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2025 Turkey Season

Swamp Fox__On The Run said:
Turkey hunting is not for everyone.

Sometimes the birds don't cooperate, or you just ain't where they am.

And also--While I'm at it, I might as well just blurt it out--Let me say: The game is only getting started at 50 yards ... It's fixin' to get serious at 40... LOL

Gobblers ain't easy.

Turkeys made a big comeback in places where they'd vanished. Hunting Incorporated hyped it up and "hunters" got spoiled.

The turkey abundance warning signs/trouble-spots can be traced back even into the restoration years, which ended in 2004 or thereabouts.

There is a habitat problem, and it's not being addressed.

Turkeys need good nesting cover and brood ground, and what's being pushed as attractive for deer habitat is not necessarily good for turkeys, and can be very good for predators.

So put *that* in yer pipes and smoke it.



l
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I've been turkey hunting about 10 years and up until the last two years a person could expect to hear a gobbler every 3 to 4 days afield. Out of those days, hearing a gobble, one out of maybe 3 or 4 would have you in the game. Guys I learned from and hunt with said that that has been about right as long as they have been doing it, and some of these guys have hunted since the 80's. Something has changed.

I've always said if I get one gobbler a year, I'm happy. I just want to go out and hear birds fairly often, not every day, but surely more than two measly gobbles from an adult bird from a dozen days out. I'll also say I'm not someone who goes out for an hour, hears nothing and goes home. When I go out, I spend at least half the day in the woods. So, these are not a quick ride around before work and "oh well, no gobbles heard today". These are 6 to 7 hour days in the woods covering miles. For instance, I did at least 6 miles on the first of April and heard nothing.

This is also not something that is just happening to me. All my buddies are having a very hard time of it. The guy who I learned from just plain stopped going out to the low pressure private club he is a member of and has been doing out of state hunts this season it's so bad. He is out of state right now.

One problem I see is that the forest service has been doing a lot of controlled burns in the last few months, following deer season. They have been doing it for at least the past 4 or 5 years. It basically opens up the woods and there is no cover. They burned off a 3 mile strip of power line easement on one WMA I hunt. It greened back up and looks like my front lawn. You could not hide a rabbit out there. Is that good nesting cover?

Maybe we need to reduce the bag limit from 3 to 2 birds and cut 50% of the out of state tags? Maybe we need to stop burning off all the low cover on the WMA's. Who knows? All I do know is that turkey hunting around here has never been easy. It is downright impossible under the current conditions.
 
Guess I have it pretty good where I'm at. I have multiple birds gobbling on every hunt and usually have at least one work for me. My season in next Thursday and it'll be the latest I ever hunted for turkey, so we will see how it goes Fwiw, my deer season last year had the least amount of deer in range, and seen for that matter since I started in the 1980's.( I did buy a new bow recently just in case my old one was bad luck)

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
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My opinion, and it's worth what you paid for it, is that there is a long list of issues impacting turkey populations and depending on location the order of impact could be entirely different than other areas. The problems, imo, are predation of both birds and nest, habitat both nesting and brood cover on both private and public ground, weather especially between hatch and flight for poults, bag limit adjustments happening too late, AG practices, Reaping or fanning and a couple more that my CRS took captive. Within most of those issues, there are multiple contributing factors as well.
 
Are you seeing a decline in Turkey harvest the last several years in your state ?

I’m talking as a whole in your state.
 
I was asking anyone that’s not seeing or hearing turkey.. having a hard turkey season.

I’m wondering if it’s habitat change in specific areas or if the entire states population decline.
 
I think you know where I’m going with my questions.

Is this a How bad do you want it issue?
Or…. Are you hunting turkey where You want them to be?

I don’t hunt 160” deer… because there are no 160” deer where I hunt.
When it comes to turkey.. I hunt them first, where they are. When I go there I set up where they want to be.
One of my birds this year was a 2.5 hour drive to get to the spot from my house.
Habitat is always changing. There are no turkey where I killed them as a kid. I only know a couple spots that still hold turkey that I hunted 10 years ago

Another analogy I could put out there is that I live less than 30 minutes from Smith Mountain Lake. Awesome fishery.
I trailer my boat 3 hours to Buggs Island to catch crappie… and it’s not because Smith Mountain doesn’t have crappie.

Don’t take any of this personally. I’m not trying come across as a jerk. I’m trying to see if looking outside the box could help improve success.
 
Lucky13 said:
I think you know where I’m going with my questions.

Is this a How bad do you want it issue?
Or…. Are you hunting turkey where You want them to be?

