What was 2024 turkey kill numbers?

[Newt]

Someone smarter than me care to post the kill numbers on the year for public and private I can check it by my county but can't figure out how to check the numbers statewide thank you!

 

[30-06 type of guy]

Wma: 2,351
Statewide: 31,638

 

[Newt]

Thank you very much sir !!

 

[Creek bottoms]

About 200 short of last year.

 

[megalomaniac]

By FAR the all time record number of birds killed in the first 2 weeks of season, no season prior has even come close except for 2023 (21,000 birds killed in first 2 weeks)...

26,149 in the first 2 weeks of season (plus juvie)...
5,453 in the last 4 weeks of season

If you look at like that, it's quite impressive... especially since the majority of the season's kill has always been in the first two weeks. But now, it's so ridiculously front loaded, it's INSANE.

The question is why??? Are the birds just so much easier to kill with the season delay and everyone is whacking their two, leaving almost noone left to turkey hunt with a tag the last 4 weeks of season? OR, are we wiping out all the toms in the first 2 weeks, and there's just almost none left to kill the entire month of May?

 

[TheLBLman]

The question is why??? Are the birds just so much easier to kill with the season delay and everyone is whacking their two, leaving almost noone left to turkey hunt with a tag the last 4 weeks of season? OR, are we wiping out all the toms in the first 2 weeks, and there's just almost none left to kill the entire month of May?

A partial answer to these questions:

The majority of the birds alive when the season opened were 2-yr-old birds.
So this would be those young "longbeards" 1st season to be pursued by most turkey hunters (since most are not killing 1-yr-old juvenile jakes).

These 2-yr-old birds are less hunter wary, and much easier to kill than older Toms.
Couple that with the massive number of hunters afield, and there is much of your answer.

After the 1st weekend or two, the majority of these 2-yr-old birds have been killed. Any survivors, regardless of age, are more hunter wary. But then there are fewer hunters afield after those 1st two weekends.

I do think the majority of longbeards, regardless of their ages, are being killed by human hunters within the first 10 days of the TN statewide season, and that would probably be the case whether the season were opened weeks earlier or weeks later. I suspect some areas may have "almost none" after a couple weeks, but in most areas, it may be more like 15 to 30% of the longbeards have survived those 1st couple weeks of intense human hunting.

At least with the mid-April season opening, there should be better odds for fertilized eggs than if the season were opening earlier. Perhaps this issue isn't as great as we once thought, but I do believe later hunting helps the turkeys, and they need all the help we can give them.

 

[megalomaniac]

A partial answer to these questions:

The majority of the birds alive when the season opened were 2-yr-old birds.
So this would be those young "longbeards" 1st season to be pursued by most turkey hunters (since most are not killing 1-yr-old juvenile jakes).

These 2-yr-old birds are less hunter wary, and much easier to kill than older Toms.
Couple that with the massive number of hunters afield, and there is much of your answer.

After the 1st weekend or two, the majority of these 2-yr-old birds have been killed. Any survivors, regardless of age, are more hunter wary. But then there are fewer hunters afield after those 1st two weekends.

I do think the majority of longbeards, regardless of their ages, are being killed by human hunters within the first 10 days of the TN statewide season, and that would probably be the case whether the season were opened weeks earlier or weeks later. I suspect some areas may have "almost none" after a couple weeks, but in most areas, it may be more like 15 to 30% of the longbeards have survived those 1st couple weeks of intense human hunting.

At least with the mid-April season opening, there should be better odds for fertilized eggs than if the season were opening earlier. Perhaps this issue isn't as great as we once thought, but I do believe later hunting helps the turkeys, and they need all the help we can give them.

That's a general answer to why the season is always so frontloaded. What I'm wanting to know is what happened THIS year.

SOMETHING changed in 2023 to make it even MORE front loaded.... for example in 2022 20,052 birds killed juvie plus first 2 weeks, 9840 killed last 4 weeks of season. And that's been typical of every turkey season since the late 80s... 2/3 of the entire kill has been in the first 2 weeks plus juvie weekend.

But in 2023, it became a bit more front loaded.

but 2024 was absolutely OFF THE CHARTS... literally 83% of the entire season kill was in the first 2 weeks of season. And TOTAL number of birds killed in the first 2 weeks compared to years past was WAY higher. Sure, the turkeys are much easier to kill with the 2 week delay. But why did the raw number and also percentage of kills go up in the first 2 weeks SO MUCH in 2024 compared to years prior? Why did the number of kills fall through the floor during the last 4 weeks? Is this a result of the 2 bird limit? Or a result of there being no birds left to hunt after the first 2 weeks???

