After a tough year on Quantico with birds not gobbling and no road sighting of birds from many over the last month there were 44 birds taken, 2 below the average of 46 since 1968. But this year we had a great population of turkeys on base. And although only 103 birds recorded on our 2 week gobbling survey prior to the season I felt it was a good year. The reason I say that in 38 years of hunting Quantico I have never seen so many areas open and hunters in the woods every day. I am sure that was due to the virus and the training that was scaled back and folks off work. The areas that were opened daily were filled and pounded every day. But since the season ended this past Saturday I went down yesterday to do a little tractor/field work and at two different locations seen a strutters on the road with a hen and jake and a half stutter with 2 hens. The first I seen a turkey along the roads in almost 4 weeks. In fact a forester there this morning called me and said he heard 4 birds gobbling thier heads off.
My concern now is the hatch and survival of poults with the weather we are having.


Earl

Folks in a few states telling me they are seeing hens and LB together again .

GG not sure there is a "normal" anymore in the turkey woods world???

I think the numbers at APG are down. Hard to even find a bird to hunt. As time went on they got more and more liberal with numbers. When they first started they had limits. I think the first year they cut off the season when 35 birds were taken. Then it went to 40, 50, and then unlimited. Then they adopted all day hunting. When it first started they only allowed one bird per person. Then they allowed everyone to get a second bird once all day hunting started.

To me it is just too many birds being removed from a contained population. There are still turkeys around, but not in the numbers of years past. The one good thing is that a large part of APG doesn't allow hunting. I hear there are a lot of birds in these other areas and that makes me feel better. I think we need to go back to some sort of limit on numbers, at least limit it back to one bird per hunter. I keep seeing the total number of birds climbing and climbing. Predators are an issue, coyotes, fox, and raptors all take some. I think we, the hunter need to limit our hunting because we impact make population, but some of the research GN sent out said that hens disturbed on the nest may just abandon the nest much more easily than once thought. That doesn't just impact make numbers, but overall population.

GG, Glad to hear your population is strong. However, I hear you talk about all the work the Q puts into their hunting program and that makes it so. APG doesn't actively do what you all do. Maybe one day they will.

It is this kind of thing that keeps me on this site. You don't get this kind of discourse anywhere else.
V