I don’t hunt 160” deer… because there are no 160” deer where I hunt.
When it comes to turkey.. I hunt them first, where they are. When I go there I set up where they want to be.
One of my birds this year was a 2.5 hour drive to get to the spot from my house.
Habitat is always changing. There are no turkey where I killed them as a kid. I only know a couple spots that still hold turkey that I hunted 10 years ago

Another analogy I could put out there is that I live less than 30 minutes from Smith Mountain Lake. Awesome fishery.
I trailer my boat 3 hours to Buggs Island to catch crappie… and it’s not because Smith Mountain doesn’t have crappie.

Don’t take any of this personally. I’m not trying come across as a jerk. I’m trying to see if looking outside the box could help improve success.
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There are some gobblers. They exist. My friend who is out of state as we speak has them on camera. They are not gobbling. There are fewer, many fewer on the public I hunt, they just don't (or exceedingly rarely)gobble. If you call to them they shut up and haul butt. Maybe it's pressure to some extent, maybe it is just that they have so any hens and so little competition they don't feel they need to gobble. Who knows but the net result is the same.

I understand the sentiment to "go where they are" but I'm personally not getting up at 1 am to drive 3 hours so I can be at a spot at 4 am so a local doesn't beat me to a spot. Around here, on public, if you have a spot in mind to go to you better be there at 4 am. This season, on opening day, there were 6 trucks already parked when I came through at 3:50 am. As it stands, I'm not too enthusiastic about going to all that trouble and expense to hunt birds that rarely ever gobble.
 
I do think people become addicted to the gobbling. It's a big part of why turkey hunting is so much fun ... maybe the biggest part. I understand why people who don't hear gobbling get discouraged and even sour on the whole enterprise.

Experience, old-timers and state biologists can help identify the timing of peaks and valleys for gobbling activity in an area (if the population is there) and this can help with hunt planning. It's also the case that quiet birds require much more scouting than big yellers do. Walking, wading, paddling ---all that.

Turkey gobblers are driven by biology and a survival instinct. That doesn't change. Hunting tactics might
have to, though.

Without getting into a lot of detail, staying planted or returning to the roost area after the birds have left often will result in a gobbler returning to look for the hen he heard earlier, but missed. He will often be silent, but if you flip his switch, he'll be coming in on a beeline.

It makes for a long morning, or even most of a day, but it is one of my favorite tactics for quiet birds, especially on public land.
 
Swamp Fox__On The Run said:
I do think people become addicted to the gobbling. It's a big part of why turkey hunting is so much fun ... maybe the biggest part. I understand why people who don't hear gobbling get discouraged and even sour on the whole enterprise.

Experience, old-timers and state biologists can help identify the timing of peaks and valleys for gobbling activity in an area (if the population is there) and this can help with hunt planning. It's also the case that quiet birds require much more scouting than big yellers do. Walking, wading, paddling ---all that.

Turkey gobblers are driven by biology and a survival instinct. That doesn't change. Hunting tactics might
have to, though.

Without getting into a lot of detail, staying planted or returning to the roost area after the birds have left often will result in a gobbler returning to look for the hen he heard earlier, but missed. He will often be silent, but if you flip his switch, he'll be coming in on a beeline.

It makes for a long morning, or even most of a day, but it is one of my favorite tactics for quiet birds, especially on public land.
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A gobbler that doesn't gobble is like a 180 inch buck who shed his rack. Yeah, it's the same animal...mostly.
 
I've said before, from 2009-2016 turkey hunting was absolutely a blast around here. On the 1k acre of private I hunt, there was no less than 10 gobblers on the property every single year. Everyone had a fair shot at tagging out.

I filled both spring tags and fall tag every single 1 of those years. Public, while more challenging, still offered good opportunities if you got boots on the ground and went to find them.

Starting in 2017, I noticed just dramatically less birds in the woods. Everyone, no matter what skill level you have will have a bad year. I thought no biggie.

It's never been the same since. That 1k acre has never had more than 3-4 gobblers on it in 8 years. The kids on the youth hunt will usually knock that number down to 1-2 gobblers left. Don't want that to sound negative. I'm happy the kids get their opportunity.

I have shin splints I've logged so many miles the past week trying to find birds. In all that walking, I saw just 1 hen. Today, I walked in a huge field that always held birds in the past. There was a big mud pit in the middle that had so many footprints in it you'd swear you were standing in Woodstock. Not 1 stinking print was a turkey track.

Everybody around here has noticed the change. My brother's old boss is a very wealthy man and owns a 500 acre farm about an hour north of me smack dab in the middle of farm country. Hed have 15 gobblers every year to pursue. Now while he still is successful every year, he'll have maybe 5-6 birds to pursue. And that's as good as it gets.

I push myself hard buck hunting because I know the mature bucks are around. My cameras contain irrefutable proof of their existence. When I'm not successful, it's a ME problem. It's not a bad problem to have because I can work towards fixing it.

