Harvest figures indicate that Tennessee's turkey hunters are off to one of the slowest starts in recent history.

As of lunch time today, only 8,698 turkeys had been harvested — including the youth hunt that preceded the regular season. That's down substantially (33%) from last year's harvest over the same time period of 12,890 birds. In 2006, hunters bagged 11,348 birds in the same time period.

The opening weekend harvest was 5,134, down from last year's 7,979 on opening weekend. And the decline continued into the work week, with 2,530 turkeys harvested since Sunday. During that time frame a year ago, 3,675 birds were harvested.

ADVERTISEMENT

One contributing factor for the slow-down to start could be less-than-ideal weather conditions. Rain has hampered parts of the state every day of the season thus far until today, when the only rain being reported was isolated thundershowers in the southern fringe of the state. The weekend temperatures were also cooler than normal, with a high on Saturday only in the 40s or low 50s in much of the state.

Another factor could be that the breeding season is slightly behind schedule. Hunters on the TnHunting.Com Forums were talking about a slow start to the season, with many saying that birds were tight-lipped in their hunting areas. However, another said that birds were actually already henned up in his area.

"Typically, we're hearing a few gobbling birds by opening weekend around here," said TnHunting.Com contributor Corey Andrews, who hunts on the Cumberland Plateau in the midstate area. "But this year we're several days in and I've yet to hear the first gobble. It's frustrating, but the key will be patience and perseverence."

Last year, a warmer-than-usual March contributed to a breeding season that was ahead of schedule. The opening weekend harvest reflected that, as it actually exceeded the opening weekend harvest from the 2006 record-setting season. But an historic cold snap towards the end of the first week of the season caused the remainder of the hunt to be off-kilter, and the final tally revealed one of the lowest harvests in several years.

This year, a cooler-than-average March has contributed to a slightly late spring, though whether that is playing a role in the turkey woods is likely too soon to tell. But the harvest this year is on pace to be significantly lower than even last year's low harvest. However, the second weekend harvest should be much higher this year than a year ago with cooperating weather. Last year, the entire state was engripped in a deep freeze, with morning lows plunging into the teens in many areas. This year, temperatures are expected to be in the 60s for daytime highs on the second weekend, with only a slight threat of rain Saturday morning in the eastern half of the state.

Of the birds tagged at checking stations across the state through Wednesday afternoon, 1,142 were jakes, 62 were bearded hens, and the rest were mature gobblers.

Dickson County was leading the way with 269 birds, narrowly ahead of Greene County's 267 birds. Hunters in Montgomery County had harvested 247 birds, while 243 birds had been harvested in Henry County and 242 had been harvested in Maury County. Giles County also topped 200 birds, with 214 harvested.

The spring turkey season will continue through May 11.