# How many harvested birds is too many?



## Bonnran (Mar 27, 2014)

We have a 400 acre trac of land we hunt for turkeys. We have our fare share of turkeys, but how many Toms can we kill while still preserving the high numbers we are used to? How do you judge how many birds should be taken off any particular piece of property? Any input will be appreciated.


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## triton196 (Mar 27, 2014)

id say its according to how many mature birds your seeing and hearing then just decide what you would like as far as a number to hunt.


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## GA DAWG (Mar 27, 2014)

I'd say. Y'all want kill enough to have any affect.  Unless yall kill 10 or more a yr for a few yrs in a row. So have yall killed that many?


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## Bonnran (Mar 27, 2014)

Ha Ha Ha not at all. I just want to ensure we still maintain our plentiful population.


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## Loder (Mar 27, 2014)

It's hard to give a clear answer due to population numbers, habitat, and the fact that turkeys can move for miles from one year to the next.  I hunt mostly on a 9500 acre lease, but also hunt a bit on some family land that is about 700 acres.  We run cams on the food plots of the family land, so keep a pretty good tally of how many toms are around.  Some years there may be 6 toms, some years only 1-2 or none at all.  We may kill every tom we have pics of some years and have plenty to hunt the next year as well.  Some years we may kill them all and have none the next year.  It really depends on how many move through and how many decide to stay.  Sure, you could say we're not taking neighboring properties into account in the above scenario, but when the neighboring properties are comprised of 95% unsuitable habitat(very thick), we don't get many travelers. We usually have what we are going to have by Jan-Feb most years based on pics. You also can't go by the number of jakes like I hear many claim.  I've seen years where we had bumper crops of jakes to have zero toms around the next year.  Habitat is key, keep the proper habitat for turkeys and you'll have turkeys.


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## MCNASTY (Mar 27, 2014)

Depends on current population, jakes, and overall people hunting.  If you kill 3-4 birds a year you probably won't ever see a decrease in population on that amount of acres. Kill 8-10/yr that will be a different story.


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## sman (Mar 27, 2014)

I would leave a couple for seed. I have seen the effects of shooting too many toms.  Down south birds are spread out. You can kill all the toms.  Unless the hens bring a new one in from far away, the following yr will be empty.  The yr after that will be good.


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## straightshooter (Mar 27, 2014)

One of the best places to hunt turkeys in Alabama had a three gobbler per 1000 acre rule, and they always had gobblers to shoot.


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## Headsortails (Mar 27, 2014)

I read a turkey biologist who said that most land will produce one turkey per 40 acres. Half will be gobblers, with half of those long beards. Of course this doesn't allow for birds that are produced on surrounding properties. It's just a guideline.


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## Limbhanger2881 (Mar 27, 2014)

Don't shoot jakes. Hens will be breed and you will have more jakes the next year. If you have hens the gobblers will come


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## Toddmann (Mar 27, 2014)

It really depends on what surrounds u and how many birds are being harvested around u. If u got the right 400 acres (nesting habitat) and what surrounds u holds a lot of birds with little pressure u can harvest more than what most would say. The only problem u can run into is  consecutive bad hatch years and that hurts most everyone.


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## Atlanta Dawg (Mar 27, 2014)

Unless you are baiting them with cracked corn and shooting everyone that shows up at the feeder you probably won't be able to kill all of them if you tried-after all...they are pretty cagey characters !  However....if you don't shoot the Jakes and concentrate on the older Gobblers the only problem you will have in growing the numbers is:  Coyotes, Bobcats, Drought, Flood, Disease, Raccoons Eating Eggs,  Fire Ants , etc....


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## Killdee (Mar 27, 2014)

What they said, how many hunters is the question. We dont shoot Jakes unless a youngster or 1 for your first bird. I have seen propertys your size ruined for a few years after overshooting, And the guys asked, whats wrong with our property, I cant say on here what an older feller told them......


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## 01Foreman400 (Mar 27, 2014)

My smaller leases 200 or under I will not kill more than one a year.


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## CuttinNrunnin (Mar 27, 2014)

some good info in here


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## kevincox (Mar 27, 2014)

On 100 acres or less I usually try not to shoot but 1 gobbler a year knowing the surrounding property is being hunted also. It may not matter but but I just like knowing I'm doing my part to preserve a resource that DNR worked soo hard to restore


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## GAGE (Mar 27, 2014)

01Foreman400 said:


> My smaller leases 200 or under I will not kill more than one a year.



I like this idea/rule.  If I am able to kill one on our 640, I am done, and will give the few others guys we have an opportunity.

I just try to make our property more attractive every year.


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## NCummins (Mar 27, 2014)

Our lease is only 140 acres but roughly 300 adjoining acres aren't hunted and I don't think anybody in the immediate area turkey hunts. I hope to kill 3 this year. We've got a load of gobblers so I'm not to worried about it.


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## dwinsor (Mar 28, 2014)

I was told by a GW that you could kill all the adult gobblers and it would not hurt the turkey population, as stated earlier the jakes would breed the hens.  What hurts the adult gobbler population, and I guess turkey population in general, is a lot of heavy rain after the hatch there is a lot of poults that die because of the rain.  Then the second year after this you might have a low gobbler population.  Not a biologist just what I was told.


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## Jody Hawk (Mar 28, 2014)

Loder said:


> Habitat is key, keep the proper habitat for turkeys and you'll have turkeys.



Best response in this thread imo.


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## icdedturkes (Mar 28, 2014)

Lovett Williams did an article on this a few years back, I will try and dig it up.. The gist of it was that gobbler only hunting is a -1 scenario and essentially has very little effect other than the -1 equation unless your whacking all your male birds prior to breeding. 

I think what you need to decide is either how many birds can we kill and still have a healthy population of turkeys or how many gobblers can we can and still have quality hunting each and every year. Decide what you are managing for..

And I agree on the habitat, if you have proper habitat to attract hens in the spring, you are gonna have some gobblers finding there way to your property..


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## Killdee (Mar 28, 2014)

As far as habitat, thats why I spend a good part of my winter and early spring on the tractor and bushog. I buy clearance food plot clover every year when my buddy at Academy calls and we have it in every food plot.


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## Bonnran (Mar 28, 2014)

Everyone's response has really given me a good perspective on the number I feel comfortable taking. I know we have a healthy population. I have a couple trail camera pictures of 4 or more gobblers in each pic. Therefore, I am sure there are many more on the property we have not captured on camera. I think our 400 acres offers a quality habitat compared to the land surrounding ours. I am not a greedy hunter and I am all about conservation and wildlife management. Therefore, I may try to kill one more this year(would be my second) and spend the rest of the time calling for my brother in law, little cousin, or father. After all, being part of the hunt is just as fun as shooting, and preserving the birds that allow us to hunt is key.


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