2026 Turkey harvest pics

[Taudisio]

Tough season here in VA. Got this one evening during the last week of the season. No decoys, on private land and used my .243 at about 60 yards. God Bless.

I thought you could only use a rifle in VA in the fall on birds?

 

[DWinVA]

I thought you could only use a rifle in VA in the fall on birds?

Sorry, but you are mistaken.

God Bless.

 

[fatlander]

I thought you could only use a rifle in VA in the fall on birds?

One would certainly think in looking through sporting, safety, and sustainability lenses that would be the case. Sadly, I think the old dominion isn’t going to change their ways until they’re all gone.

Turkeys populations are the lowest they’ve been in my lifetime, and that sentiment is echoed by many guys I know that have been doing it for decades as well. Seeing a gobbler popped by a rifle the last week of a tough season that would have otherwise made it further cements my feelings on the unnecessarily broad definition of legal take in our state. We can’t keep waging war on turkeys and expect them to persist.


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[Q_Sertorius]

One would certainly think in looking through sporting, safety, and sustainability lenses that would be the case. Sadly, I think the old dominion isn’t going to change their ways until they’re all gone.

Turkeys populations are the lowest they’ve been in my lifetime, and that sentiment is echoed by many guys I know that have been doing it for decades as well. Seeing a gobbler popped by a rifle the last week of a tough season that would have otherwise made it further cements my feelings on the unnecessarily broad definition of legal take in our state. We can’t keep waging war on turkeys and expect them to persist.


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Take that nonsense out of here. If turkey numbers are low, it isn’t because someone shot one with a rifle at 60 yards.

 

[fatlander]

Take that nonsense out of here. If turkey numbers are low, it isn’t because someone shot one with a rifle at 60 yards.

The explosion of technology, technique, and equipment that makes turkey hunters more effective than they’ve ever been, coinciding with a nationwide of decline, has nothing to do with said nationwide decline?

There’s a hill I’m willing to die on, and this is it.

Case in point, there’s a turkey in this thread that died because of a method of take that doesn’t belong in the spring. It used to be okay if they turkey won, now we shoot them with rifles after a “tough season”. How many turkeys in this thread died over top of hype realistic male decoys or from someone crawling behind a fan? How many of those turkeys didn’t breed hens because of said methods? How many hens went unbred because the dominant gobbler was killed by one of these newfound methods that would have kept him alive until atleast May two decades ago?


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[Q_Sertorius]

We better ban TSS… give me a break.

 

[fatlander]

We better ban TSS… give me a break.

That wouldn’t be the worst thing that’s happened for turkeys in the last 20 years.


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[Mustard Tiger]

Speaking of TSS…that .410 Burgess Creek #10 is

 

[deerhunt1988]

How many hens went unbred because the dominant gobbler was killed by one of these newfound methods that would have kept him alive until atleast May two decades ago?


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None, because the dominant gobbler theory is trash. There isn't a study out there showing hens aren't getting bred.

I agree with most else you said though.

 

[fatlander]

None, because the dominant gobbler theory is trash. There isn't a study out there showing hens aren't getting bred.

I agree with most else you said though.

Let’s say you’re in a part of the world that’s seen marked decrease in overall turkey abundance, and there’s only one gobbler with less than a handful of hens in a specific area. If he dies in late March/ early April, and there’s no other gobblers around to breed his hens, they’re not getting bred. The validity or lack thereof of Chamberlain’s dominant gobbler hypothesis doesn’t apply.

Just in my own experience the last few years and some of my closest hunting friends’ experiences, this is a very real scenario now. The overwhelming majority of the turkey landscape in our part of the world looks like what I laid out above. There aren’t enough “satellite” gobblers to cover hens if the “herd” gobbler dies before the breeding is done. Anymore, you know what turkey you’re hunting before you get out of the truck every morning. More often than not, it’s one specific gobbler. Gone are the days of “wonder how many we’ll hear this morning.”


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[deerhunt1988]

Let’s say you’re in a part of the world that’s seen marked decrease in overall turkey abundance, and there’s only one gobbler with less than a handful of hens in a specific area. If he dies in late March/ early April, and there’s no other gobblers around to breed his hens, they’re not getting bred. The validity or lack thereof of Chamberlain’s dominant gobbler hypothesis doesn’t apply.

Just in my own experience the last few years and some of my closest hunting friends’ experiences, this is a very real scenario now. The overwhelming majority of the turkey landscape in our part of the world looks like what I laid out above. There aren’t enough “satellite” gobblers to cover hens if the “herd” gobbler dies before the breeding is done. Anymore, you know what turkey you’re hunting before you get out of the truck every morning. More often than not, it’s one specific gobbler. Gone are the days of “wonder how many we’ll hear this morning.”


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If that is genuinely the case (not enough gobblers to breed hens once harvest starts) then the season needs shut down in your county/area. What state/area are you in?

