Chickasawhatchee Turkey Decline...

[swampstalker]

Seems to be yet another area with low bird numbers this year. Spent a few days there this week on the Quota and heard not one single gobble. Granted, it rained one day and was cooler than normal one morning, but there were several days with good sunrises and light winds. Very disappointing to say the least. Walked for miles looking for tracks and sign and saw literally 1 set of tracks and 1 hen fly down a road. I couldn't believe my eyes or ears...

 

[swampstalker]

BTW, just checked gamecheck and there have been only 2 birds reported from both quota hunts combined.

 

[RedHills]

Too bad. Been in there a time or 2 myself....the season after Michael made ya wanna cry!

 

[Nicodemus]

Sent you a PM.

 

[2dye4]

BTW, just checked gamecheck and there have been only 2 birds reported from both quota hunts combined.

Sad, that place years ago was covered I birds.

 

[buckpasser]

Last time I was there they were cutting out the big hardwoods on the high ground to push the “infinitely better” long leaf/wiregrass habitat. Seemed like a really poor idea to me. Seems like it might be at least part of your week’s results.

 

[DOUG 281]

just talking to people at the store about the same here in NC

 

[DOUG 281]

what is a wild turkey's life span in years

 

[Gator89]

what is a wild turkey's life span in years

1 to 10 years I read somewhere, average 3 to 5.

wild turkey lifespan - Search (bing.com)

 

[DOUG 281]

ok thanks i get a flock to come by every couple of years

 

[DOUG 281]

the rabbits seem to do good for a year or so and then go away then they will make a rebound

 

[bfriendly]

That’s a blow for sure…..hopefully it’ll get better on all the WMAs that are suffering. I’ve only seen a few lone hens myself.

 

[Son]

We had plenty turkeys during deer season at the Early, Miller county line near Springfield. But as usual they disappeared about two weeks before the season opened. I'm wondering how the turkeys knew the opening date had changed. About June we'll begin seeing flocks of turkeys again. Presently I'm seeing about four hens nesting on our property, but no gobbler sign in any of the roads. I haven't hunted but are up often planting plots, working on a hog trap etc. I would need to see more gobbler sign, or hear them to think about hunting. We have lost lots of habitat in my area, gone to pasture and farming. Hurricane Michael of 2018 devastated many large areas.

 

[swampstalker]

Still only 2 birds reported and today would have been the start of the third quota hunt. unbelievable...

 

[dfurdennis]

Seems to be yet another area with low bird numbers this year. Spent a few days there this week on the Quota and heard not one single gobble. Granted, it rained one day and was cooler than normal one morning, but there were several days with good sunrises and light winds. Very disappointing to say the least. Walked for miles looking for tracks and sign and saw literally 1 set of tracks and 1 hen fly down a road. I couldn't believe my eyes or ears...

Yeah I spent 3 days down there....we got on some birds day 2&3 just couldn't deal thee deal. Sounded like 3-4 birds together....but they were definitely isolated had to do a lot of walking to get them located....but they were talking and at least we got to hear them two mornings in a row.

 

[dfurdennis]

Too bad. Been in there a time or 2 myself....the season after Michael made ya wanna cry!

For sure...it changed the landscape. Really hard to hunt the areas I used to hunt down there, used to be beautiful on the backside down in the swamp areas now it's just impossible to navigate and made a few areas impossible to hunt.

 

[Biggeer]

I’ve also noticed a steady decline at Chickasaw. It used to be awesome.

 

[swampstalker]

Well, with 3 days remaining in the season, still only 3 birds reported at Chickasaw.
That averages out to 1 bird for every 6,566 acres...

 

[GAMHUNTER35]

yea i hunted it the 3rd quota an only heard 1 bird an only saw 3 hens havnt been bac it used to be my go to spot to hear an kill a bird

 

[Biggeer]

Pushing the season back a couple of weeks really hurt hunter success at Chickasaw this year which I guess was the point. ?Typically, the first two weekends are really good during the quota hunts, but gobbling activity dramatically declines precipitously each week after that. This year, the season basically started when the birds have historically begun to shut up.