Why changed to 3/20 opener, why open it on a Sunday, and why only 3 birds?
More regulation. They couldn’t pass the deer law so they shoved this down our throats. State wide season and 3 birds.
Because legislators know better than biologists, duh.
Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat
A decade of poor reproduction is basically what it boils down to. Overall change to habitat are factored in as well. Not sure why someone wants 5 gobblers, I guess they want them for facebook coverage or something.
During the 2015 spring season it is estimated that a total of 12,741 adult gobblers and 2,496 jakes were harvested for a statewide total of 15,237 turkeys (Table 1). This figure represents a 6 percent decrease in harvest from 2014 (16,248) and a 40 percent decrease from the record harvest established in 2002 (16,348 check station, 25,487 estimated by survey). The overall reduction in harvest seen since 2002 can likely be attributable to one primary factor, poor reproduction.
Reproduction in wild turkeys has generally been poor over the last decade (Figure 2) leading to a long-term declining harvest trend (Figure 3). Of particular note as it relates to the 2015 season is the fact that reproduction in 2013 was the lowest ever documented since the summer turkey reproduction survey began in 1982. Hunters most frequently have success calling and harvesting 2 year old gobblers and with poor reproduction in 2013 there were simply few 2 year old birds available in 2015. The harvest of adult gobblers in 2015 was down 13 percent from 2014, however, the overall harvest of turkeys was bolstered by a 36 percent increase in the harvest of jakes compared to 2014. The percentage of jakes in the harvest in 2015 was the highest in a number of years. This overall association between changes in reproduction and its effects on harvest are rather remarkable in South Carolina’s turkey harvest and reproductive data sets.
Unlike deer, wild turkeys are much more susceptible to significant fluctuations in recruitment. Lack of reproductive success is typically associated with bad weather (cold and wet) during nesting and brood rearing season. On the other hand, habitats are continually changing in South Carolina. Although forest management activities stimulated the growth in South Carolina’s turkey population in the 1980s, c
It appears that polyball has been reading up / observing the poor reproduction of turkeys which is a pleasure to see as well as be very enlightening. I personally have been hearing / seeing less birds that are hooked on love potion #9 and have watched over the course of the years that when gobblers get up in age they do less and less breeding as well as crippled birds or shot at birds tend to focus on survival that giving that ol’ mamma hen the one-two buckle her shoe routine. I use to see birds getting knocked up as early as January and sometimes their young already hatched by as early as mid march…Not any more. Now I am seeing birds popping out babies much later in the spring / summer and it appears that the predators are also around and are eating early thanksgiving dinner as well. You would think that more birds would be surviving the hatch but owls and hawks are just as deadly as a coyote or raccoon. Nesting habitat seems to change as the tree understory thins causing eggs to be more vulnerable to predators and mother nature.
“If you can’t fix a woman, chase some tail with fins and fur!!!”
2008 Sea Pro 1900cc w/115
(2) Daughters that make the boys cry
(1) wife that makes her husband take the kids outdoors to chase their dreams!
I’m sure it helps, when the Feds. are burning the National Forest off every March and April during nesting.
I pulled a camera card with about 20 turkeys one frame in my deer fields the other day.
It took them about 20 years to get back to our property after Hugo but ever since they came they’ve done well. Me and my old man killed 3 with 10inch beards on my second hunt and missed the 4th because his gun jammed. Haven’t been since but probably should just to get rid of a few. Seem like if you keep the woods burned they do great. We even have a fair amount of coyote around too.
If only the quail would do so well…
First, Most, Biggest
Thanks yall. 3 is more than enough for me, but we got more turkeys of all shapes and sizes that I’ve ever seen on our place, Flox keep getting better even w/yotes.
quote:
Originally posted by Great WhiteI pulled a camera card with about 20 turkeys one frame in my deer fields the other day.
It took them about 20 years to get back to our property after Hugo but ever since they came they’ve done well. Me and my old man killed 3 with 10inch beards on my second hunt and missed the 4th because his gun jammed. Haven’t been since but probably should just to get rid of a few. Seem like if you keep the woods burned they do great. We even have a fair amount of coyote around too.
If only the quail would do so well…
First, Most, Biggest
sounds like you need to do S.C. a favor and hunt some coyotes…
“If Bruce Jenner can keep his wiener and be called a woman, I can keep my firearms and be considered disarmed.”
During most turkey seasons I kill about as many coyotes as turkeys. Coyotes will come to a call!