Turkey hunting is a problem bigger than me which is why it sucks anymore. Maybe I'd be more successful if I branched out and drove an hour or more to better horizons. But to be frank, I don't want it bad enough to burn tons of gas and wear and tear on the car. For myself, hoisting up a 19lb bird, while very rewarding, is not nearly in the same universe as besting a mature cunning buck whose evaded countless hunters and rifles over the years and beat them all.
 
there's the old saying, only a poor workman blames his tools.

is it true, only a poor hunter blames his hunting area?...

If so, I am among the poorest of hunters, for sure.

We close this coming weekend in LA. I had a fun 3 day camping trip in N LA in Kisatchie and heard one gobbler. No one I talked to heard/saw/bagged any birds. I went out once locally but have just been too busy to get out. Thankfully, spring squirrel season kicks off next week so 1 week so I'll be out the woods for that.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
I wanted one of the Mossberg over under turkey guns they have now. It is all camo, 20 inch barrels and set up for nonexistent turkeys.

I like the idea of having 2 barrels, one choked for TSS to reach out there if they hang up and the other barrel choked looser for lead shot for those close in shots. Just choose whichever barrel is appropriate.

Maybe in a couple of years if they get their act together next season. I just can't see spending the money if the season is awful.
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From my experience and opinion, shoot a pump or auto, if you light or low hit a bird you'd wish you had another shell in that tight choked barrel. I thought the same thing with my 28 O/U and killed one with the cheap loads/open choke barrel. Second one I jerked it or somethin and had to send another one that didn't do jack squat cause he was 45 or so away from me by then. Luckily enough the tss penetrated well and he sailed into some tall grass where I found him layed down.

Missed one the same year in Kansas and he stood there @ 40 after I missed him. Nothing I could do about it and knew the lead #6 wouldn't be tight enough out of a modified to kill him.
 
Lucky13 said:
Are you seeing a decline in Turkey harvest the last several years in your state ?

I’m talking as a whole in your state.
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2024 Turkey Program Annual Report Final.pdf

drive.google.com drive.google.com

Page 16 has the last 5 years stats. The high numbers on that graphic are half of this states best years. And while looking for some other old data, I ran across an article from a few days ago that says next year we are going to a staggered opener based on a peak gobbling study done by Dr. Chamberlain and his team. Apparently after claiming all turkeys in the southeast peak breeding happens at the same time, their study here indicated otherwise. Our previous head turkey biologist was one of his understudies and would tell anyone including myself, we didnt know what we were talking about because we werent biologist. I have a strong desire to use inappropriate language to describe my disdain for Chamberlain and his minions. He makes James Kroll look like a valuable source of information and for a long time I didnt think that was possible.
 
I think the bow is still on from p.
BTaylor said:

2024 Turkey Program Annual Report Final.pdf

drive.google.com drive.google.com

Page 16 has the last 5 years stats. The high numbers on that graphic are half of this states best years. And while looking for some other old data, I ran across an article from a few days ago that says next year we are going to a staggered opener based on a peak gobbling study done by Dr. Chamberlain and his team. Apparently after claiming all turkeys in the southeast peak breeding happens at the same time, their study here indicated otherwise. Our previous head turkey biologist was one of his understudies and would tell anyone including myself, we didnt know what we were talking about because we werent biologist. I have a strong desire to use inappropriate language to describe my disdain for Chamberlain and his minions. He makes James Kroll look like a valuable source of information and for a long time I didnt think that was possible.
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you don’t like Kroll?
 
Ouch!

I've always like Kroll. Have heard him speak many times, especially back in the early days before deer TV took off.

I know less about Chamberlain and am surprised at the hostility from some corners when I run across it. I don't know where it comes from. He has always struck me as a guy who has come to his knowledge the honest way, and who also knows what he doesn't know ... and isn't afraid to tell you that he doesn't know.

Maybe I'm wrong.
 
Swamp Fox__On The Run said:
Ouch!

I've always like Kroll. Have heard him speak many times, especially back in the early days before deer TV took off.

I know less about Chamberlain and am surprised at the hostility from some corners when I run across it. I don't know where it comes from. He has always struck me as a guy who has come to his knowledge the honest way, and who also knows what he doesn't know ... and isn't afraid to tell you that he doesn't know.

Maybe I'm wrong.
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I havent spoken with Chamberlain directly but have listened to a few podcast. The biologist we had parroted everything his mentor said and refused to listen to any discussion counter to their opinions at the time. At the time I first spoke with our biologist he had lived in this state for maybe 36 months but he knew more about Arkansas turkeys than anyone else because he had a degree and trained under Chamberlain. He literally said in the conversation, "I have a degree in biology, do you?" This latest information where the most recent study shows peak breeding here is not a static date across the whole state is just one of many thing s he was told that historical evidence though anecdotal greatly differed from his opinion. They may be educated, just not all that smart.
 
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