It is that time of year again. The dull season. The waiting period. Long days of cutting grass and hot honey do’s. Although the waiting period can be spent planting summer plots and improving habitat on our property, by and large, it is boring. In my opinion, the waiting ends in September. Dove season begins, and we can start to think about running bird dogs and bow season.
But until then, perhaps we can reminisce on what seems to be an overall successful turkey season. By most accounts, 2023 seemed to be one of the better seasons we have had in the last few years. Josh shot his limit and helped a few other people find a few birds. Most people I have spoken with seemed to be pleased with the number of turkeys they heard this year compared to the last few years. I have been keeping up with several statistics on turkey hunting since 2016 and, with the exception of the COVID year, I heard more turkeys per day on average this year at 2.26 per day.
I believe a lot of this has to do with several controllable factors, like the amount of burning and trapping we have done over the last few years, but I also believe the weather in the 2021 brooding season played a big role. Turkeys are so vulnerable during the first few weeks of life. They can’t control their body temperature like a grown turkey, so too much direct sunlight can kill a poult. Too much rain and cold can also wipe baby turkeys out. During late May and early June, we had no heavy rains and temperatures didn’t get out of the upper 80s. Sometimes the best thing to do is pray for good brooding weather.
Once again, the brooding season is upon us. Say a little prayer for the baby turkeys this year!
Til next time,
Jacob