 

[Iglow]

That's a general answer to why the season is always so frontloaded. What I'm wanting to know is what happened THIS year.

SOMETHING changed in 2023 to make it even MORE front loaded.... for example in 2022 20,052 birds killed juvie plus first 2 weeks, 9840 killed last 4 weeks of season. And that's been typical of every turkey season since the late 80s... 2/3 of the entire kill has been in the first 2 weeks plus juvie weekend.

But in 2023, it became a bit more front loaded.

but 2024 was absolutely OFF THE CHARTS... literally 83% of the entire season kill was in the first 2 weeks of season. And TOTAL number of birds killed in the first 2 weeks compared to years past was WAY higher. Sure, the turkeys are much easier to kill with the 2 week delay. But why did the raw number and also percentage of kills go up in the first 2 weeks SO MUCH in 2024 compared to years prior? Why did the number of kills fall through the floor during the last 4 weeks? Is this a result of the 2 bird limit? Or a result of there being no birds left to hunt after the first 2 weeks???

It's a big world out there, lots of gobblers of all ages probably through luck never cross paths with a hunter or just ignore them. I saw 5 longbeards hanging around the house the last few days that may or may not have been around a month ago. I didn't see a group of 5 before the season or during the winter but that don't mean much. If you think about it there are so many places that people don't hunt, won't hunt or can't hunt where turkeys live.
I don't recall offhand but was the weather pretty dry/quiet the first 2 weeks? Seems I didn't have rain etc. keep me home that I remember?

 

[megalomaniac]

It's a big world out there, lots of gobblers of all ages probably through luck never cross paths with a hunter or just ignore them. I saw 5 longbeards hanging around the house the last few days that may or may not have been around a month ago. I didn't see a group of 5 before the season or during the winter but that don't mean much. If you think about it there are so many places that people don't hunt, won't hunt or can't hunt where turkeys live.
I don't recall offhand but was the weather pretty dry/quiet the first 2 weeks? Seems I didn't have rain etc. keep me home that I remember?

everybody likes to talk about wet vs dry and its effects on kills....
but when you look at the actual number of birds killed, it DOESNT make a difference. 66% of season's kill is always in first 2 weeks of season. doesn't matter if it's wet, dry, cold, hot... the percentage doesn't change... until this year.

 

[yellalinehunter]

I'll add that the weather was perfect and that definitely makes a difference and I think more were seen from roads and got folks hyped up

 

[Stlbaseball1]

My 2 cents for West TN - spring started a little sooner this year. Green up was earlier, mild temps earlier, etc. Combine that with the later start date and I believe it was more like we were hunting the 3rd week in April for the opener thus more lone gobblers and more dead turkeys.
I also think a lot of people go turkey hunting a handful of times each season and then are on to the next thing - whether they kill 2, 1, or none.

 

[deerfever]

Most people have always hunted two or three weeks of the season but especially now. It so hot the last few weeks that most don't fool with hunting. You are now putting people in the woods to start the season when gobblers are most vulnerable to being called in and killed, especially this year with early green up. Top that with the great hatch of 22 and you had lots of eager two year olds ready and willing leading to lots of kills early. We are still killing the around same number of birds that we always have and that's probably a good thing.

 

[kevin mays]

Man this is just a guess. Maybe the early spring created the perfect storm for the first two weeks
Is that possible?

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

Just from what I seen this year, which may not amount to a hill of beans. The first 2 weeks of season I saw and messed with birds in places that I haven't seen birds in years, or have never seen turkeys. One spot that hasn't had birds in years, had 6 gobbling opening morning but after the first week and a half had none, there was only 1 gobbler killed off the place. One hot spot I hunt was absolutely loaded as normal the first week (15-16 gobblers) but after the first week and a half there were only 2 remaining, with only 3 being killed. And the turkeys that left went completely out of hearing wherever they went.

 

[kevin mays]

Rockhound i wouldn't know how to act if I heard 15 birds in a morning.
Back in the early 90's I had some great places to hunt in southern middle tn where it would be like that. Great memories . I'm lucky to hear 1 bird a morning now

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

Rockhound i wouldn't know how to act if I heard 15 birds in a morning.
Back in the early 90's I had some great places to hunt in southern middle tn where it would be like that. Great memories . I'm lucky to hear 1 bird a morning now

This is the first year that particular spot has ever been like that, there are usually6-8 and they stay all season long.

 

[megalomaniac]

All the responses make sense for the kill going up in the first two weeks by 25% compared to years past.

