Hasn't been Sprayed by Air? For Boar's.
Monday season opener
Does it drive any of the other working people crazy that the game and fish opens season on a Monday? Thankfully I am blessed with time off but it still really bothers me to have to take off of work to hunt opening day in our state.
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Very little. The bulk of the area is classified as walk in wilderness.Hasn't been Sprayed by Air? For Boar's.
I think I hunt there. Are you referring to the WMA where the creeks are muddy?I could take you to 80,000 acres of mature pine/hardwood forest that has never seen a piece of chicken litter and no spraying along the roadside - over the past forty years. In the 80’s, ten turkeys were checked before 9 am opening morning - now - if a good year, ten turkeys checked by end of season.
No - south of there about thirty or forty milesI think I hunt there. Are you referring to the WMA where the creeks are muddy?
Sometimes I wish I hadn’t experienced turkey hunting in Arkansas from the 1990’s through the early 2000’s. That way I wouldn’t know how good it used to be. I don’t think my children will ever experience having to choose which gobbler to go after out of the ten that they can hear at daylight.
As exciting as it was to hear ten gobblers in a morning - I was more successful if I only heard two or three. I lunged too much - set up on one and hear one gobbling his head off over the ridge and take off after him, only to hear a pair across the creek and move in after them - only to end up the morning out of breath and nothing to show for it - but a good time. Wish I could experience it again - along with shooting quail over a pointing dog, shooting rabbits in front of a pack of beagles, and working a flock of fifty ducks over the decoys.Sometimes I wish I hadn’t experienced turkey hunting in Arkansas from the 1990’s through the early 2000’s. That way I wouldn’t know how good it used to be. I don’t think my children will ever experience having to choose which gobbler to go after out of the ten that they can hear at daylight.
I can agree on that timeframe. But I can also remember not over 6-10 years ago, I routinely saw a group of 6-8 long beards from my deer stand. Last year, that group was 3 jakesSometimes I wish I hadn’t experienced turkey hunting in Arkansas from the 1990’s through the early 2000’s. That way I wouldn’t know how good it used to be. I don’t think my children will ever experience having to choose which gobbler to go after out of the ten that they can hear at daylight.
I’m not sure what it about it is our area but it’s nothing to make a block of county roads around us and see 15-20 rabbits in the summer time and I can hear a quail from my house a couple times a week spring- summer. We seem to have a decent amount of turkey in our general area as well. We are surrounded by deer lease land and cattle pasture/patches of hardwood timber. 20 miles from here, my friend’s lease has a good number of turkey and completely covered up with coyotes and cats, but he regularly gets pictures of multiple hens or multiple gobblers all year long. I’m sure agfc has to look at the broad picture of habitat management across the entire state but it sure seems that localized populations are doing better in core areas for some reason than they are in other areas.As exciting as it was to hear ten gobblers in a morning - I was more successful if I only heard two or three. I lunged too much - set up on one and hear one gobbling his head off over the ridge and take off after him, only to hear a pair across the creek and move in after them - only to end up the morning out of breath and nothing to show for it - but a good time. Wish I could experience it again - along with shooting quail over a pointing dog, shooting rabbits in front of a pack of beagles, and working a flock of fifty ducks over the decoys.
GPS , Coordinates Please 🥺?I’m not sure what it about it is our area but it’s nothing to make a block of county roads around us and see 15-20 rabbits in the summer time and I can hear a quail from my house a couple times a week spring- summer. We seem to have a decent amount of turkey in our general area as well. We are surrounded by deer lease land and cattle pasture/patches of hardwood timber. 20 miles from here, my friend’s lease has a good number of turkey and completely covered up with coyotes and cats, but he regularly gets pictures of multiple hens or multiple gobblers all year long. I’m sure agfc has to look at the broad picture of habitat management across the entire state but it sure seems that localized populations are doing better in core areas for some reason than they are in other areas.
the wma's that burn all the hiding spots don't help with reproduction.
Yes - there are those areas. I think it might be valuable information if a study was done in an area like that to determine what factors improve nesting success. Why are they doing better there. I was recently in a timber company lease that was in a broad area of land the was also commercial timber company. I saw nine different coveys of quail in one month while running bear baits. I saw some rabbits. I used to see turkeys about every other trip there. At that time, the 4000 was an even mix of mature pine, clearcuts, and pine plantations. As time went on, they had cut almost all the mature timber - leaving mainly clearcuts and younger plantation pine. The turkeys went away and so did the bears. I think the vast area of suitable nesting cover helped the turkeys and quail - just too much cover for predators to search it all. But, turkeys favor areas with a mature timber component, also - and when that went away, so did the turkeys. There are still a fair number of quail and rabbits.I’m not sure what it about it is our area but it’s nothing to make a block of county roads around us and see 15-20 rabbits in the summer time and I can hear a quail from my house a couple times a week spring- summer. We seem to have a decent amount of turkey in our general area as well. We are surrounded by deer lease land and cattle pasture/patches of hardwood timber. 20 miles from here, my friend’s lease has a good number of turkey and completely covered up with coyotes and cats, but he regularly gets pictures of multiple hens or multiple gobblers all year long. I’m sure agfc has to look at the broad picture of habitat management across the entire state but it sure seems that localized populations are doing better in core areas for some reason than they are in other areas.
Interestingly enough, if I had a bear bait on the major creek in the area - the bait was well used by coons. If the bait was several hundred yards from any water source - there might not be a coon hit it in a month. Where I live, there is no where you could dump out piles of honey covered corn and dog food, topped with chocolate pies - and not have coons, skunks, possums, coyotes, hogs, and no telling what else.
Wild thought- let’s Jurassic Park the whole deal cross genetically blend eastern turkey with ostrich DNA so they can fly but are much bigger and breed more than once a year. Poults will be bigger less susceptible to predators and mature gobbler might be 60lbs. TSS will still kill them but I bet their gobble would wake the dead…. Fyi this is meant to be funny but can’t say it isn’t in the realm of possibility if they can grow a chicken as fast as they can now!
Call the Beastern Turkeys hahaha
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