Charles Ruth might be right

[flockbuster]

I have been turkey hunting for 25 years now and this has been, by far, the worst year I have had in those 25 years. I hunted 22 times in April and not once did I sit down and call to a gobbling bird.

I only heard birds on 4 mornings, all to far away to call to. I hunted those places the very next morning each time and never heard a peep. The club I belong to averaged 11 birds a season for the first three years I have been a member. This year, 3 birds were killed the first week and nothing since then.

I hunted mornings, mid-day and afternoons on that 2600 acre club as well as a nearby WMA where I have killed several birds in the past and not a thing to show for it. I saw one long beard cross a road as I was leaving the club one afternoon and that was the only male bird I saw the entire season.

I heard more gobbles on the first afternoon of my Osceola hunt in Florida than I did the entire season in South Carolina.


Thank God I don’t have any vacation time left so I can’t go out of state and the SC season is over so I can quit.

[Strick9]

Fact = wildlife biologist across the SE have now labeled this " The Southeastern Turkey Decline".

They offer no reasoning only speculation at this time as there is no ongoing research being done other than yearly mailout harvest reports.. I don't get that when millions upon millions nationwide are spent by hunters on Turkey hunting.

In my humble opine poor brooding weather for three seasons, continued late April /early May prescribed burnings and a higher than normal predation rates
(coyotes mainly) of nesting hens, poults and eggs are to blame.

I have been all over the place trying to get some concern raised to little avail.. I can say that for the first time both Ruth and Chapelear agreed that the coyote is definitely a major factor in this downward swing in Eastern Wild Turkey populations. In the past both have politely bucked my observations however this year they both agreed on the issue so thats at least a little progress. I imagine some of you may have presented your cases as well or they would still not consider the coyote as part of the equation.

Its a difficult challenge to get everyone on the same page concerning most animal population decreases be it Turkey, Deer, Elk, Waterfowl or otherwise. You have guys with perfect conditions on costly private well managed clubs who tag/limit out as normal versus the common man who hunts mainly WMA and didn't hear a gobble, grunt or bugle or splash this year. These two types of hunters disagree on many things as they walk a different path. One has money and time to spare the other is lucky to buy new boots or to get to go at all. The private land guy rarely agrees to the possibility of a problem or simply doesn't care as long as he gets his limit or tags filled, unfortunately its usually this guy who has some clout or pull within the states or nations political realm.

To add its the bureaucracies greatest tool to continue the mismanagement of state and federal wildlife monies and a good tool to prevent further investigation into these issues. I hear all so often we don't have a duck population problem we killed 60 today on X plantation , We tagged 25 Toms on Y club etc etc.

I am familiar with both the public and private lands of SC and get to hunt and observe both quite often. I will say that this season has shown me beyond a doubt that on SC lands especially public lands, which are not predator managed, the Turkey population is in definite decline and a fairly rapid decline as well.

This will also put the Turkey hunter population in a rapid decline. There has been little to no traffic the last several weeks in many units of the Francis Marion.. I talk with tons of hunters and can't even tell you how many good hunters haven't killed a public bird this year, some haven't heard even a gobble. Lets not forget that its the blue collar everyday hunter that provides the numbers which make us a group to be considered, if we loose these guys we loose our strength in numbers as hunters in general.

Case in point, the SC duck hunter usually has to venture out off state to find reliable solid public water hunting due to the lack of management on what is some of the best habitat area in the SE period, how long will it be before poor management practices force the turkey and deer hunter out of state? How many millions of dollars will be lost in revenue for SC because of this poor management?

[pee dee]

im just impressed you went 22 times not hearing any birds

[fro]

We killed 0 on 1000 acres.... last 3 weeks have been pretty silent to say the least. Not nearly the sign that we have had in years past.

[pee dee]

extending the season is just going to make the problem worse....when people kill their three they will just starting taking other folks

[Stumpknocker]

DNR is not going to do a damn thing but bring more yotes in and spray more hydrilla. oh and put seasons on blue cats and hogs. that will make everything better.

[dhall1693]

The property I hunt usually holds a good bit of birds with not much pressure, has always yielded good harvests, but the only birds I had within shooting distance this year and made a gobble was jakes. Nothing more.

[loud1]

We killed 0 on 1000 acres.... last 3 weeks have been pretty silent to say the least. Not nearly the sign that we have had in years past.

