Recent content by BenA

There have been studies that have shown declines may be linked to diseases such as lymphoproliferative. The disease may not show themselves with physical symptoms, but they have been shown to affect fertility.

It's not predators in my area or the habitat keeping the numbers low. It has to be something else.

I've watched those swallow some pretty big fish.

I have 15 acres of old field, 7 acres divided between corn and plot and open, and 30 of timber in various stages of growth. I have 3 springs and a pond. I have one mile of twisting, turning edge separating the old field and woods.

I have very, very few nest predators and very few turkeys on my place. I know turkeys are around the area, and I do see them sometimes, but not often. I have a camera on the edge of a corn field and see hardly any coons or possums.

If you have a bushhog, you could keep it cut short and they may eventually go away all while keeping clover planted. It will definitely come back if something isn't done. Chemical control is probably your best bet, but I'd have food growing in that big of an area if it were me. But, mowing...

Yeah, that's too much pasture. The places I've seen tons of turkeys are intermixed big woods and pastures and managed pines.

Did that area happen to have cattle pastures? It seems areas that have pastures that are almost overstocked or with lots of grazing pressure have good turkey populations (at least that's how I perceived it). Places with bugs that are easy to get to seem to be areas turkeys like to be.

I'm not hunting them on my Kentucky place this year because I just don't see the numbers I'd like. I don't think we can point to any one thing as THE cause for declining numbers in a lot of areas. It's probably a combination of different things like habitat, predators, weather at nesting and...

Definitely. I know for a fact people shoot deer at 100 yards every year with the way compounds have evolved. The more efficient the technology becomes, the more it's going to be used. People participate in or see guys at TAC events shooting these long distances, and then they bring it to...

I think it could work great because the bush honeysuckle would be up above the clover. You'd essentially be doing a foliar spray without spraying. Here's a situation where they used one to treat other woody species in a grassland restoration...

This is one of the weed wipers I was talking about. Takes care of weeds that get above your planted stuff. https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p/071591/smucker-super-sponge-weed-wiper-atv-herbicide-applicator

I decided against it. It would be too hard to keep poaching limited in this scenario. The hours doesn't bother me. I have to drive that far to get to the kind of hunting I am looking for. I drive 10.5 hours now. My kids were aggravated that the road trip would "only" be 3 hours.

I think you can have plenty enough bedding if you make it in your timber. I wouldn't create a bedding area I'd have to drive through. I think the crops are a good thing. Do your bedding work in the timber, and you'll likely still have the best cover in the neighborhood without taking away food.

I agree with the treating of invasives as they return, but I'd still plant (if you want to continue the area to continue as a food plot). I'd have a backpack or ATV sprayer with a wand and use that to spot spray. Or, even better, a weed wipe, so you could drive over it and treat the invasives as...