one week in May.Completley cut out the Fall season with no jake killing in the spring!I know there are several reason's for the decline in number's but I believe not many egg's are getting hatched because of the nest predator's and if some do get hatched the hawks and owl's catch them!It is like your checking account at the bank,you just keep writing checks and never put money back in you will soon go broke!
 
RoyalPrudent said:
reckon the burns are pretty good for the long haul though.
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Well I've. Been hunting the South Cherokee since 1977. At that time you could only hunt Friday thru Sunday. There were a lot of turkeys in the mountains at that time. (Despite what some game warden will tell you that hadn't been born at that time) You could hunt anywhere you wanted to and never see another hunter. Now it's hard to find a turkey, especially in the Polk county portion. Can't see that burns have done anything for the wildlife.
 
AT Hiker said:
If it stays cool outside, then I wouldn't be surprised to see increased pressure throughout May.
If it turns hot, I just cannot imagine very many people out in the field.

I'm probably wrong, I know I was wrong on how many turkeys we would have killed this year. 🤷‍♂️
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no you're not. I gets above 70 and long sleeves, pants, gloves, and facemask gets hot.
NOW... the AM hunts will continue, they'll jus tend earlier.
 
Setterman said:
I honestly don't know. I think they're there, but am starting to wonder if they aren't. I see plenty of sign, but the quietness is unreal
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Using just the fields on the way into work in Middle TN and the fact that I am near 100% sure there is zero hunting pressure on those flocks. I noticed when the weather got cool that the birds disappeared. they were gone way longer than they normally disappear for. Then last Monday on my way in the one field with the biggest flock, had 7 stutters, 25+ hens and 3 subordinate gobblers. I even saw birds that I hadn't see all year in fields they were usually in. I have no idea where they were for the 2+ weeks they were missing, but I guess they were still in the area.

Gobbling has been down this year but I have stuck about 4 birds. Issue is they like to stay on private and it is tough to get them off of it. It is dying down though due to natural causes. I only heard 2 Wednesday AM and saw another in a field with 3 Jakes (no hens). He wouldn't respond, the dumb Jakes came into 15 yds.
 
I'll play devil's advocate here. Lets say we reduce the season to 4 weeks Mid April to Mid May, keep the limit 2 birds and we have 3-4 years of good hatches (unlikely, but possible). Then let's say they actually use that data and do something that governing bodies hardly ever do and give something back they have taken away, so now the limit is 3 birds again. I mean theoretically there is still enough time to kill 3 birds if there are enough, but maybe not. If by some miracle we ended up with enough turkeys to go back to 4 birds is 4 weeks enough? Keep in mind most people only have the weekends to hunt unless they use vacation, so 4 weeks is roughly 8 days in the field. Do you feel you got your money's worth for 8 days of hunting?

I guess you could say that if the birds came back and we changed the limit we could change the season dates, but if it continues to open Mid April, then you would still be faced with hunting in hot weather and non-gobbling birds.
 
Willysman said:
Well I've. Been hunting the South Cherokee since 1977. At that time you could only hunt Friday thru Sunday. There were a lot of turkeys in the mountains at that time. (Despite what some game warden will tell you that hadn't been born at that time) You could hunt anywhere you wanted to and never see another hunter. Now it's hard to find a turkey, especially in the Polk county portion. Can't see that burns have done anything for the wildlife.
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I guess that's why they've only killed 100 turkeys in South Cherokee
 

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