Spring Take Was Up 4,303 Over 2019

[Sir-diealot]

Take was up 4,303 over 2019 Hard to believe after all I had heard from fellow hunters. Take was up 119 birds in my county which surprises me because I only heard 1 gobble the entire season myself and every other hunter I know said they did not see or hear many turkey/gobbles either. Note that this is Spring season only.

 

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/30420.html

[mowin]

This yrs take in Columbia county was up 109. Favorable nesting weather definitely helped in 2019.

  Not quite to the highs of '15, '16, '17.  But a jump from the past couple springs. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by mowin

[Sir-diealot]

1 minute ago, mowin said:

This yrs take in Columbia county was up 109. Favorable nesting weather definitely helped.

  Not quite to the highs of '15, '16, '17.  But a jump from the past couple springs. 

I know Covid played big in the increase, but how the heck were people finding them, they were silent every place I went and I hunt private.

[mowin]

Just now, Sir-diealot said:

I know Covid played big in the increase, but how the heck were people finding them, they were silent every place I went and I hunt private.

Birds are like flies on dung in my area. Had a great past couple seasons. Lots of birds and gobbling. Easy winter's helped, but the nasty springs in '17 and '18 definitely had the population down.  Predators definitely don't help either. 

[Sir-diealot]

1 minute ago, mowin said:

Birds are like flies on dung in my area. Had a great past couple seasons. Lots of birds and gobbling. Easy winter's helped, but the nasty springs in '17 and '18 definitely had the population down.  Predators definitely don't help either. 

They are not great here in Yates County, they have lost so much habitat because of the Mennonites constantly rapping the land. Not that they are the only ones, I know of 3 "English" families that love to rape the land as well.

[NYBowhunter]

4 minutes ago, Sir-diealot said:

I know Covid played big in the increase, but how the heck were people finding them, they were silent every place I went and I hunt private.

Numbers up in 4F, but populations for the most part in 4F are pretty stable. Some of the biggest flocks I have seen on my property are from this year. Have video of 24 hens in my plot and a little later 6 gobblers.. Never seen that many hens at one time on my property. With Turkeys like deer, numbers can trend up or down not by county but property to property.

[NYBowhunter]

24 hens, not all are in pic. Pic. is from a video of them coming off top of my mountain to feed in the plot.

[turkeyfeathers]

My first birdless year in a long time too. And hunted a decent amount. 

[Buckmaster7600]

That probably matches the numbers of new hunters this year.


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[Five Seasons]

Gobbling was down in my neck of the woods too.

 

Pretty sure @cynthiafu is personally responsible for the uptick. Bird killing machine she is.

[cynthiafu]

15 minutes ago, Belo said:

Gobbling was down in my neck of the woods too.

 

Pretty sure @cynthiafu is personally responsible for the uptick. Bird killing machine she is.

Lolol  I was taught by the best .

[Sir-diealot]

3 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

Just curious- please explain " Mennonites"? I am down in Orange County. Never heard of them.

   

Think Amish with electricity.

[BizCT]

@The Jerkman killed 1 of the 38 in Westchester County

[Sir-diealot]

I have seen more this Fall and so far this Winter than I have seen in a very long time but most have been hens, (Or juvenile jakes that I could not tell were jakes) I have seen a few flocks approaching 30 and on Saturday almost hit 6 on my way home as they ran across the road, again mostly hen.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Sir-diealot

[G-Man]

3 hours ago, NYBowhunter said:

24 hens, not all are in pic. Pic. is from a video of them coming off top of my mountain to feed in the plot.

There are at least 3 jakes in that photo by feather coloration. 

[G-Man]

Were quite a few birds around last year, this years hatch was fae better , so far mild winter will help. Them out. Should be lots of jakes in the spring, hoping my nephews cannget on a few of them.

[Marion]

[mention=3682]The Jerkman[/mention] killed 1 of the 38 in Westchester County

Damn straight I did! Hopefully I can kill two next year. They're simply delicious!

#ThankYouForLessOverzealousModding #WeDemandUnlimitedLikes
#WeDemandADislikeButton

[Lomax]

Some of the flock from this fall.  Seems about average for my area.

[Buckmaster7600]

Does bird populations really play a big part in hunter success?

The guys I know that kill 2 birds every spring kill 2 birds every spring regardless of population trends.

The old saying about 90% of birds are killed by 10% of hunters is something I think is very true!


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[NYBowhunter]

1 hour ago, G-Man said:

There are at least 3 jakes in that photo by feather coloration. 

Could be, they blended in well with the hens that I didn't take notice. The gobblers in my area however are very easy to tell a part. Im not much of a turkey hunter, probably should take the time to hunt them as my area has some of the highest densities in all of NY.  Finding time in may is the hard part...lol

[Sir-diealot]

41 minutes ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

Does bird populations really play a big part in hunter success?

The guys I know that kill 2 birds every spring kill 2 birds every spring regardless of population trends.

The old saying about 90% of birds are killed by 10% of hunters is something I think is very true!


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If they are not there to kill then that 90% can't kill them either. I am personally for eliminating killing hens in the Fall and dropping to one Tom in the Spring.

[Buckmaster7600]

If they are not there to kill then that 90% can't kill them either. I am personally for eliminating killing hens in the Fall and dropping to one Tom in the Spring.

In my 20yrs of turkey hunting there’s always been birds somewhere. The 10% are just willing to travel/hunt harder or more to kill them.


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[Sir-diealot]

1 hour ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

In my 20yrs of turkey hunting there’s always been birds somewhere. The 10% are just willing to travel/hunt harder or more to kill them.


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Again, if they are not there to be found it will not matter.

[Sir-diealot]

@blackbeltbill would you please respectfully edit your post, I think there were some mistakes made because reading it I do not quite understand what you mean and I know from here and OG that that is not like you and I do not want to reply to something I am not really understanding. Again this is asked with all due respect and no insult intended in any way. Thank you.

[Sir-diealot]

9 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

Which post + what answer + I will research.

This one bud, it is like some words were left out several places and it does not make much sense to me.

"I don't think we are at in NY dropping down to 1 Spring Tom. 

   NY Fall Turkey Hunting  is not making much of a dent in Turkey Populations. The bag limit is now 1 Fall Bird Statewide and less + less are going out.

     The only place in NY, I am perplexed about is Westchester County. Only 38 Spring Toms taken in 2020.

   Westchester used to be one of the top 10 County's for Spring Turkey take back in the 90s as, I have the old DEC Spring paper reports.

   All other Countys including Rockland County seem to now have more Turkeys."