 

[Crcusmonky]

Let’s say you’re in a part of the world that’s seen marked decrease in overall turkey abundance, and there’s only one gobbler with less than a handful of hens in a specific area. If he dies in late March/ early April, and there’s no other gobblers around to breed his hens, they’re not getting bred. The validity or lack thereof of Chamberlain’s dominant gobbler hypothesis doesn’t apply.

Just in my own experience the last few years and some of my closest hunting friends’ experiences, this is a very real scenario now. The overwhelming majority of the turkey landscape in our part of the world looks like what I laid out above. There aren’t enough “satellite” gobblers to cover hens if the “herd” gobbler dies before the breeding is done. Anymore, you know what turkey you’re hunting before you get out of the truck every morning. More often than not, it’s one specific gobbler. Gone are the days of “wonder how many we’ll hear this morning.”


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Most studies I have seen point to the majority of hens being bred before the actual hunting seasons begins. This is not to say some don’t, or nests get raided and they are looking to breed again. However, unlike deer season turkey season doesn’t really occur at peak breeding.

I’m not saying there isn’t reason for concern, there are just a lot of factors in this complicated problem. Hunter numbers have been fairly consistent for 20 years but the increased use of tss likely means more success, in some states hard winters can be an issue as well, and access to land to hunt. I don’t think its a one size fits all. It is likely a different combination of factors state to state.

I know I enjoy turkey hunting a lot and want them around for future generations.


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[fatlander]

If that is genuinely the case (not enough gobblers to breed hens once harvest starts) then the season needs shut down in your county/area. What state/area are you in?

I agree with you whole heartedly. This has been voiced, louder and louder, year over year by more hunters in our state. It’s falling on deaf ears. Nothing is changing at the regulatory level.

Virginia. There are a few counties SE and N, that have a few turkeys, but it’s a fraction of what it was 20 years ago. Most of the state is not even a shadow of what it used to be.


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[fatlander]

Most studies I have seen point to the majority of hens being bred before the actual hunting seasons begins. This is not to say some don’t, or nests get raided and they are looking to breed again. However, unlike deer season turkey season doesn’t really occur at peak breeding.

I’m not saying there isn’t reason for concern, there are just a lot of factors in this complicated problem. Hunter numbers have been fairly consistent for 20 years but the increased use of tss likely means more success, in some states hard winters can be an issue as well, and access to land to hunt. I don’t think its a one size fits all. It is likely a different combination of factors state to state.

I know I enjoy turkey hunting a lot and want them around for future generations.


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Our state doesn’t really know how many people are participating in spring gobbler season. The tags come with deer tags. That’s the first problem. Anecdotally, I see more people turkey hunting than ever before. I’m not alone in that observation.

Our season starts around the 10th of April. Hens are still laying in our part of the world until about April 20th. The majority of our state’s harvest is during the first week of the season.

Total spring harvest in our state has remained relatively constant for the last decade. Brood studies and overall abundance estimates have steadily decreased. That’s going to become, and in many places I think has already become, unsustainable. If you’re killing the same amount you always have, but replacing at a lower rate, you’re losing turkeys. Eventually, the piggy bank will be tapped.

I know it’s a magnitude of factors that are largely out of our control. We can’t change the weather, we have no hope of changing modern farming practices or stopping urban sprawl, and predator management and habitat improvement is a lot work that can be costly. Limiting hunter effectiveness is the lowest hanging fruit. Rifle bans, tss bans, male decoy bans, and fanning bans would save a lot of turkeys. In the not so distant past, it was actually difficult to kill turkeys. It’s never been easier to kill turkeys, legally, than it is today. Fair chase has always been something that needs re-evaluating as technology changes. From my perspective, as a whole, the turkey hunting of today is well and beyond the bounds of fair chase.


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[highcountrymuley]

CO bird #2 , otc tag. No decoys or TSS were used in the harming of this bird. Very smart bird on pressured public land. I believe I had a run- in w same bird a week prior. He came in hot but I sat down in too thick of cover and he was within range for several minutes circling and gobbling before walking off. My nephew had similar experience several days later in the same area. I got on him 3 days after nephew's hunt and this bird gobbled and walked up cautiously. I had gun on him behind a bushy tree and he didn't move for 10 minutes! He gobbled and clucked and my hands were both going numb from the cold and being sore from painting/work. I slowly eased gun down to rest cuz I figured I would miss when opportunity came. He walked a little bit to right a minute later and I raised gun and shot him at about 40 yds. He also had pellets/injuries on his feet. Heavy bird, nice beard, not much for spurs, though.

I heard a good bit more gobbling activity this year. Lots of hens, Jake's and longbeards around. I think this spring was better than the last several years where I had success but often on the one bird that I encountered...

****** If u feel like there are too many hunters and not enough birds in your state or area - take a camera on your hunt instead of a gun or bow for a few years.

 

[highcountrymuley]

Forgot to insert pic:

 

[Scottf270]

Ill say it again, if you are not improving habitat and trapping, especially nest predators, dont gripe about your turkey populations.

Dog proof traps are the greatest invention to build turkey populations.