I have heard mixed reports this year. Every year I try to take note of what others are saying, sift thru all the conspiracy theories, and try to reach an educated opinion on where things are.

For the last couple years harvest numbers have decreased in Alabama. State biologists fear that we are seeing serious declines. In 2013 I hunted a lot of birds. Should have limited out (5) but missed 3. That's another topic for another day. The big thing that stood out in 2013 was that there were a ton of jakes. The weather in 2012 was hot and dry early which I believe led to an early hatch. A number of the jakes that we saw in 2013 were what I call "super jakes". A buddy calls the jobblers. Anyway many of the jakes taken in 2013 had almost full fans, longer beards than average jakes, and gobbled like big birds.

Fast forward to 2014. The early part of the season was off here in the state. I did take one on my first day at Oakmulgee WMA but he gobbled a total of 2 times. I know he had to have heard me calling the 30 minutes before he finally gobbled. What birds I did hear that first week gobbled sparingly. The remainder of the season was just really so-so. Birds acted henned up, even when they really weren't.

One thing I noticed this season was that there were more big birds taken than usual. My first bird weighed over 20 pounds on a scale. That was the first bird that I have taken over 20 and it's not something we really see a lot in Alabama. I kept hearing of legit 20+ pound birds with 1.25" to 1.5" spurs. Over the years 1" to 1.125" were some of the biggest that I heard about and it was usually just a limited few. This year there were numerous birds with big hooks and healthy weights.

Some of the feedback from southern Tennessee was that the birds started late. Several people said they just didn't gobble as well or that they felt like they were henned up.

Overall it seemed like a bit of a down year. Numbers of gobbling birds appeared to be down. The number of really big birds has me puzzled. Were they the "super jakes" of 2013 or were they birds that just didn't gobble much the previous year? I didn't see the number of hens on the roads that I'm accustomed to. I also saw/heard fewer jakes.

The 2014 spring will not be a good hatch in my opinion. Late spring coupled with wet weather. Guess we'll see next year.