2024 Turkey Season in Evaluation

I simply wrapped up my greatest turkey season in years. I hunted about 30 days, beginning in Texas in late March, bouncing backwards and forwards between Kentucky and Tennessee all of April, and ending up in Nebraska in early Could. As is the case each turkey season, this one had its moments of jubilation and disappointment, with loads of classes realized and takeaways alongside the way in which. These are those that stood out.

Turkey Numbers Appears to Be Rebounding In Some States

There’s been little or no excellent news on the turkey inhabitants entrance over the previous six or seven years. However turkey numbers in a lot of the areas I hunted appeared to be glorious this yr, with considerable jakes, a number of hens, and loads of vocal gobblers. Many states have reported higher poult manufacturing in current summers, and a few locations appear to be reaping the advantages of that now (no pun supposed; I didn’t do any reaping this yr).

Harvest statistics in a number of states appear to bear this out, too. There was an upward development within the turkey harvest for the third yr in a row in Arkansas. Missouri hunters had their greatest season in years, taking 47,121 birds. Kentucky hunters took 33,460 birds, the third-highest tackle file.

At a look, it might sound that the dramatic looking regulation adjustments made in a number of Southeastern states have made a distinction. However turkeys are mysterious critters. Tennessee made among the most aggressive adjustments of any state to its season construction, chopping bag limits in half, delaying the season begin date by two weeks, and outlawing fanning on public land. Tennessee hunters have really taken extra turkeys the previous two seasons, since these adjustments had been carried out, than they did the earlier two years, too. But, an exhaustive 3-year research carried out by researchers on the College of Tennessee simply concluded that these adjustments have had little if any impact on poult manufacturing within the Volunteer State. Different states within the Southeast that made few if any adjustments had nice hatches in current summers, too, and so they additionally appear to be mirrored in harvest knowledge. 

On the finish of the day, many biologists nonetheless consider, as I do, that predation is the chief explanation for the turkey decline. That’s due partly to massive numbers of predators on the panorama, after all, however simply as a lot as a result of lack of high quality nesting and brooding habitat. Poor habitat makes nests, nesting hens, and poults all extraordinarily susceptible to predation.

But, a shiny spot is that personal land managers could make a distinction in native turkey numbers on surprisingly small acreages, and plenty of are getting higher at it. A number of landowners working cooperatively on bigger acreages can actually flip issues round. For instance, we intensively handle the habitat on our farm—which is lower than 80 acres—with a mixture of fine meals plots, frequent prescribed fireplace, and aggressive predator trapping. We lure on our neighbors’ farms, too, who conduct comparable habitat administration efforts. The result’s a fairly large block of nation that’s managed with turkeys in thoughts as a lot as whitetails. We’ve owned our farm for greater than a decade, and I can unequivocally say there are extra turkeys on the market now than we’ve ever had.  

Why Are We Nonetheless Taking pictures Bearded Hens?

Two of the turkeys we see ceaselessly on our place are bearded hens. They’re every unmistakable and have proven up on our path cameras in early March the previous two years and caught round effectively into the summer season. We frequently see them whereas looking, and so they’d be completely authorized to shoot. However they shouldn’t be. 

The rationale for bearded hens being truthful sport is the belief that the majority hunters determine gobblers by seeing the beard. That assumption is dated and must go. Inside shotgun vary, no person ought to have an issue distinguishing a male fowl from a feminine within the spring. Waterfowlers, in spite of everything, are requested to differentiate between species and sexes of geese on the wing, no matter lighting or climate. 

It’s assumed that hunters don’t kill sufficient bearded hens to make a distinction within the turkey inhabitants. However lately, why even have the controversy? This season, 233 bearded hens had been shot in Kentucky, 505 in Missouri, and 160 in Tennessee. If simply 20 p.c of these 898 useless hens was profitable in elevating three poults every, they’d have put 538 new turkeys on the panorama this spring alone. Hens face a 50 p.c pure mortality fee. Taking pictures them throughout the nesting season shouldn’t be certainly one of them.  

All’s Not Misplaced When a Gobbler Spooks

This spring I hunted a WMA with loads of turkeys, but additionally loads of gravel-road visitors. A number of occasions, I used to be on birds that had been strutting and gobbling inside plain sight of a street and every time, inevitably, a truck would come creeping alongside and trigger the birds to drop strut and vamoose.

The primary time it occurred, I acquired aggravated, packed up and left. The second time, I made a decision to eat a can of Vienna sausages (the best turkey looking snack there’s) and hang around for some time. A full 38 minutes later, the gobbler I’d been on sounded off up within the timber, 100 yards from the place he’d been standing subsequent to the street. I didn’t kill him, however I did get to chase him for one more hour, which beat sulking within the truck.

