Not As Many Turkeys As You Think

I like being positive. I really dislike spreading unfavorable news, but sometimes reality gets the better of me. Now is one of those times.

I heard someone this past deer season talk about how many turkeys he saw at his deer feeder. He called it a “turkey problem” and complained that they were eating all his deer corn. He said that he needed to thin out the flock since there were too many.

Let’s think about this for a moment. First of all, that would be illegal. Period. You can’t shoot a turkey out of season, and you can’t shoot a turkey with a rifle.

Second of all, he was referring to one feeder where he saw about 15 turkeys nearly every time he sat on that stand. Fifteen turkeys milling around the deer woods being loud and obnoxious can give a false sense that turkeys are everywhere. That was THE group of turkeys in the area, sadly enough. There weren’t dozens of flocks. Just one.

I heard someone else talk of driving down the same road every day to go to work and seeing turkeys every time. That person was saying that he didn’t know why people complained of low turkey numbers since he saw turkeys every day in a field. When questioned further, this man revealed that he saw the group in one field. He was seeing one flock, but he would report daily that he had seen 15 turkeys on his way to work. From his coworkers’ points of view, it sure sounds like there are turkeys everywhere.

When I drive the 25 miles from my house into town, I generally see three flocks of turkeys. However, they are the same birds every time. Each flock has 10 to 15 turkeys, which is not very impressive. But if I told someone how many turkeys I saw this morning, roughly 30 to 45, people may think that the turkey population in south Georgia is booming. These flocks I see are nearly 7 to 8 miles apart, though. And I see the same turkeys every time. I may only see one or two toms in each flock.

For an avid turkey hunter like me, those numbers are far from encouraging. In fact, they are concerning.

And yet, I continue to hear some hunters annoyed at turkeys eating deer corn. I’m concerned that many turkeys are being “thinned out” illegally. I cannot prove it, but I think it’s true. I have heard enough people talk, letting secrets slip. When individuals go above the law and try to take matters into their own hands, it rarely works out favorably in the end.

This is a plea from a turkey hunter. Please, please do not shoot a turkey illegally. Don’t kill out of season and don’t kill over the limit during the season. Don’t shoot hens. Don’t bait them during season. Some hunters may not care at all about turkey hunting, but some of us do. I would like for my kids to have the opportunity to grow up hunting turkeys in Georgia like I have been able to. Let’s all do our part.