Turkey density per acre

[Thegreatwhitehunter1776]

One thing I've been wondering is looking at some of the public lands I hunt that are in the 1000 to 2000 acre size and there have been around 6-10 killed on each according to the hunters toolbox. I wonder what the density per acre of gobblers are in general in your average public land. I imagine its something like one gobbler per 300 acres. What does everyone else think and what percentage of gobblers you think were killed I feel we may have wiped out 50-75 percent of 2 year olds on the public lands with this corona going on.

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[megalomaniac]

Probably 1 per 500 acres is reasonable. The small blocks of public get birds pulled in from private surrounding.

I would guess the average spring gobblers home range is around 1000 acres. Double that when most hens start setting. Quintiple that during the late summer, fall, and winter.

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[Thegreatwhitehunter1776]

If that's the case these public lands of around 1500 acres I hunt have already had 6 birds killed so I dont know if any are left. I'm having a hard time finding birds.

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[TheLBLman]

Probably 1 per 500 acres is reasonable. The small blocks of public get birds pulled in from private surrounding.

I would guess the average spring gobblers home range is around 1000 acres.
Double that when most hens start setting.
Quintiple that during the late summer, fall, and winter.

Exactly.
The Toms have a much larger range than most hunters may think.
Megalomanic nailed it.

The larger the parcel of contiguous public land,
note the lower kill per acre, since there is relatively less private land from which to pull the birds.

How many people are hunting private farms of over 500 acres?
While we may "see" the birds on our farm as "our" birds,
how many neighbors are seeing those same birds on their farms as "their" birds?

Yet, it's plausible that even killing 1 longbeard per 500 acres may be killing most of them in any given general area?

 

[Thegreatwhitehunter1776]

How would public land pull birds in from private, I'd figure with hunting pressure it would have the opposite effect and push birds away

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[Rockhound]

:!:

How would public land pull birds in from private, I'd figure with hunting pressure it would have the opposite effect and push birds away

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The private land probably gets pressured more as it's a smaller tract

 

[cowhunter71]

If that's the case these public lands of around 1500 acres I hunt have already had 6 birds killed so I dont know if any are left. I'm having a hard time finding birds.

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Whether it is 1500 acres or 150000 acres, If you go there and listen at daylight and do not here a Turkey gobble or cannot strike one by walking around yelping and cutting like a maniac, they are ALL dead. There are none left. Tell all your friends so that they tell their friends. Stay home and try again next year. :super:

 

[TheLBLman]

How would public land pull birds in from private, I'd figure with hunting pressure it would have the opposite effect and push birds away

The private land probably gets pressured more as it's a smaller tract

I know many aren't going to believe this, but it's truth coming from decades of serious observation:

MANY of our public lands, especially many portions within those lands,
are much LESS hunted than many private land leases!

But in the case of both public and private land masses,
there will be areas of both (adjoining each) that have more or less hunting pressure.

Seriously, it's a hoot listening to some make statements like
"I only hunt public land," as if that some badge of honor.
Seriously, there are many high-dollar hunting leases that offer no better hunting than many our public lands.
Everyone seems to think everyone else has it better than they.

I know many read the posts of several such as Setterman, and many others, who can actually afford some of these high-dollar leases, and do in fact have much private land they are privileged to hunt. Yet, they CHOOSE to do much, maybe most, their turkey hunting on our public lands?
Let that sink in.

Truth is, many of our public lands are better managed for turkey than TWRA's "statewide" (private lands) management.
And in many instances, poaching is much less on public than private lands, as are the losses from corn baiting, which seems to be the number one tactics of too many private land kills.

That said, some private lands are far superior, but those particular properties are seldom leased out for hunting, and seldom available to anyone accept very close friends and family. Most TN turkey hunters are hunting on private land consisting of less than 100 acres, and the turkeys they're hunting are ranging over 1,000-plus acres, under comparable hunting pressure to many our public lands.

I personally found the grass was greener on the other side of the fence, until I crossed it.

Today, I'm often happier hunting public lands.
Not because the hunting is any better or worse, but more because it's more of a "wilderness" experience,
at least getting farther away from road and other people noise. Sure, there are often exceptions.
But I've had some rotten experiences on some good private farms, too, and the "googans" are not limited to public lands.

 

[AT Hiker]

One beautiful thing about public lands is the amount of land to roam. I have a excellent 70 acre farm to hunt but once those birds leave it's game over, which could be as early as 7am.
Public land at least gives me the option to fill my day of exploring.


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[Plateau Hunter]

Wow I never thought wild turkeys had that large a range...I figured that they were born and died on 2-300 acres...

 

[Thegreatwhitehunter1776]

Thank you guys for all the advice, I'm only 21 and just got into hunting on my own a couple years ago. I like exploring every bit of land and learning as much as I can about the animals I hunt.