A number of days later, a buddy and I had been looking the identical WMA and had noticed a strutter and hens working down the sting of a roadside subject. We snuck down a creek mattress to get forward of them, and shortly discovered ourselves 70 yards away, with them feeding proper towards us. However earlier than we may arrange, the turkeys all of a sudden acquired slinky, then they sprinted throughout the sphere in numerous instructions and took flight. A truck got here crawling by a minute later.  

We may’ve left, as a result of it was virtually lunchtime. As an alternative, we positioned ourselves in a super setup and, you guessed it, cracked a pair cans of high quality potted meat. After simply 20 minutes, the gobbler sounded off. He was perched in a tree on the sting of the street. We yelped, he pitched into the sphere, and 10 minutes later I used to be clicking my security off as he closed to inside shotgun vary. A shock mob of jakes all of a sudden raced in, although, flogged him, and derailed the complete state of affairs earlier than I may shoot, however what a hunt that ended up being—and one we virtually bailed on as a result of we assumed it was ruined.  

An Previous-Faculty Name Swap Nonetheless Works

I set my course for Nebraska in early Could, the place I joined my buddy Joe Arterburn at his annual wall-tent turkey camp, sponsored by the NWTF. We had been testing loads of new gear there, together with Benelli SBE3 shotguns and Remington Premier TSS shells. We additionally examined some Pendleton whiskey within the evenings, which aided within the story telling if not the turkey looking.

Anyway, on the third morning of the hunt, I discovered myself working into place on a pair of strutters that had been tagging alongside behind a half-dozen aloof hens. I watched because the hens fed off into the sandhills, whereas the gobblers planted themselves on the sting of an alfalfa subject, 80 yards from a grove of cottonwoods. Placing the bushes between myself and the birds, I crawled into a superb calling place. It was an ideal state of affairs; I may see the turkeys by way of the bushes, however for them to see the “hen” they may hear calling, they’d have to get inside shotgun vary.

I started with some smooth yelps on a double-reed mouth name, to which the birds wolfed instantly. I performed laborious to get for some time, however it didn’t work. As an alternative of succumbing to curiosity, the gobblers started to float into the sandhills. So, I acquired extra aggressive on a shipwreck reduce, and although the birds didn’t gobble again, they did strut and are available nearer…earlier than drifting away once more. I thought of letting them go and repositioning, however earlier than I did, I fished out my field name and made just a few louder yelps. Each toms reduce me off with gobbles, after which marched my approach with out a lot hesitation. I shot certainly one of them at 30 yards and ended my season. I are inclined to lean closely on a mouth name, possibly an excessive amount of at occasions. The time-tested recommendation of attempting just a few totally different lures till the fish chunk nonetheless works.  

There’s All the time a Late-Season Gobbling Flurry

On the outset of turkey season, I pulled collectively The Gobbling Report, or which I studied the information from practically 300 harvested turkeys from 17 states. Lots of the outcomes confirmed assumptions that I already had, together with that, after a lull within the mid-season, the looking will get good once more within the late season. Over the previous few years, I’ve loved a few of my greatest hunts round dwelling over the past week of the season.

However nearly as good because the early and even mid-season had been round right here this yr, the late season was gradual. Once I acquired again from Nebraska, I used to be more than pleased to hold it up for the yr. Then, for 2 straight weeks after the Kentucky season closed, I had every day photos of strutters on my path cameras, and on the morning of Could 19, I woke to the sound of a gobbler hammering on the ridge behind the home.

I believe he’d have been straightforward pickings, if the season had been open and I nonetheless had a tag. One takeaway is that the late-season gobbling peak may’ve been just a bit later this yr. A good higher one is understanding there are nonetheless just a few gobblers operating round to chase subsequent yr.

2024 Gobbler Gear Picks

I attempted a bunch of latest gear objects this spring. Listed below are three of my favorites.

LaCrosse Ursa ES GTX

I wore these 8-inch boots each single day of the season, and so they had been among the many most comfy boots I’ve ever had on my toes. I preferred final yr’s Ursa MS as effectively, however the ES GTX had been lighter, extra versatile, and higher fitted to all-day turkey looking. About $250.

QuietKat Apex XD

Sure, hippies love e-bikes, however they’re good for turkey looking, too. On my final morning in Nebraska, I wanted to make a ¾-mile loop round a roosted flock earlier than dawn to get to the aspect of the alfalfa subject the place I knew they might go after flying down. With this Quiet Kat Apex XD, I used to be in a position to try this in about 5 minutes, and doubtless with much less noise than I’d have made on foot. The plan labored, too. About $5,000.

Alps Grand Slam Vest

More often than not I am going and not using a turkey vest, however I did check out the Alps Grand Slam vest throughout my Nebraska journey. In locations like Nebraska and Texas, the place there’s not often a superb tree to lean towards, the kickstand body on this vest makes it straightforward to get comfy, shortly, nearly anyplace. Plus, the body is simple to take away for a lighter run-and-gun setup. If I had been going to put on a vest on a regular basis, this may be the one. About $190.

Learn Subsequent: All of the Finest Turkey Gear In accordance with a Lifelong Hunter