AT Hiker":12p367zi said:
megalomaniac":12p367zi said:
So... the more stories about gobblers still with hens this past week really, really, really reinforces my opinion that season needs to be pushed back 2 weeks. Adult hens that haven't started setting now either have lost a nest, or didn't initiate a nest until after April 20th or so (and they usually don't breed until the week before nest is initiated)
I posted a link to the scientific research on the tn turkey hunting Facebook page about why season should be moved to at least opening April 9. No one was willing to accept that bit of research, the response was "why? All hens are already bred by our opener" If they cannot accept the basic idea of the average nest initiation starting as being April 9-22 and waiting to push season back simply 8-9 days to ensure more hens are bred, then I can't debate with them anymore.
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The other terrible misconception... 'a hen only needs to be bred once and she'll produce a fertile clutch of eggs, and even can fertilize a 2nd clutch if she renests'... and 'hens mate a month before they start laying eggs'
while this is possible, it is NOT the norm. Fertility drops RAPIDLY after 7 days from initial mating (down to around 50% fertility at day 8, down to around 25% fertility by day 12-14). Most hens allow a gobbler to mate with them right when they start ovulating, which is usually a week to 10 days before 1st egg is produced. They will mate with a gobbler MULTIPLE times during laying to maximize fertility.
When you combine the necessity of having gobblers present during early April to maximize fertility of the hens with the social impact of flock dynamics when gobblers are removed interrupting breeding, then also considering the kill is so frontloaded to the first two weeks of the season (usually half the entire 6 week harvest happens during the first 2 weeks), I have come to the conclusion that the single most important change TWRA must make is to push the season back 2 weeks.
AT, your info of nest initiation of April 9-22 fits right in with what I've seen... I've said multiple times on this forum, nest initiation on my farms averages April 14th. That is based on multiple nests sampled; unfortunately many were sampled after they were destroyed in late May/ early June cutting hay. It's pretty easy to examine the gestational development of the embryo inside the egg and determine when incubation started. (Heck, now that I've had enough practice, I can candle an egg without breaking it and get to within 3 or 4 days of correct incubation start.) Count back approx. 14 days from that, and that is when nests were initiated. Count back 7 days from that and that is when the hens likely first mated.
And what SO cool about pushing season back 2 weeks is that the hunting experience itself will be EVEN BETTER! Gobblers will not be as henned up and more receptive to calling. Could you imagine walking on a property late April that there has been no hunting around for 5 square miles and blow a call to a bird that has not been called to in a year? It would be incredible watching the gobblers falling over themselves running to you.