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[woodsman04]

I agree with most posted above. Average, WAG, would be probably 1 gobbler per 400-500 acres. The turkey Meccas likely have 1 gobbler per 100 acres if you break it down. The places I frequent most probably only have 1 or 2 gobblers on a square mile at any given time.

Also, ranges can vary from season to season and year to year. Ag land turkeys in fall and winter may spend majority of their time in a small 500-1000 acre area, with as many or more as ten longbeards. Big expanse hardwood wild turkeys may roam 10,000 acres during fall in search for acorns, beech, or whatever else they can find. During late winter or early spring, they begin to break up and disperse. Hens begin thinking of nesting and gobblers find areas to call up hens. I think their are studies out there that show them migrating 20 miles from their fall winter area to where they are in the spring. Also no guarantee that the next spring that same gobbler will be back at your place, he could be, but very possible it's a different bird or two.

I hunt a lot of private and public in four different counties. But, I own one small place of about 65-70 acres where all of my habit focus is on wild turkeys, quail, and small game. Piss on deer they can live anywhere. Most of the time during May and June we will see or have pictures of a hen with poults. By July and August they are gone. I've never confirmed if they are always killed by something (I'm sure some are) or can figure out where they go. I just know that by August they gone.
This piece of land and probably 5-10 square miles around it seems to be void of turkeys during fall and winter. I don't know why, it's all woods and fields just like most other places in rural Tennessee. But, by March 17-20 or so, you'll see one or hear one around. Usually a couple gobblers and some hens move in from somewhere far off.
Used to, id try to or kill all the birds I could from that place. Because I wanted to kill as many as possible. Then I got to where I would rather take one or none and let them breed and be left alone. After several years of same ole thing, I don't know if I have helped or not by letting them be. There never is more than 3-4 longbeards up there during spring. Doesn't matter if I shot some the year prior or not. Doesn't matter if we have 7 jakes together and they all live. When they go back where they come from that's it. The next year there will be likely 2 longbeards and a few hens. occasionally 3-4 longbeards and sometimes 1 or none.


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[elknturkey]

Virginia does a year end report of average kills per square mile of suitable habitat and its broken down by county. 70% of our state kills are east of the blue ridge. Not surprising as it's much better habitat. With that said, on average its about 1/2 gobbler killed per square mile. A few top counties will hit about 1.5 gobblers per square mile. There's 640 acres in a square mile

 

[Shooter77]

Virginia does a year end report of average kills per square mile of suitable habitat and its broken down by county. 70% of our state kills are east of the blue ridge. Not surprising as it's much better habitat. With that said, on average its about 1/2 gobbler killed per square mile. A few top counties will hit about 1.5 gobblers per square mile. There's 640 acres in a square mile

I love getting that report every year. Lots of great info in it about habit and turkey behavior. Wish TN would do something similar also.

 

[TheLBLman]

Virginia . . . . . on average its about 1/2 gobbler killed per square mile.
A few top counties will hit about 1.5 gobblers per square mile.
There's 640 acres in a square mile

Very realistic, believable numbers to me.

So, roughly, 1 bird per 640 acres.

I would ask how many turkey hunters are hunting on most 640-acre parcels?

Most private land 640-acre parcels in Tennessee would be divided by about 10 different ownerships,
meaning about ten 64-acre parcels within an average square mile of good turkey habitat?

Each "farm" having one or two turkey hunters claiming,
"I only shoot one bird off each farm. Spread my kills out."

Put that back in the context of the average Longbearded Tom moving around on over 1,000 acres during turkey season.

 

[elknturkey]

That's also kills for "suitable habitat". Im curious what they consider suitable. Jefferson and George Washington national forest is huge but a lot of it is junk land with massive rhododendron and laurel thickets that birds do not inhabit. Is that included? Heck a lot of private isn't suitable.

 

[muddyboots]

Yea my lease gets hunted way harder than public. But we have a lot more turkeys than that.

 

[muddyboots]

Our lease is 900 acre. In the hay day I would have just soon hunt there as anywhere. In those days I'd hear double digit turkeys every morning. Now a good morning would be 6.

 

[Grnwing]

A turkeys home range can be pretty large, as much as 50-60k acres. Not many private land parcels that size but there are numerous public lands that dwarf that acreage. I think you are almost better off on public when you start looking at hunters/acre. I know too many small leases <640 acres that will have 4-5 guys and the occasional guest going out trying to kill their 4 birds. You really have to have some phenomenal habitat to keep that up YOY. But there is something nice about pulling up to a private land and not having to worry if someone else has beat you to your spot or if anyone is going to walk in on you. Public land offers you a lot of open space and plenty of room to get away from the crowds. The one's who are willing to access differently or hike in a little farther are usually rewarded. That is one of the things I love about hunting out west, I can hike in 10 miles and eliminate a lot of pressure, hard to hike 10 miles in Tennessee and not cross property lines or access points.