Post by: Hangfire on June 02, 2014, 09:10:07 AM
I had the most difficult time I have ever had since I started hunting in 2000 of finding gobbling birds. Birds were well scattered but I could not find a mature gobbler. One piece I hunt of two sections one private and one section public. I got in three trips one gobbler to reply one time each for two of the three hunts. Ten years ago I would have had at least a dozen birds reply per trip. I also saw more jakes than I have ever seen. At one time I had 10 jakes fighting in front of me. Many of the Jakes were very small, no visible beard and just very small birds, probably a late hatch last year.
I finally got the heaviest weight spring gobbler that I have ever taken. Live weight was 21.5 pounds. Since this was a old bird I boned it out entirely getting 8.5 pounds of ground turkey. This bird had a 8.5 inch well worn beard, but very thick. The spurs were 7/8 inch and very sharp pointed.
I hope the good jake population will mean more gobblers next year. I think the over all population is 25% or less of what it was a few years ago.
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on June 02, 2014, 09:33:44 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 02, 2014, 09:44:31 AM
Last year there wasn't so much rain during the hatching season so we had the best hatch in quite a few years which explains why there are so many jakes this year. In my opinion the overall population seems to have increased to about 50% to 70% now. Another good hatch season, which is happening right now, could put us back closer to the population we used to have.
I hunted Saturday the last day of the season and only saw a few other hunters out, almost no pressure for the last 5 days of season. Birds were relaxed, we got onto more than 30 jakes and gobblers in numerous groups of which probably 6 of those were gobblers, and although the gobblers eluded us we sacked up 3 jakes. We did not see many hens, most hens are on nests now. I will say there wasn't much gobbling, most of that is done, but I was surprised the last day of season was so good for spotting birds and surprised we saw so many legal birds.
Looking out my window I see insects flying around as I type and know that baby chicks hatching out today will find protein to keep them going. So I'm pretty optimistic so far this hatching season for next year.
I would comment that some large areas of public land that used to hold a lot birds are pretty void of turkeys. I sure wish that WDFW would modify some of the fall hunting seasons so that birds are not hunted so hard on public land and put more of the hunting pressure on private land where the turkey damage is occurring that the fall seasons are supposed to address. I think too many turkeys are being killed on public land and not enough killed where damage is occurring. This causes the problem to fester and reduces public land hunting quality.
This is the best opinion I can give for the areas we hunt. I'm sure depending on what areas a person hunts that opinions will vary.
Post by: turkeydancer on June 02, 2014, 10:12:25 AM
I would comment that some large areas of public land that used to hold a lot birds are pretty void of turkeys. I sure wish that WDFW would modify some of the fall hunting seasons so that birds are not hunted so hard on public land and put more of the hunting pressure on private land where the turkey damage is occurring that the fall seasons are supposed to address. I think too many turkeys are being killed on public land and not enough killed where damage is occurring. This causes the problem to fester and reduces public land hunting quality.:yeah:
:dunno: My experience this year was varied (but I only hunted the 1st 4 days of the season). Some areas I hunted were lower in population with few gobbles. and other areas held a ton of gobblers all wanting to play the game. Managed to have a lot of fun with 2 toms in the freezer.
Post by: jasnt on June 02, 2014, 10:23:24 AM
Post by: returnofsid on June 02, 2014, 10:32:30 AM
In areas where I camp and hike, I've seen tons of birds, toms, jakes and hens, this year. In areas where they cannot be hunted, I've seen a similar population to the past couple of years.
Post by: Tom Tamer on June 02, 2014, 01:46:53 PM
Post by: whichwaydidhegogeorge on June 03, 2014, 10:06:53 PM
On the other hand someone needs to do something about those damn white-tails >:(. I had to replace both headlights, pull a dent out of a fender, and really clean above my skid plate. If anyone has a Damage Prevention Permit please message me. Vengeance will be mine.
Post by: MerriamMagician on June 04, 2014, 05:34:58 PM
I can second what every is saying about lots of jakes. I hadn't seen as many jake flocks before this year since back around 2002. And this years weather is looking very promising for another great crop of poults. :IBCOOL: Should be a lot of easy 2 year old gobblers next spring.
I really wish the game department would take Bearpaws advice and put restrictions on the fall seasons. Too many hens being taken IMO. To anyone who hunts turkeys in the fall, I urge you to hold off for a few years. (Or at least hunt only gobblers) Let em rebound to the incredible numbers they were at 10 years ago and the incredible hunting that comes with big flocks.