That's hard to believe.

[jwilliams]

I could care less about a turkey, but every single time I drove past 2th doc's property I had to slow down to let the big gobblers cross the road. Y'all should hunt over there more often.

[Strick9]

Thats what private land combined with the proper management can do for a piece of land and its game species. Or properly managed public land for that matter.

[Red Huck]

I don't know? Hunted maybe ten times, a few all day hunts. Got busted a few times walking in in the afternoon, by the time I saw them I didn't get a good enough look to tell if male or female .Heard birds all but two mornings. Only got close enough for one to respond to call. Seems they vanished this week.This is all in the SNF. Opening morning there where trucks in the first tw spots I wanted to hunt. Other than that I didn't see many hunters till yesterday scouting for some place for today. Woke up at three went to bathroom and turned the alarm off. Coyote scat every where I went. But I saw plenty of urban birds around the Hub city. And The Spur Hunter still killed his 5 public birds but it took him all month. I just don't know but I would like to see them dogs killed off.

[barnettexpress]

They were silent down in Edgefield County as well. I went out 5 times and only heard 3 gobbles. 2 of those gobblers died though.

[led0321]

Holy hell! A biologist could be right?

[Carolina Counsel]

Its a difficult challenge to get everyone on the same page concerning most animal population decreases be it Turkey, Deer, Elk, Waterfowl or otherwise. You have guys with perfect conditions on costly private well managed clubs who tag/limit out as normal versus the common man who hunts mainly WMA and didn't hear a gobble, grunt or bugle or splash this year. These two types of hunters disagree on many things as they walk a different path. One has money and time to spare the other is lucky to buy new boots or to get to go at all. The private land guy rarely agrees to the possibility of a problem or simply doesn't care as long as he gets his limit or tags filled, unfortunately its usually this guy who has some clout or pull within the states or nations political realm.

While I think this comment is complete bullshit, I agree there's an issue and it needs to be addressed. My last two years have absolutely sucked on private land. I hunt thousands of acres and it has sucked as badly as public. Oh, and the reason most people who have money have it is because they don't have time to spare- they're out busting their hump making that money. I believe that those "private land guys" usually have their finger on the pulse of conservation issues a little more so than some of the heybos who don't have private land to hunt (except when they're poaching someone else's).

[Red Huck]

Some on here don't think he is ?

[Kioti]

Two years ago must have been a really down breeding season. A large percentage of birds up this way that were killed seemed to be three year olds or older.

[LabLuvR]

One of my better years in some time. However........I went about 9 mornings in a row without hearing a peep. Those days were of warm mornings and high humidity which I think played a role. Once the temps backed down into more normal temps, the birds started up again.

As to numbers, sure they are down, hell they have been down ever since pine plantations became the norm. You guys ever seen a turkey eat a fucking pine cone?

[Quercus Alba]

This is the third or so year in a row where we mainly killed older birds. I can't say that I've seen many jakes either. There seemed to be some birds around this year but finding a hot one proved almost impossible.

[WoodieSC]

I didn't bother going out for the last day today because I've only seen ONE young gobbler in the immediate, with ONE hen, on two different occasions, over the past 5 weeks. Even though I'm sure that hen has been well taken care of, I would feel right taking out the 'last' gobbler.

There may well be more around that haven't spoken up or traveled this way, but nobody in the area has seen or heard many gobbles, if any at all, so just chalk this season up as another poor one and hope to get some trout fly fishing in this year instead.

[ersepton]

I am in the Upstate and hunted 24 days. I had an overall above average season. I should have tagged out by the 23rd if I could've shot straight. I heard birds 50% of the time or so, and was able to work a lot of those birds. The rainy week during the middle of the month accounted for the majority of the quiet mornings. The 3 birds I killed all seemed to be 2 yo's. The population of Jakes seemed up, however the hens were fewer and more quiet. In my hours hunting and scouting I saw one coyote and he was killed. I hunted primarily private land with ranges of 20 acres-160. The one thing I did notice that conflicted years past was the absence of strutting activity. The fields that usually hold flocks in the early part of the season were bare, and I very seldom saw birds hanging out in open fields as I have in years past. All in all it was an excellent season, however I will add that I spent far more time scouting than previous years.