Mature turkeys prove elusive targets for spring hunters

Weeks before the spring turkey hunting season opened, hunting outfitter Roy Wilson predicted what hunters would face.

"Too many jakes," he said. "Remember what the season was like in 2003, when we had lots of turkeys but mostly young birds? It's nice to have them around, but it makes it difficult for hunters to bag the older birds."

With four weeks gone and only two left in the North Zone spring season, many hunters report that most of the gobblers they've seen are 2 or 3 years old with 2- to 6-inch beards. Hunters also report that they are finding very little daytime gobbling activity.

Similar stories have emerged from South Texas, where the season ends today.

"It has been pretty tough to bag an old bird this year," said rancher Kerry Joy of Eldorado. "We have a tremendous amount of jakes, but the big boys have been hard to find. I saw a lot of big ones before the season opened so I know they are out there. At first, I thought it was just [my problem], but I got to asking around and others are saying the same thing

"We have had some gobbling off and on during the day, but, overall, it's been pretty quiet out there."

Joy said that he has seen groups of 15 to 20 or more jakes traveling together. Many people believe jakes traveling in large groups often chase older birds away from the hens, making the older toms more timid.

Ken Mayer of All American Outfitter, north of Clarendon in the Panhandle, said he has seen large groups of jakes on properties he hunts in Donley, Hall and Collingsworth counties.

"We had a pretty wet spring last year, and that led to a good hatch," Mayer said. "There has been very little daytime gobbling. Once they touch down [from their roosts], they shut up after about a half hour and then get fired up again about an hour before sundown. That's usually because the gobblers have gotten lost from the hens and are trying to catch back up with them."

Joy said some hunters have relied on "ambush" hunting, waiting at places where the birds usually go rather than calling the birds to them.

Greg Simons of Wildlife Systems in West Texas agreed.

"The season has been really tough," said Simons, who hunts on ranches in Coke, Tom Green, Schleicher, Sterling, Comanche, Dimmit and Pecos counties. "Those guys who have been willing to camp out over feed or water have been able to shoot birds because a lot of turkeys have not been receptive to coming to a call. We have a lot of jakes, but they are mostly 3-year-old birds. We have killed some older ones with some of the best spurs we ever have had, but there has been very little gobbling activity."

Robert Steenbeke of 1A Hunting in Texas Guide Service in Yancey, about 50 miles southwest of San Antonio, said the story has been the same in South Texas.

"It's been as tough as it gets," said Steenbeke, who guides hunts in Zavala County. "We have seen very few mature birds. We have lots of jakes and lots of hens, and that's made it tough to get the older birds in.

"Most of the gobblers have hit the ground and then shut up. Several have been taken while coming to feeders with the hens."

But Steenbeke said the problems this season, which ends May 11 in the North Zone, could bode well for the future.

"With so many jakes around this year, it should be a heck of a year next season," he said.