Has the Turkey population blown up?

[njbowhunter]

Last spring I applied for two weeks a and g in area 15 and I was not rewarded. This bow season I have seen about 40 turkeys a night from my stand. I have never seen so many. Have the guys who are hunting camden county been seeing a lot of birds. I seen they proposed to change the turkey regs for zone 15 to make them the same as 20 and 21. Will that be in effect this spring. I hope so because I would like to get a permit because I know a great spot to hunt them this year.

[MEAT-WAGON]

i hear that. zone 65 is full of them too. i was going though 200lbs of corn a week thinkin to my self "damn these deer are tearin this up" then i got the trail cam pics 4 deer and about 2 dozen turkeys :thdown:

[bighunter301]

Cant keep them out of my backyard they even chase the dogs now... They love my compost pile and have to be at least 25 lbs... Had a dozen or so large toms running around the woods in my deer woods they have cleared out all the vegetation up to 3ft high. looks like the woods were attacked with weed wackers they are becoming distructive...

[Glass Master]

The state put 4 adults in the piece of woods behind my house about 6 yrs ago.Its about 250 acres between creeks. Last year there were 2 groups of about 40 birds each.They are just now starting to come into the yard in small groups. In about a month they all start to run around together. I put corn out for the dear and have seen the turkeys chase the deer away.When they stretch their wings out they get really big.Pretty funny to watch.Took some photo,s last spring. If I can figure out how to post I will put some up. Don

Guess I should get the smoker ready soon.:rolleyes:

[Buck Banger]

You know when your sitting in the road , and you feel like your watching a train go by, you remind your self its only a flock of future gobblers you know the population has Quadruppled

[doublelung1]

The turkey population has been out of contol for a couple of years. I had evenings last year when i counted around 70 turkeys and that was one flock! I hunt turkey in the spring and still have yet to harvest a nice tom. The older turkeys get smart fast.

[Take-em'29]

I live in burlington county and the turkeys are every where. I shot my first this year.

[The Ridge]

Turkeys made a huge come back not only in NJ I hunted Z46 and you walk on them Shot my biggest bird there in 46 26 lber.
They are here heavy in PA as well I fellow BB was showing me a piece to hunt the other day and we were greeted by a nice flock in the field.They are on golf courses ,backyards,football fields its crazy.
But you rarely see one hit by a car.Pretty smart birds.

[ACEarcher]

I think we're going to have some popualtion problems in the near furture here in 5C. Just my opinion and seeing where the popualtion has been going. As far as the rest of the state of Pa is conserend turkey are everywhere.

[bill thron]

i deer hunt zone 30 and i have seen a ton of turkey. more than have been there in the last few years combined.

[ub1243]

around me we had a great flock on our land about 60 birds and i had 40 behind my house, this was 5 years ago.
then the red fox population peaked. we lost every polt and a lot of mature birds to coyotes.
i lost all birds near the house and the land i hunt was down to 6 birds.
me and a few guys trapped the area hard. pulled 16 reds out of a 1/2 mile square.
now after two years we are back up to around 50 birds. still nothing around the house.
i trap a few places that have coyotes bad, they have no turkeys left.
the coyotes were about 5 years behind the turkey boom.

[coopster-123]

I counted 85 before i lost count in a field where i deer hunt.They walked under my stand and proceeded to tear up the place,nonstop cackling for hours. The population in my area has exploded.They live in our back yards safe from predation, and feed from every bird feeder in the town.It's way too expensive to get enough permits to make a differance in the population.So i expect most rural areas will see large growth in pop.

[Unami]

Coop,

We'll have to get the boys out there and try and put a dent in that flock next spring.

PS I have some dates for pheasant coming up if you want to get the boys out.

[coopster-123]

Brian, sounds good. Kyle missed a doe on the move, just in front when it stopped a little quick.We have more turkeys than we can count on any given day.We need to take a few out.I would love to get kyle on some birds,he needs to get sharper and experiance is the key.

[H&R slugger]

I live in burlington county and the turkeys are every where. I shot my first this year.

i live here to and they come ynder my car-port at times. and when where swimming at my in-laws pool in the summer the moms, small jakes, and poults walk right along the pool while we're swimming, and bbq-ing. they arent even phased with us there.

[BowtechKilla]

Not uncommon to see 50+ birds in the fields in DMZ Zone 35. Getting out of control.

[jross]

I am in zone 14, I drive from Southampton to Mt Laurel regularly and see turkeys everywhere. I just came up on a dozen toms out in the back field. And they still will not give us a fall season here.

[bowtechman1966]

ive seen more turkey in howell nj this year then in the past 10 years state wide:thup:

[bambam]

yup my trail came and my eye has seen 30 turkeys and 13 whith beards or more:thup:

[bobmetzg]

started to really see them getting hit on rt55 last spring. they are way out of control. need to make changes in the limits.

[fishcrazedtim]

According to the state it was a bad year for brood stock in the south, can't tell in Hopewell, Upper Deerfield and Alloway though. For that matter in Downe Twp either!!!! I have also been seeing more in Cherry Hill, Gloucester City, (yes GC!) and lower Camden County in Pine Hill/Clementon/ Berlin area. I wonder if the state just want us to spend as nuch money as they can sqeeze out of us?!?!?!?

[njbowhunter]

According to the state it was a bad year for brood stock in the south, can't tell in Hopewell, Upper Deerfield and Alloway though. For that matter in Downe Twp either!!!! I have also been seeing more in Cherry Hill, Gloucester City, (yes GC!) and lower Camden County in Pine Hill/Clementon/ Berlin area. I wonder if the state just want us to spend as nuch money as they can sqeeze out of us?!?!?!?

Pine hill/clementon my home towns sooner or later they will have to lift the no discharge laws the deer and turkey are out of control. I actually hunted in clementon with a buddy untill the clementon police escorted him out with a machine gun.:thdown:

[deer spooker]

They are everywhere. My non hunting friends are amazed at the amount of turkeys they see. The state (NJ) is all about the $$$. They try to make it as hard as possible to obtain a permit, (zones,days,etc.) They should model it like the duck hunting zones. NORTH,SOUTH,COASTAL as far as buying a permit. I don't care if they raise the price, but make it a little more reasonable to get one. BTW I'm not saying wipe out the turkey population either. But stop with zone BS.

[Buck Tales]

Acording to the numbers the state of NJ has given to us instructors, the turkey population in south jersey (zones 15,20,21) has had a 70% reproduction survival rate. That means big numbers and lots of turkey sandwiches. LOL

[fishcrazedtim]

Pine hill/clementon my home towns sooner or later they will have to lift the no discharge laws the deer and turkey are out of control. I actually hunted in clementon with a buddy untill the clementon police escorted him out with a machine gun.:thdown:

One got hit on Sunday at 2pm right on New Freedom. Deer are out of control. I was seeing a big Tom up next to Mitchell's for the longest time, he disapeared.........