Turkey numbers on my farms

[poorhunter]

Look to be down even more than last year. The fall/winter of 2017 I had a couple large (20+) groups of toms in and around the farms I hunt, basically a 5 square mile area. Spring of 2018 there were very very few turkeys seen (toms or hens) and during the whole spring I don't think I heard a turkey gobble on the roost more than 5 mornings. This past fall/winter the groups of toms were in the 7-10 range. Did my first scouting trip today (working 6 days a week) and heard one gobbler on the roost at each of two spots. My best spot has one tom with about 10 hens, and I'm just not sure if I even want to try and kill him. I'm supposed to have Wednesday off next week, and I'd really like to get one of my girls a turkey but right now I'm too worried about the population decline. I may not get another day off the rest of the season, but I think I may gamble that I will and wait until they've had a chance to breed for a couple weeks. The farms I hunt I'm the only one who hunts them except for trespassers, so hopefully they strike out.

 

[poorhunter]

That best farm of mine traditionally had 5-8 gobblers all day every day. I had permission to hunt the neighboring property for years and would just beg to hunt that other property. Last winter a friend of mine bought it and gave me permission...now no birds :roll:

 

[megalomaniac]

I do the same thing... if there is only 1 bird on a farm, I sure as heck won't hunt him until after April 15th.

My longest bearded turkey (12.25in) was one I left unhunted until mid-late April 3 or 4 years ago. He was a LOT easier to kill then anyways, as his group of 10 hens had left to lay. No hunting pressure and no hens can make for an easy hunt. But ofc, you are always running the risk poachers will remove your bird early.