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Tennessee Hunting Forums
Long Beards & Spurs
Turkey season changes....
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<blockquote data-quote="TITANSFAN2104" data-source="post: 5533616" data-attributes="member: 9937"><p>Ive raised heritage breeds for the last few years. Ive had a free ranging flock of over 125 at one point. If i had 100 hens and 50 jakes/toms going into march (breeding season) by the end of may i would still have my toms and jakes and would lose 75% of my free ranging hens every single year.</p><p></p><p> I didnt have a barn to put them in so it just happened and i finally quit raising them. I have 6 toms and 1 hen left currently and she only made it because she nested next to my house in a dog house about 30 yards from a german shepherd LOL.</p><p>No matter how much i searched and got every egg i could find hoping to break them off the nests further away from the house, i just couldnt keep up. I would hatch about 300 a year myself and i would always have a handful that would hatch their own clutch but they would never make it long becasue she would stay far away from the toms.</p><p></p><p>Im a firm believer our populations have dwindled more due to predation (eggs and hens) during the nesting phases than any other cause. I think predators have changed their tastes and figured out that nesting hens are easy. I think birds of prey are becoming more common (hawks, owls and even eagles) and are really hitting the younger birds. I actually had an owl that was maybe 14" tall that was killing every 12 lb turkey i had. He would pull them out of the trees and take them down, rip their head off and get another.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TITANSFAN2104, post: 5533616, member: 9937"] Ive raised heritage breeds for the last few years. Ive had a free ranging flock of over 125 at one point. If i had 100 hens and 50 jakes/toms going into march (breeding season) by the end of may i would still have my toms and jakes and would lose 75% of my free ranging hens every single year. I didnt have a barn to put them in so it just happened and i finally quit raising them. I have 6 toms and 1 hen left currently and she only made it because she nested next to my house in a dog house about 30 yards from a german shepherd LOL. No matter how much i searched and got every egg i could find hoping to break them off the nests further away from the house, i just couldnt keep up. I would hatch about 300 a year myself and i would always have a handful that would hatch their own clutch but they would never make it long becasue she would stay far away from the toms. Im a firm believer our populations have dwindled more due to predation (eggs and hens) during the nesting phases than any other cause. I think predators have changed their tastes and figured out that nesting hens are easy. I think birds of prey are becoming more common (hawks, owls and even eagles) and are really hitting the younger birds. I actually had an owl that was maybe 14" tall that was killing every 12 lb turkey i had. He would pull them out of the trees and take them down, rip their head off and get another. [/QUOTE]
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Turkey season changes....
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