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2023 Turkey Season

RDG

RDG

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Who else is courting down the days till turkey season opens up? Anyone seeing/hearing birds getting fired up.
Haven't seen much action out here in Western MA yet... I'll get out next week and get some scouting done.

My son gets to hunt the youth days in both MA and CT this year, so we get a couple days in the woods earlier :)!! Hoping to get him his first gobbler.

Also for the MA guys... don't forget your check your stupid green sticker before you head out. Order them now if you need them.


Also I accidently grabbed some Federal TSS 20G 3" in a 7/9 blend. Perfectly legal in MA but 9's aren't allowed in CT. Didn't even realize it when I grabbed them.
So if anyone want to trade for some straight TSS 7's in Western MA let me know.
 
Sparkey said:
Mass season always seems late to me. Just a casual Turkey Hunter but. Seems like most action I see is few weeks before season.
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This....tons of turkey out by me, most of the gobbling is very early in the season.

I don't work very hard at it, but shooting a bird around me isn't very hard either as long as your moving around to different spots and getting up early.

Getting up early and finding the time to hunt is harder for me than killing a bird.
 
dgrantdoherty said:
2 dead on the highway today! That's pretty early
Click to expand...

I saw a dead deer on teh side of a local road on Sunday. I forget where I was. Just crumpled. Oh - Padelford (pahDELford, not Paddle-Ford) St just before the 24 overpass. Crumpled. DRT. Someone hit it and just kept going????


Sparkey said:
Mass season always seems late to me. Just a casual Turkey Hunter but. Seems like most action I see is few weeks before season.
Click to expand...

I wonder if it's just a product of the DNR not knowing. They set the season based on Maine or Michigan or NY or something and it's too late. All 3 are the same relative dates as MA. NJ is a tad earlier. Missouri is 2 weeks earlier. Ditto for Mary-Land.

Eastern MA is not like Maine or upstate NY or Michigan. It's more like a warmer, more temperate area because the proximity to the ocean.
 
Dennis in MA said:
I wonder if it's just a product of the DNR not knowing. They set the season based on Maine or Michigan or NY or something and it's too late. All 3 are the same relative dates as MA. NJ is a tad earlier. Missouri is 2 weeks earlier. Ditto for Mary-Land.

Eastern MA is not like Maine or upstate NY or Michigan. It's more like a warmer, more temperate area because the proximity to the ocean.
Click to expand...

I just went to a turkey hunting seminar in CT with my son. The CT turkey biologist gave a good segment on turkey biology. I found it interesting.

CT's turkey season is close to ours in MA.

I wish I had a copy of the slide but he explained the season is setup this way on purpose.

Basically there is a first kind of "rut" where Toms and Hen go nuts:D.
Things then die down for a few days/weeks, and then a second "rut" happens. All the hens that didn't breed or the breeding didn't take, basically try again.
Our season is timed with this second wave of breeding, this ensures there are males around to breed before we start shooting them all.

Maybe he was just peddling BS, but either way it was a interesting class.

CT also claims the wild turkey population has been on the decline since 2003 when it peaked.. but then again CT also has a 5 bird limit and you can hunt all day. :rolleyes:
 
Clearly it isn't an issue if they have maintained a 5-bird limit. Damn. We seem to be overrun with them and it's still only 2 here, right?

I wonder what their long-term goal for total-flock is. With a lot of game, you see an introduction and you get a big spike in population because they are novel. Then stuff adjusts and you see the population crater until it reaches a stasis. Look at wolf introductions out west. Wolf #'s increased rapidly while game was on a massive decline. Then both reversed until there was a statis formed. I'm curious what the proper flock # is or if they are SWAG'ing it.
 
Dennis in MA said:
Clearly it isn't an issue if they have maintained a 5-bird limit. Damn. We seem to be overrun with them and it's still only 2 here, right?

