Well-Managed Private Property for Turkeys

[Tuffy]

So, who actually does a good job of this? I'd like to understand what you perceive as your capacity and acceptable harvest. It seems like it should be possible to estimate those things in large areas of the state, but that could be my mistaken optimism. I'm pretty sure that it is being done on individual properties. Enlighten me a little either here or by PM. What do you know about your turkey population and how do you decide about harvest and hunting pressure? What part of the state? Has your situation changed over time? Because of your efforts or because of changes in the area or land around you?

[Lynchmob]

This should be an interesting thread. I'm a member of a club with about 2,000 acres and we have typically had really good turkey hunting over the 9 years that the club has been in place. We have had a big decrease in the number of turkeys seen over the last 2 seasons. We have also seen a huge increase in hunting pressure over that same time frame. The club is split in two by a creek and has two access points with a sign in sheet at each. I went this past Saturday morning for my first hunt of the season. When I went to sign in, I counted 16 hunts on that side one of the property. I was number 17. I did not have time to go check the other side of the property to see how many times it had been hunted, but I would expect a similar number.

I think there were 5 birds killed on the property last year and 2 were killed on opening day this year. I have not heard of any more being killed so far. I think we will really have to start thinking about the number of turkeys we kill each year.

Anybody have any idea what the the typical turkey density is in the upstate of South Carolina?

[Calibogue]

Hampton Co.

We have a lot of birds and have ever since the area was restocked in the 80s.
Don't know what the stocking is but I would estimate we have as many as 200 birds (just an estimate) on the place possibly.

I think most importantly you have to preserve the roost sites as well as key habitats surrounding those where possible.
Open woodlands where turkeys can turkey and see predators to avoid conflict is a must.

My goal has been to improve upon these areas and have some continuity of mature woodlands connecting one key "prime habitat area" to the next one.
For example, I am allowing pond edges to mature and also adding planted pine fringes to become part of the pond edge.

We typically kill 12-16 birds on 4,500 acres and never worry about not having birds!
We do not lease the place and are pretty controlling about who's going where etc.
Pressure is very light....

We harvested much of our mature river bottom due to beavers and it as hurt in that area.
We have a large Carolina Bay that the fringes were clear-cut 20 years or so ago and are finally getting birds back in the area on the regular....finally!
I don't have the birds we had in the early 90's but I will soon!

[Gut_Pile]

Not SC, but I hunted a place in SE GA that was 2400 acres that was specifically managed for turkeys. Through winter flock sightings, trail cam surveys, and gobblers heard during the pre-season, a typical estimate of the gobbler population during the turkey season was always around 50-65 gobblers. All hunting came to a halt once 15 birds had been killed off the whole 2400 acres.

They never had a population problem.

[Tuffy]

Maybe there is a trend here of one killed per 400 acres on good property? I'm jealous, but I really expected a little more than that without any harm. Over the years, I think we have had a good many counties that reached that acres/harvest number or a little better and seemed to be able to maintain it for a number of years. My guess would have been more like 150-200 acres per kill, but that's just based on a few unmanaged 300-500 acre properties that I know a little about. I did ask for WELL-managed, though, and I think you're about right in judgment so far. That many hunters on 2,000 acres sounds like a L-T problem to me, though, Lynch....

[2thDoc]

would be interesting to get harvest reports from a club like lynch's or a well-managed place like Cali's.

I'd be willing to bet lynch's place killed a lot more/acre.

[Calibogue]

We're at 1 bird per 280 acres more or less.
I feel sure we could increase that harvest but I have no plans to implement the thought!

[Lynchmob]

would be interesting to get harvest reports from a club like lynch's or a well-managed place like Cali's.

I'd be willing to bet lynch's place killed a lot more/acre.

I'd need to go back and look at the books, but I think we have averaged 6 birds killed per year on this property. We had a second thinning over the last 2 summers that affected about 50% of the property. I think that has created some new strut zones that weren't there previously and dispersed the turkeys more.

[Tuffy]

... And I'd bet that they did better in the past than they are doing now....Or will in the future. Cali's graph is going in the other direction and that will continue, too.... I think. When is it too much and when could it be more?

[Calibogue]

... And I'd bet that they did better in the past than they are doing now....Or will in the future. Cali's graph is going in the other direction and that will continue, too.... I think. When is it too much and when could it be more?

Not sure what graph you're referring too but our population is far from decreasing!

[Tuffy]

That's what I meant, Cali. The hypothetical graph of your harvest would have been going up and will continue to do that because of how you are managing the property. I'm thinking that Lynch's would be decreasing.... If those graphs were in front of us.

[Lynchmob]

Not sure what graph you're referring too but our population is far from decreasing!

I think he's saying our club's population is decreasing and yours is increasing. I cant argue with that. I know the amount of pressure we have cant help but I don't think we are decimating our population based off the numbers we are shooting. We've definitely had some bad hatches up here and I think our timber cycle could also be impacting the numbers we are holding.

[Calibogue]

Roger that....Much of Lynch's problem is pressure.
17 hunts on 1,000 acres in less than one week....whew!

[Lynchmob]

Roger that....Much of Lynch's problem is pressure.
17 hunts on 1,000 acres in less than one week....whew!

How do you fix that in a club? Restrict the days that members can hunt? Get rid of all the other turkey hunters but me?

[Calibogue]

I think it could be accomplished a number of ways of course but I would start by ridding those that are not like minded!

[Tuffy]

It may not sound like it, but it's a question, not a comment, Lynch. There have been entire counties that have sustained the harvest/acre that you have. It SEEMS over-pressured, but that may be about where good typical property is in SC. Cali is managing a little tighter and taking less risk, I'd say. Those differences and the results are what I wanted to start to understand.

[Calibogue]

With that much pressure, they will completely change their behavior!
The ongoing study at Webb will clearly demonstrate that when it is released to the public.

Anyone hunted there in the past two years that voluntarily carried a GPS?

[Gut_Pile]

Roger that....Much of Lynch's problem is pressure.
17 hunts on 1,000 acres in less than one week....whew!

I agree, the 2400 acres I hunted that was so good wasn't hunted 17 times a season.

[Tuffy]

I've hunted Webb a few times over the last couple of years with the GPS in my pocket. I think I saved some of the GPS #s in hopes of comparing it to the gobbler tracks when they release it all.

[Carolina Counsel]

How do you fix that in a club? Restrict the days that members can hunt? Get rid of all the other turkey hunters but me?

That's what we do (other than getting rid of you). I hunt two properties. One is 550 acres. We have a lottery. Two people at a time, three hunts a week. Our population has decreased significantly in the past 5 years.

The other property is just two hunters on 350 acres. We have owned it for 5 years. I have never known there to be more than two gobblers on the property per season. It's insane how bad it is. We have habitat coming out of our ears but no turkeys. 30 acres under till, including 15 of clover/chicory mix. The balance is a 10 acre dove field and a 5 acre impoundment. 100 plus acres of mature hardwood ridges, 25 acres of which had a hardwood thinning 4 years ago. 100 acres of 2 year old pines. 90 acres of once-thinned 20 year pines. Five acres of NWSG.