Not looking good

[TrevorG]

Ive been scouting all over and have heard two gobblers. thats it. Looks like things are about over before it starts. Have bumped one hen off her nest of 10.. another hen by herself around 8. No gobbling off the roost or at dark.... not good

[Pistol Pete]

I killed the last one around here yesterday before another hunter got it tue. sorry

[sits in trees]

Lower Ulster and many parts of northern Orange have alot of wet lands, and with last years wet spring i think a large % of the nests were washed out. A good portion of my property and most adjoining lands have swamp and i have witnessed many a dumb hen place their nests right in low swamp areas that are dry at the time of nesting then get washed out with one or two heavy rains. Timing is everything for nest building because turkeys are stupid when it comes to nest location, they concentrate more on cover than water table. Add that to the healthy yote and COON population and i guess thats what you get, less turkeys..

[sits in trees]

I killed the last one around here yesterday before another hunter got it tue. sorry

ooohhh, its gettin stupin again?

[Dave]

Jumped a hen off her nest two weks ago. When back yesterday eggs still there.

[adkbuck]

Well, I have read the postings and I think that its not a bad thing to comment on the lack of turkeys this spring. Honesty is generally a good policy! I don't think its reasonable to fault someone for stating the truth. We have had so many great seasons to be thankful for. This year in some areas (like mine) we have to deal with the ravages of nature. Wet springs I feel are the main culprit and that is nothing anyone inclusing the DEC can do anything about. Many like myself won't be able to fill their two gobbler limit as easily as in the past. Many of us will have to find new hunting areas where the birds are more plentiful and try our luck. I don't think coyotes are the problem because turkeys are endowed with great sense of avoiding danger and studies have shown that coyote predation are not a significant factor when it comes to the wild turkey. For the last 10 years I have had banner turkey years and coyotes have been abundant everywhere I hunted. Personaly If feel it should be legal to kill coyotes through turkey season and maybe even year round as I have called them in many times in reponse to my turkey calls.

Good luck to everyone hunting the mighty gobbler, but don't be discouraged and don't get negative on your fellow hunters!

[bkln]

"...and studies have shown that coyote predation are not a significant factor when it comes to the wild turkey..."

What studies? Do you have an example or citation ? I would like to analyze that. Not trying to break your balls, just need some facts in this discussion...

Thanks

[tjm08803]

thanks for the posts guys, I like to see that some people agree with me here. It is hard to face the truth, but sometimes reality has to be sought out. I feel that wet springs are the worst for turkeys. My buddy had a hen already nesting this year, probably last week it was. Then we got a little bit of snow, probably just enough to cover the eggs, and the hen ended up deserting the eggs. I dont think coyotes would be the top blame. If we just got a few mild springs, that would probably be huge.

On a side note, tomorrow is the day before the opener. Talk sweet to them gobblers tomorrow night, and get them dreaming about some hot hens. Lets go out and still enjoy it while we can. AIM STRAIGHT, SHOOT STRAIGHT, GO GET EM BOYS!

[erussell]

Lots of gobblin goin on around here, I get home in the morning and slam my car door and they gobble on both sides of the road. My daughter thinks its the funniest thing and has me slam the door several times just to hear them.

[bubba]

ooohhh, its gettin stupin again?

it is called humor some have a sense of it, some don't, now lighten up Francis

[Deerthug]

it is called humor some have a sense of it, some don't, now lighten up Francis

"The name is Frank. If you call me Francis I'll kill ya"!! LOL

[bubba]

ok psycho lol

[Deerthug]

That was a funny movie!

[Pistol Pete]

for years in the am we would park along the road, plow the horn the turkeys would gobble and into the woods we would go cheap locater !!!

Edited April 30, 2012 by Pistol Pete

[sits in trees]

it is called humor some have a sense of it, some don't, now lighten up Francis

Unlike Francis i just wanna kill some Turkeys, lol, great ole movie. But i have to question Adkbucks studies that Yotes arent much of a threat to the turk population. Yotes are dogs and dogs are masters of sniffing out nests with eggs in them, a yote or a coon will eat a whole nest full of eggs in one sitting, there goes 8 to 10 turks for next years season.

[i hunt alot 2]

Yes I have to agree with seeing less and hearing less turkeys this season and seeing last season fizzle out very early last year for me and the fella's i hunt with. The idea of the DEC closing the season is depressing.

[adkbuck]

BKLN,

The citation below is a study on predation of the wild turkey by the NWTF and others. From my own experience the boom in the turkey population which took place in the last 12 or 14 year where I hunt took place in parallel with the great increase in coyotes. I feel racoons are the biggest nest predators. I feel fox, bobcat and coyotes have some impact but it is small compared to the weather during the nesting and poulting seasons. Also in my 14 years of hunting turkey I have found only one case where a coyote was feeding on an adult wild turkey and I later found out that it was a bird that had been previously wounded.

Check Out: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCQQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nwtf.org%2FNAWTMP%2Fdownloads%2FLiterature%2FImpacts_Predation_Wild_Turkeys.pdf&ei=d4ueT4eiLKmC6AGbhqj7Dg&usg=AFQjCNHt55tww853I3MfnL2Vc4eA91AlYg

Also see: http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/predators.html

[Pistol Pete]

for years in the am we would park along the road, blow the horn the turkeys would gobble and into the woods we would go cheap locater !!!

[Pygmy]

The idea of the DEC closing the spring turkey season is very unlikely. I would be willing to bet next week's paycheck that this is a rumor.. Kind of like the rumors of the DEC stocking coyotes..

Turkey Management 101.... Since one gobbler will breed numerous hens, harvest of gobblers in the spring has a minimal effect on turkey populations..

The game departments of many of the southern states knew this long before New York even HAD a huntable population of wild turkeys.

Weather is the biggest factor in turkey populations,nest predation probably coming in at # 2..

[adkbuck]

Another interesting facet of turkey biology is that once a hen is impregnated her body is able to store the semen for about two months so that if there is a nesting failure she can still produce viable eggs in the abscence of a gobbler.