Post by Woody Williams on May 11, 2008 22:04:47 GMT -5
Turkey hunting took a drop everywhere
By Phil Potter
Sunday, May 11, 2008
When the sun sets tonight it rings down the final curtain on the Tri-State's spring wild turkey seasons. Illinois and Kentucky started weeks ahead of Indiana but the Hoosiers had the final days afield.
While some hunters in each state had phenomenal success many said it was way worse than last year when the gobbling peaked out early
This year gobbling was an off again-on again process replete with many days where gobblers stayed silent even while on the roost. Exceptions were in areas where there were pockets of several two-year-old birds that readily came to the call. However, many hunters complained the big birds were lax on gobbling and shied away from everything including some well hyped types of turkey decoys.
Hunters reported they did best with minimal chirps, clucks and purrs, used a single hen decoy and shot birds that were just following daily patterns.
In short, turkeys got into stealth mode early and stayed that way and for some quirk of nature.
All season groups of two to 10 or more hens mingled with two and three gobblers and a litany of jakes and spent the day with them. Usually hens stay by themselves when they are nesting but for some reason many still don't seem to be in a motherly mood. This lack of maternal instinct has prompted a rash of suppositions of why they aren't nesting or exhibiting normal behavior patterns.
Perhaps the bad weather of 2007 is the culprit and turkeys are still stressed from winter and a lack of nourishing food. To successfully reproduce, wildlife, especially birds, have to have an optimum body weight and extra fat reserve.
Spot checks at Indiana check stations reveal that most gobblers taken this year in southern Indiana are underweight (compared to last year), and sport wispy beards, so malnutrition may be effecting normal mating behavior.
All state agencies concur that they've set seasons that are best for both birds and hunters. They also say turkeys are wising up and changing their patterns as hunting pressure mounts and numbers of two year old birds remain low.
Another theory being bandied about is that turkeys and some species of waterfowl have been jolted out of their breeding cycle by the series of earthquakes and aftershocks that rocked and rolled many parts of the nation.
While this may sound far fetched, scientists in China discovered that a day or two prior to earthquakes, water levels in wells will drop a foot or two lower and wildlife exhibits bizarre behavior for an extended period.
Perhaps Tri-State turkeys are still all shook up.
By Phil Potter
Sunday, May 11, 2008
When the sun sets tonight it rings down the final curtain on the Tri-State's spring wild turkey seasons. Illinois and Kentucky started weeks ahead of Indiana but the Hoosiers had the final days afield.
While some hunters in each state had phenomenal success many said it was way worse than last year when the gobbling peaked out early
This year gobbling was an off again-on again process replete with many days where gobblers stayed silent even while on the roost. Exceptions were in areas where there were pockets of several two-year-old birds that readily came to the call. However, many hunters complained the big birds were lax on gobbling and shied away from everything including some well hyped types of turkey decoys.
Hunters reported they did best with minimal chirps, clucks and purrs, used a single hen decoy and shot birds that were just following daily patterns.
In short, turkeys got into stealth mode early and stayed that way and for some quirk of nature.
All season groups of two to 10 or more hens mingled with two and three gobblers and a litany of jakes and spent the day with them. Usually hens stay by themselves when they are nesting but for some reason many still don't seem to be in a motherly mood. This lack of maternal instinct has prompted a rash of suppositions of why they aren't nesting or exhibiting normal behavior patterns.
Perhaps the bad weather of 2007 is the culprit and turkeys are still stressed from winter and a lack of nourishing food. To successfully reproduce, wildlife, especially birds, have to have an optimum body weight and extra fat reserve.
Spot checks at Indiana check stations reveal that most gobblers taken this year in southern Indiana are underweight (compared to last year), and sport wispy beards, so malnutrition may be effecting normal mating behavior.
All state agencies concur that they've set seasons that are best for both birds and hunters. They also say turkeys are wising up and changing their patterns as hunting pressure mounts and numbers of two year old birds remain low.
Another theory being bandied about is that turkeys and some species of waterfowl have been jolted out of their breeding cycle by the series of earthquakes and aftershocks that rocked and rolled many parts of the nation.
While this may sound far fetched, scientists in China discovered that a day or two prior to earthquakes, water levels in wells will drop a foot or two lower and wildlife exhibits bizarre behavior for an extended period.
Perhaps Tri-State turkeys are still all shook up.
??