But why did the kill drop 50% for the last 4 weeks compared to years past????

again, personally I think it was because of the majority of hunters didn't have a tag left, or they didn't have a gobbler left to hunt. but thats pure speculation.

 

[triple threat]

I figured most hunters were hunting the first couple of weeks and then had enough. They were tired and sleepy. I was planning on going the last Saturday afternoon of the season but it was 85 degrees and I talked myself out of it. Watched a baseball game in the AC and took a nap.

 

[Bullfrog]

With all the crying and complaining going on, it's a wonder that 5k were even killed the last 4 weeks. You know its just because they were gobbled out...because that's a thing, obviously.

 

[drake799]

With all the crying and complaining going on, it's a wonder that 5k were even killed the last 4 weeks. You know its just because they were gobbled out...because that's a thing, obviously.

Right….. add in ticks,snakes and tree foliage and it's a wonder any birds were killed at all Turkey hunters are all scared of those things now that we have the later start apparently. Who knew!!!

 

[Shag]

Aren't MOST deer killed in the 2 week span of muzzle loader and rifle season opener? I would attribute turkeys to the same thing. Prime time, more hunters out there trying, and, if they kill one, they're probably done for the year. Just my guess.

 

[Bgoodman30]

Weather was great first week. Seemed like less hens to contend with. Never saw that gobbler with 15 hens around it…

 

[TheLBLman]

Meg, I don't think it was any one thing so much as it was EVERYTHING collectively.

Think about this:

If there were 100 longbeards in a given area, and all the stars aligned perfectly for a much higher percentage of them to be killed in the 1st 2 weeks than normal, then would leave a much smaller percentage remaining than normal for those final 4 weeks.

Typically, there is always a lot less hunting the last week of the season than the 1st.

Another perspective is that many hunters simply aren't as willing to hunt as hard now as they did in times past. What is our average age now? And being more experienced, we prioritize our hunting times to the best odds for success, meaning more hunting earlier in the season than later.

For most of us TN residents, the TN season opening mid-April appears to be better odds than when it opened early April.

Let's say you can afford to spend 10 week days turkey hunting over 6 weeks (plus possibly most weekends). When the season opened earlier, I saw many resident TN turkey hunters "saving" their vacation days until later in April when more hens would be sitting, and the Toms would be more "callable" to the gun.

I think with the season opening mid-April, those more "seasoned" TN hunters decided to use all their vacation days during the 1st 2 weeks rather than "saving" some of their vacation days until later in the season. We simply had a higher percentage of the hunters afield hunting (1st 2 weeks this year), the weather was great, and a higher percentage of the available flock was consequently harvested.

Then add in since more hunters had exhausted their vacation days, less hunting later in the season.

As for me personally, I enjoyed those first 2 weeks, then switched over to fishing
And I did not tag out, as I typically "save" my final tag, "just in case" I might want to use it later.
I've often said I enjoy the hunting more than the killing. This year, I saw two die to my calling, and some more called up get a pass, before I finally took one myself.

After days on end of hunting, then taking an old Tom,
I was just "done" until next year.
More content to spend subsequent weeks fishing than hunting.
I think there are many more TN turkey hunters behaving much like this.

 

[megalomaniac]

Again... front loading the kill has ALWAYS been the norm.

All the reasons above would certainly explain why 2024 was a record year by far for first 2 weeks of the season....

But then the kill numbers fell through the floor. One of, if not THE lowest number of birds EVER killed in the last 4 weeks.

I don't think hunter behavior/effort has changed.... as evidenced by a record kill the first 2 weeks.

Maybe it's just as simple as 2022 was a great hatch, and all those birds were dead by the end of April. If that's the case, we could be in for a tough couple years with very little carryover from this season.

But I'm hoping all the avid hunters were tagged out by end of April, and a lot of those 2yos made it through May.

 

[trkhunter]

Again... front loading the kill has ALWAYS been the norm.

All the reasons above would certainly explain why 2024 was a record year by far for first 2 weeks of the season....

But then the kill numbers fell through the floor. One of, if not THE lowest number of birds EVER killed in the last 4 weeks.

I don't think hunter behavior/effort has changed.... as evidenced by a record kill the first 2 weeks.

Maybe it's just as simple as 2022 was a great hatch, and all those birds were dead by the end of April. If that's the case, we could be in for a tough couple years with very little carryover from this season.

But I'm hoping all the avid hunters were tagged out by end of April, and a lot of those 2yos made it through May.

hard to kill a bird that aint there!!!