Fall turkey

[rodmor80]

I have heard fall turkey is a general no hunt, but don't know why. My wife has been itching to get her a turkey with her new bow. She asked if we could go scout and I told her that your not supposed to hunt them in the fall. When she asked why I couldn't answer. So here I am asking you all. I have seen a few members are in the ranks of the nwtf, so I hope someone will have the info.
Thank you to all who respond.

 

[Ofdscooby]

For me it’s because it’s an either sex hunt so I’m not really into people out there killing hens and the fun of it all is calling them in and getting a Tom to gobble. That doesn’t happen in the fall. Plus they’ll bunch up in different areas and for us public land guys that usually means private property.

 

[Ofdscooby]

How did I do Steve.

 

[Snake Charmer]

It's legal, according to regs to hunt them but most folks refrain because hens are legal take in the fall as well as males and it is a spot and stalk scenario as opposed to calling, thusly in the fall its about getting close and executing while they are unaware as opposed to calling one in which in spring time is gobblers only. The concern in this part of the world is that the population is still rebounding from a collapse from about 15 years ago from the drought. I used to let select folks hunt my ranch during the spring and stopped when the population collapsed but never allowed hens to be taken. My read from where I live is that they are doing better and rebounding but time will tell as to how well that goes. So the answer is yes you and your wife can take a turkey but you should consider leaving the hens alone to promote the repopulation of the species. Studies have shown that one tom can take care of many many hens so one or two jakes or toms taken during the fall will probably not affect the population overall. My opinion only, I'm sure others will disagree...

 

[ilovesprig]

It's legal, according to regs to hunt them but most folks refrain because hens are legal take in the fall as well as males and it is a spot and stalk scenario as opposed to calling, thusly in the fall its about getting close and executing while they are unaware as opposed to calling one in which in spring time is gobblers only. The concern in this part of the world is that the population is still rebounding from a collapse from about 15 years ago from the drought. I used to let select folks hunt my ranch during the spring and stopped when the population collapsed but never allowed hens to be taken. My read from where I live is that they are doing better and rebounding but time will tell as to how well that goes. So the answer is yes you and your wife can take a turkey but you should consider leaving the hens alone to promote the repopulation of the species. Studies have shown that one tom can take care of many many hens so one or two jakes or toms taken during the fall will probably not affect the population overall. My opinion only, I'm sure others will disagree...

Fred,

Totally agree

 

[ilovesprig]

Rod,

We at NWTF San Diego Chapter discourage the take of fall turkeys, because like has been mentioned, shooting hens hurts the recovering population....................

ps...Getting a turkey with a bow is no easy feat....If you can hold off till spring, I will help you the best I can..........

ps...The NWTF Spring Turkey Tune-Up at Lake Henshaw (Feb 22 nd, 2025) is a great event and you and your wife should attend.............

 

[HATCHET1]

Hens are for children...Toms are for men...now bearded hens...transgender if yo you will..thats quite the topic in CA.. Disturbing..

 

[rodmor80]

Rod,

We at NWTF San Diego Chapter discourage the take of fall turkeys, because like has been mentioned, shooting hens hurts the recovering population....................

ps...Getting a turkey with a bow is no easy feat....If you can hold off till spring, I will help you the best I can..........

ps...The NWTF Spring Turkey Tune-Up at Lake Henshaw (Feb 22 nd, 2025) is a great event and you and your wife should attend.............

Thank you all for the thoughtful reply. Thats how I was reading the situation. Taking of a hen doesn't make sense.

We will both be there. I mixed up the date last year and missed it. Thank you for giving me the date so I could get it on the calendar.

 

[ilovesprig]

Rod,

Here's an early flyer...................................

 

[180ls1]

The guys above covered it well. It's somewhat like us having spring and fall deer season where you could also shoot does.


Up north? I'd say have at it, they generally have better populations of deer and turkey.

 

[TJD123]

pretty well covered. think of it as an investment. Pass on the fall hunt today have a good ROI tomorrow (spring hunt) plus help with the population

 

[garlicsalt]

Take your wife and go try and kill a Fall turkey, hen or Tom.

Biologist have determined that the turkey population can sustain fall hunting for hens.

The vast majority of guys on here would prefer that you don't do it in the 16, hit the central coast..........GOOD LUCK!

 

[ilovesprig]

Take your wife and go try and kill a Fall turkey, hen or Tom.

Biologist have determined that the turkey population can sustain fall hunting for hens.

The vast majority of guys on here would prefer that you don't do it in the 16, hit the central coast..........GOOD LUCK!

All biologists don't agree...We didn't have a fall season for many years in San Diego Co...And the reason being, was to let the turkey population build up...Then when it did, they got lots of complaints from locals...So, a fall season was established to lower the number (kill hens in the fall)...Then the drought hit and our turkey numbers plummeted...What did CDFW do?...They lengthened the season to a month long and with 2 hens in the fall...WTF!...Non-native species and they could give a rats a$$, if we have zero turkey......

Like I have mentioned a 1000 times...If we ever lose our turkeys here...We will never have them again.......



ps....We have had two pretty good recruitment years in a row and we're coming back...Let's try to keep them increasing........PLEASE!.......

 

[TJD123]

Take your wife and go try and kill a Fall turkey, hen or Tom.

Biologist have determined that the turkey population can sustain fall hunting for hens.

The vast majority of guys on here would prefer that you don't do it in the 16, hit the central coast..........GOOD LUCK!

I disagree here...the population here (in SD) was really hurting for a while and DFG did not change the seasons as they should have. The current populations are not near what they once were or could be. Taking a hen does not help this

 

[180ls1]

Might be a good time to chase other upland species to knock off the bucket list? I think Chukar numbers have literally doubled. Quail? Others? Maybe @ilovesprig knows.