Where did they go?

amc5 said:

5 birds taken this year off and area of about 600 acres. Last 3 weekends (and 2 guys this whole past week) haven heard a sound or seen any. My first year turkey hunting btw. Do these birds just pick up and move sometimes? First 5 birds killed were very nice. Trail cams at beginning of season showed alot more than 5 birds.

Do you think they are still out there? Or do you think they have picked up and moved on somewhere else? Just strange that almost every weekend for a month someone shoots one or hears/sees them then all of a sudden nothing.

Thanks

Click to expand...

TenPtr said:

There are many possibilities.

1. Pressure: 600 acres is a nice sized tract of land. However, there is likely far less acreage that is ideal turkey habitat. If there have been 5 birds taken off the tract already and multiple hunters are still hunting it....its been pressured...IMO over pressured. I would not kill anymore than 5 birds on that sized tract but Im more conservative than others. If you arent hearing birds over an extended period of time then theres nothing to blame other than over harvest/pressure and/or-

2. Habitat: This is the nesting season as well as planting season for many crops. Hens disperse this time of year in search of adequate nesting/brood rearing habitat. The gobblers will follow.
There are a lot of crops being put in the ground right now. This means there are many alternative food sources than just your native vegetation and bugs. Gobblers are starting to search for food more so than they were in the early-peak phases of the breeding season. This time of year is very comparable to the latest phase of the whietail rut.

Never gather a census for your turkey population during the fall and winter months unless your property is very large and offers proper habitat for all phases of the breeding season.

Click to expand...