Greene County is still the place to go for turkeys
There are turkeys everywhere, but Greene County is still “the place.” For years, the Game Commission used Greene County as its turkey farm of sorts, as it trapped and transferred many birds from there to seed areas of the state, where the turkey population was light, or in most cases, non existent.
Turkeys, like deer, are still under hunted in Greene County, according to Western Greene County Wildlife Conservation Officer Rod Burns.
“Turkeys are doing real well. There is no problem at all,” Burns said. “Personally, I think they are a little quiet for some reason, but I did see one boss gobbler strutting around seven or eight hens.”
The numbers are real good.
“We have good numbers,” Burns said. “There may not be as many turkeys as there were four years ago, but there is still no better place to hunt turkeys. Last year was not a good year for reproduction. It was better than the previous year, but not as good as most. Hopefully we get a good dry May and June.”
Burns said he does not think he had a turkey die this past winter, but “deer are a different story. I look for turkey hunters to have a good year. There are some real nice gobblers out there. This morning (last Friday) I saw as many as 10 gobblers with hens on a wet, windy morning.”
In getting back to deer mortality, Burns said, “About the middle of February, I started getting calls about little dead deer. I picked up about 50 yearling deer and about 12 adult deer that had starved to death.
“At first they were injured deer that were dying in peoples’ yards, then after the big snow storm more started turning up. They were so emaciated, I could put as many as six on the deer rack at one time. What was so unusual about it was, after a while, when somebody would call I would know where to find them.
“They would be against the house, under pine trees and in sheds. I found nine on my mortality walks. The majority just died of winter starvation. I wonder what effect the hard winter will have on this year’s antler growth?”
Burns then said that is the reason the deer herd has to be reduced significantly.
Southern Fayette County Wildlife Conservation Officer Steve Leiendecker, said, “I’ll be heading out early for the next several days as some guys like to get a jump on the season. Many are just out trying to locate birds, but others have different intentions.”
How are turkey populations in his end of the county?
Leiendecker said, “I haven’t been in the mountains much, but I have been busy with projects in Game Lands 238, where I’ve been hearing turkeys gobbling at dusk, which I find unusual.
“Lately, I’m seeing more there than any place else. In the next few days, I’ll be moving all about the district, where I will get a better feel of how well the turkey population is.”
Leiendecker did note that turkeys he has seen have “been strutting for a long time. The weather seems to affect it, especially when the weather warms up.”
Many gobblers he has observed appear to be breaking off into bachelor groups, and one hen he saw crossing the road appeared to be headed for a nest.
In parting, Leiendecker told me a story that was passed on to him by a turkey hunter from around Gans. Apparently, they have observed one boss gobbler thumping the jakes. As fate would have it, the gobbler was killed on the road, and when the hunter drove by the scene, a jake was perched on the carcass and pecking at it as if to get in the final licks.
Herald-Standard outdoor writer Rod Schoener can be reached on line at rschoener@heraldstandard.com