Post by: returnofsid on June 04, 2014, 05:49:06 PM
Several statements seem to be either contradicting each other, or I'm completely misunderstanding...
Several have stated witnessing an unusually high number of Jakes, this spring, contributing it to mild weather and a high hatch rate, also predicting another high hatch rate, due to the good weather we're predicted to have.
Several have also stated that the hunting of hens should be more limited.
If I'm understanding the first statement correctly, I feel like I need to assume that there are plenty of hens. If there's a high number of successful Poults, that would indicate that there's a high number of nesting hens, wouldn't it?
Post by: turkeyfeather on June 04, 2014, 05:54:49 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 04, 2014, 06:10:04 PM
I'm very new to all of this turkey hunting stuff, but I've got a question...
Several statements seem to be either contradicting each other, or I'm completely misunderstanding...
Several have stated witnessing an unusually high number of Jakes, this spring, contributing it to mild weather and a high hatch rate, also predicting another high hatch rate, due to the good weather we're predicted to have.
Several have also stated that the hunting of hens should be more limited.
If I'm understanding the first statement correctly, I feel like I need to assume that there are plenty of hens. If there's a high number of successful Poults, that would indicate that there's a high number of nesting hens, wouldn't it?
I think the key factor here is that most of us agree there are not as many turkeys as a few years ago. If we have good hatch rates turkeys recover fast, if we have wet hatching seasons it takes years to recover just as it has since the tough winters that hit them hard 5-6 years ago. After that time fall seasons were liberalized further to decrease turkey numbers and subsequently reduce landowner complaints. The reason some of us are opposed is that many public land areas have been hunted hard while many private land areas with turkey problems have been under hunted, so the real problems may not be getting addressed and that is at the expense of the turkey numbers on many public land hunting areas where many hunters must hunt. Many hunters feel that the liberal fall seasons should be limited to problem areas so that the public land hunting areas can recover faster.
Your point was a valid point, but there are some areas that the turkey population is pretty depressed and liberal fall hunts are not helping those areas. I hope that explanation helps!
Post by: whichwaydidhegogeorge on June 04, 2014, 07:38:17 PM
I'm very new to all of this turkey hunting stuff, but I've got a question...
Several statements seem to be either contradicting each other, or I'm completely misunderstanding...
Several have stated witnessing an unusually high number of Jakes, this spring, contributing it to mild weather and a high hatch rate, also predicting another high hatch rate, due to the good weather we're predicted to have.
Several have also stated that the hunting of hens should be more limited.
If I'm understanding the first statement correctly, I feel like I need to assume that there are plenty of hens. If there's a high number of successful Poults, that would indicate that there's a high number of nesting hens, wouldn't it?
I think the key factor here is that most of us agree there are not as many turkeys as a few years ago. If we have good hatch rates turkeys recover fast, if we have wet hatching seasons it takes years to recover just as it has since the tough winters that hit them hard 5-6 years ago. After that time fall seasons were liberalized further to decrease turkey numbers and subsequently reduce landowner complaints. The reason some of us are opposed is that many public land areas have been hunted hard while many private land areas with turkey problems have been under hunted, so the real problems may not be getting addressed and that is at the expense of the turkey numbers on many public land hunting areas where many hunters must hunt. Many hunters feel that the liberal fall seasons should be limited to problem areas so that the public land hunting areas can recover faster.
Your point was a valid point, but there are some areas that the turkey population is pretty depressed and liberal fall hunts are not helping those areas. I hope that explanation helps
It is so ass backwards to make policies to address landowner complaints by pressuring birds to reside on private land. That is like trying to use gasoline to put out a fire. This might be my wake up and welcome to Washington turkey hunting moment, but I fail to see any logic in this.
I would also take issue with the landowner complaints side of this debate. I am speaking a little off the cuff here, and do not fully understand how this works. But, there are laws that would allow for the landowners to work with hunters during a broad time period outside of normal hunting seasons RCW 77.12.150 and 77.12.260. I might be completely misunderstanding this. I just saw the dates AUG 1st - MAR 31st and nearly died of delight at the idea of hunting 8 months of the year. Again, let me reiterate. I don't think I truly understand the regs on this, but it shows there is some sort action a landowner could take. I also understand that the Master Hunter programs helps with this too. I might be tempted to sign up if I didn't have to do some sanctioned community service to join. Personally I would rather work for a landowner directly and not be the states bitch. :twocents:
not pretend to fully understand how this works.