Many turkey hunters across the Volunteer State have experienced a slow start to the 2008 turkey season . . . both in terms of the amount of gobbling heard and the number of birds seen. The end result has been fewer birds harvested than normal, and more frustrated hunters than usual in a hunting genre that is by its very nature frustrating.
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"Gobbling activity is way off from years past," Burchett said. "Several factors come into play: First and foremost in most people's mind is that it's the weather and that thought holds some merit. We've really not had many decent gobbling days so far this year."
Personal research has shown that a rising barometer is the single most deciding factor to gobbling activity, Burchett said, and "We simply haven't had that many good days this year."
And while Burchett has managed to fill his four tags already, he said it was not easy.
"Due to the weather staying cold for so long earlier this spring, we are at least two weeks behind where we normally are this time of year," he said. "What we are seeing now is typically over before the season ever opens. What I'm seeing happen right now is that they aren't gobbling much at all except on the limb and as soon as they pitch out, they are doing a lot of strutting and drumming."
Drumming serves the same purpose for the turkeys as gobbling, Burchett said.
"It's just a short-range mating call and since most of them have hens all around them, there's no need to gobble all morning long."
Part of the problem, Burchett says, is not weather-related at all, and is more of a long-term problem.
"I'm afraid we as hunters are 'high grading' the turkey population, and I'm afraid there's not much we can do about it," he said.
High grading the turkey population essentially means that the boisterous turkeys — the loud birds who like to strutt their stuff the most — are the ones being killed by turkeys.
Think about this," Burchett says. "The historical states like Alabama that have had turkeys all along and never had to undertake near total restocking efforts have a healthy turkey population but their gobbling activity pales in comparison to most of Tennessee.
"Another good example is Catoosa," he added. "On a good morning in the restocked areas across the state, you can hear a dozen gobbling birds or more, but in those places aforementioned if you hear a couple you've had a good morning."
Burchett said there's little turkey hunters can do to stave off the development. But, he added, if given a choice, the best option is to not shoot the strutting turkey if a second longbeard offers a shot.
Across Tennessee, some hunters have managed to fill their tags, while others are simply filled with disappointment at a season that has not come to fruition so far.
After a harvest last spring that was the lowest in half a decade, some hunters were already wary as the 2008 season rolled around. And, thus far, this year's harvest is on pace to be even lower than last year's. Through the first two weeks of the season, the harvest was consistently around 25% lower than last year's harvest through the same period of time. But, as the weather has warmed and turkeys become more cooperative, the gap has started to close slightly.
According to TWRA records, hunters had checked in 19,739 birds at big game checking stations across the state as of noon today (including 19,606 male birds, 2,385 of which were jakes, and 133 bearded hens). That's about 15% fewer than were checked in at this time last year, when 23,358 birds had been checked in. However, it is still running far behind the record-setting harvest in 2006, when more than 26,000 birds were killed by this time.
On messageboards, hunters discussing the season generally indicated that things were slower this year than normal.
Lathern Hull, who hunts the Fentress County area of the Cumberland Plateau, said Sunday that he had heard just one bird gobble all season.
"I only know of one turkey that has been called in around here this season," Hull said. "I know I have hearing problems, but one turkey gobbling the whole season ain't right."
Doug Max, a professional hunting guide who co-owns J-Hook Guide Service serving Tennessee and Alabama, agreed that the season was off to a slow start.
"I have heard very little gobbling," Max said. "I think it is mostly weather-related."
But there is good news. For one, after a couple of cold snaps early in the season, the weather forecast generally calls for warm weather the remainder of the hunting season . . . at least as far out as meteorologists are willing to guess. And, there are still more than three weeks of hunting remaining.
Burchett said that, from the looks of things, last year's poult recruitment was good.
"I've been seeing lots of jakes and jennies," he said. "One thing I am seeing, which may also relate to the lack of gobbling activity, is an almost total lack of two year old birds in the population."
Burchett said hunters discouraged by the early start should not give up early.
"Keep at it," he said. "The best is yet to come."