I wonder what their long-term goal for total-flock is. With a lot of game, you see an introduction and you get a big spike in population because they are novel. Then stuff adjusts and you see the population crater until it reaches a stasis. Look at wolf introductions out west. Wolf #'s increased rapidly while game was on a massive decline. Then both reversed until there was a statis formed. I'm curious what the proper flock # is or if they are SWAG'ing it.
Click to expand...
It's almost like there's some population that can be supported by an ecosystem...a carrying capacity, if you will, and those populations will naturally seek that balance within certain limits. It's almost like we, as hunters, serve only a partial predatory load.

Almost.
;)
 
I could reach out my bedroom window and grab one if you want one.
They're friggin everywhere, couple really big toms and too many others. They are smart though, the stay near the condos so you can't shoot them.
 
Pretty awesome that CT gives youth hunters a whole week to chase down gobblers before the regular seasons starts.
Even better than it’s the same week as our spring school vacation in MA.
We missed the first half of the week due to a scheduled family vacation down to Florida but we were in the woods first thing this AM.
Ben got his first turkey on his first day of turkey hunting!! I think it took me like 3-4 years.

342806615_1193654334649839_8373949735797009205_n.jpg
342218530_598507485675028_2689875256191295617_n.jpg

342824788_1654261075021638_4644575796296435501_n.jpg
 
I’ll be going out for the first time this year. Probably only have 4-5 days I can hunt during the next month so we will see what happens. I had to drive in to Cambridge for work and I saw 2 hens running in the bike lane this week. They really are everywhere around here.
 
weatherby said:
That's awesome
Can tell by the smiles.
Details man Details......
Click to expand...

We hunted a couple different spots on state land in CT on Thursday. I really love the fact they have a week long youth season. Hats off the CT.

Second spot we hit... we were just "running and gunning" along a quad trail. Couldn't get any gobbles. Thought the place was empty of birds. Then out of no where, one starts gobbling to a actual barred owl that was hooting. We setup and starting calling but radio silence. Wouldn't answer to any call I had. After 10-15 minutes we decided to close the distance and see if we can figured where they were. Moved about 15 yards closer and made a quiet help. He finally answered and was close. We dropped down and before I knew it there were two jakes right on top of us. Ben picked out the bird with the better shot and dropped it with his 20G Tristar. TSS did it's job.
About a 16lb jake with a short little beard and spurs. Probably a first year bird.

Smiles all around.
.

We hunted the MA opened on Saturday too... I called in a nice Tom for my kid but the bird spooked at the last minute and took off. Lesson learned.

Both of these birds came in silent... changed my thoughts on locator calls.. going to start using them more.

Can't wait for tomorrow so I can try and get one of my own.
 
Did a couple of stands this morning. A Chickadee perching on my shoulder was the extent of my bird interaction. We got 4" of rain and it's making quite a racket in the woods.
 
Went out yesterday morning in Ware River Watershed WMA Rutland-Oakham-Hubbardston.
Heard a Tom gobbling across a field 5 minutes after I had set up my decoys at 5am.
Then about 10 minutes later I heard a hunter take 2 medium-quick shots in a different field across the dirt road.

There are birds there, but they're smart. The toms shutup unless they're real excited. And they always seem to stay in the woods.
I'm hitting another spot tomorrow, and I'm hoping some warm up will get them moving and curious.
Have new chokes on my "new" used 70s Ithaca SKB 500 O/U I picked up for pheasant season last November. And it has one pheasant kill on it.
 
TrackDayRdr said:
What's the story with that new green sticker MA is requiring? Another hurdle for MA hunters? These aren't available at retail store license spots, right?
Click to expand...
Yes, NOT available in stores...You have to send a SASE to Mass Wildlife and they'll send you a bunch... All for safety..ya know! ;)
 
TrackDayRdr said:
What's the story with that new green sticker MA is requiring? Another hurdle for MA hunters? These aren't available at retail store license spots, right?
Click to expand...
Not new.. its been a requirement for a long time. .. and yes it's stupid as f***.

Also you can stop by your local MassWildlife local office.. some sporting shops have them as well.
 

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