Turkeys are in midseason form, but 2012 hunt won’t get started until Saturday | The Courier-Journal
April 9, 2012
This year’s warm, generally dry spring weather could have turkeys running ahead of schedule in their breeding activity. Hunters should adjust their tactics accordingly. / KDFWR photo
By Gary Garth | Special to The Courier-Journal
Steven Dobey was pretty sure he knew that Kentucky’s 90,000 or so turkey hunters are a determined, dedicated and tenacious group, both in their efforts to protect the resource and their skill in bringing a bird home. But last year’s recorded spring kill of 32,191 birds erased any doubts he might have had. Not that 2011 was a record season. It wasn’t. That came in 2010 when hunters bagged 36,097 turkeys.
But last year’s spring hunt was wet. Soaking wet, with record rains and record flooding. Wet weather and successful turkey hunting don’t often go hand in hand.
“It was very wet last year, and we killed 32,191 birds,” said Dobey, the turkey program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and a hunter himself. “That told me that the drive of our turkey hunters is undeterred. That was a testament to their determination.
“I hunted opening morning and was lucky enough to harvest a bird. It had been raining but stopped, then started raining later that morning. And then it seemed like it rained every day the rest of the season.”
It didn’t actually rain every day of last year’s 23-day hunt, but rain did fall during most of the season, leaving hunting conditions ranging from challenging to miserable. Click Link Below For Full Story!
Excitable gobblers mean exciting turkey hunting season | The Courier-Journal
April 13, 2010
By Gary Garth • Special to The Courier-Journal
Kentucky’s spring turkey season will open Saturday, and the state’s 90,000 or so gobbler hunters probably can look forward to one of their best seasons ever.
Steven Dobey practically guarantees it.
“Well, no, there’s no guarantee,” said Dobey, the turkey specialist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “But I think this could be the most exciting season we’ve had.”
Exciting?
“Yes. It should be a really exciting time to hunt.”
Turkeys are flourishing across the state. Dobey estimates the flock at about 220,000, including an extra-large crop of 2-year-old gobblers. That’s the reason for the excitement.
Two-year-old gobblers are the testosterone-fueled teenagers of the turkey woods — physically mature but blundering through a serious case of lovesickness. The want of female companionship can make these normally secretive and shy birds somewhat careless. Consequently, they fill the most tags.
“Their hormones are telling them what they need to do,” Dobey said, “but experience hasn’t caught up with them yet.”
This year’s anticipated good times can be traced to the summer of 2008. Summertime is when Dobey and a few colleagues spend about eight weeks counting recently hatched turkey poults. Dobey then comes up with a fairly accurate estimate of the average number of turkey chicks per hen that were produced that year.
In 2008 it was an astounding 3.7 chicks per hen, the most in the 26-year history of the summer surveys.
“It was just a great hatch,” Dobey said, “so there are a lot of 2-year-old birds this year, and 2-year-old birds are exciting to hunt.”
The record hatch of 2008 manifested itself somewhat last spring, when hunters tagged a record 29,007 turkeys, 24percent of them 1-year-old gobblers (called jakes). The previous season only 14percent of the birds tagged were jakes. A juvenile bird is legal if it has a visible beard, as nearly all jakes do.
Dobey wasn’t surprised at the spike in juvenile kills last year, saying, “If they’re on the ground, people tend to take them.”
Kentucky’s turkey hunting success rate hovers around 33percent. Dobey says hunters are becoming more selective, but even those determined to wait for an older bird will enjoy being in the woods with young gobblers on the prowl.
“There should be a lot of calling and a lot of bird movement,” he said.
Those 2-year-old gobblers can boost hunting opportunities during the often-lax midday hours and especially later in the season, which runs through May9.
“There’s going to be a lot of hens that are with gobblers, but there’s going to be a lot of (young) gobblers, especially, that don’t make the cut,” Dobey said. “They’ll be out looking for hens.”
Midday success is likely to go up as the season moves into May. By then many hens will have been bred, and after an early-morning feed they will have returned to their nests. That will leave plenty of young gobblers who haven’t found a receptive hen searching for one.
“They’re out looking for hens, and sometimes they’ll come in without making a sound,” Dobey said. “They’ll just appear. It’s exciting.”
Kentucky’s statewide youth turkey hunt (ages 15 and under) was last weekend. Hunters checked more than 1,800 birds.
via Excitable gobblers mean exciting turkey hunting season | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal.
LBL Quota Turkey Hunt Applications Available Online February 1-28
January 26, 2010
Written by Karen Orange
PADUCAH, KY – Applications will be available online February 1, for the first six hunting days of the 2010 Turkey Season at Land Between The Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area.
Three quota hunts in both Kentucky and Tennessee during the first portion of the season require a prior application. In Kentucky they include a two-day youth hunt for hunters (under age 16 on the Kentucky portion of LBL) March 27-28, a two-day hunt April 8-9, and a two-day hunt April 17-18. In Tennessee they include a two-day youth hunt (for hunters 6-16 years old on the Tennessee portion) April 10-11, a two-day hunt April 12-13, and a two-day hunt April 17-18. No hunting is permitted between these dates.
The non-quota hunting season, which does not require a prior application, is one 14-day hunt, April 19 – May 2 for Kentucky and two 7-day hunts in Tennessee, April 19-25 and April 26 – May 2.
The Quota Hunt application fee will remain at $5 for an online application. Hunters can apply online at www.lbl.org February 1-28. Applicants can check the website at www.lbl.org near the middle of March to see if they were drawn.
Land Between The Lakes is managed by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partnership with “Friends of LBL,” to provide public lands outdoor recreation and environmental education. We encourage visitors to review our website at www.lbl.org each season, and throughout the season, for our Calendar of Events, updates on programs and policies, and temporary trail and road closures. Additional LBL information is also available on our website or by calling 1-800-LBL-7077 or 270-924-2000. You can find out more about “Friends of LBL” at www.friendsoflbl.org.
via LBL Quota Turkey Hunt Applications Available Online February 1-28.
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – Kentucky’s Spring Turkey Season To Open April 17
January 22, 2010
Jan 20, 2010
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky’s 2010 spring wild turkey hunting season will open statewide Saturday, April 17, and close Sunday, May 9. The youth-only season will be April 3-4.
The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission, at its August meeting, recommended April’s second Saturday as a permanent general season opener, but their proposal has not yet completed the legislative approval process.
The new license year begins March 1 and already hunters are beginning to plan hunts. Therefore, as in the past, this year’s opener will fall on the Saturday closest to April 15.
The 2010 Kentucky Hunting Guide for Spring Turkey and Squirrel will be posted online at fw.ky.gov Thursday, Jan. 21, and printed guides will be available at license vendors within the next few weeks. Hunters should be sure to check the guide for complete hunting regulations, including bag limits, licensing requirements and equipment guidelines.
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