Bucky10

No Illinois cutoff is at 1:00 unless the DNR book is wrong.<u></u>

halcon

In Oregon we don't have a cutoff time ,but I see where it could help in a heavily hunted area .

Fullback

I've hunted a good while and have never walked or jumped a hen off her nest....I was thinking about it, when Bosstom mentioned about not seeing a nested hen...I believe the reason we don't see many hens setting is because they usually nest in the thickest mess the have access to(laurels, cutovers, blowdowns etc)...places we don't normally walk......

In our line of work, we must be able to play Dixie and the Battle Hym of the Republic, With Equal Enthusiasm.

barefoot

We used to stop at noon here in Mississippi, but that changed 20 years or so back. Now we can go all day. The population has increased every year for over 20 years, so I don't think we've hurt 'em much. Our harvest limit is 1 gobbler per day and 3 per year.

The only significant change since then was the &quot;no Jakes&quot; rule imposed about 2 or 3 years ago. We're past that impact now and I'm seeing a lot more 2-3 year olds that are NOT dominant and are much more responsive to the call.

Overall I'd say the DWFP guys have done us proud.

American by birth...SOUTHERN by the grace of God!!



Edited by - barefoot on 01/24/2003 16:55:35

cods

I happened to stumble accross a nest a couple of years ago. Literally would have stepped on the hen with one more step if she had not flushed and flew. If you think a pheasant or covey of quail will startle you......
Curosity was too much and I went back to spot a few days later to see if I could make her out. The nest was in tall grass beside a yucca bush (West Texas). I had the spot landmarked good and was amazed that I could not see her no matter how hard I looked even within 5 yards. I began to doubt that I had the right yucca bush and got too close and flushed her again. I felt bad in doing so and avoided the temptation to go back until way after incubation period. I found her cracked open eggs which made me feel good that I didn't force her to abandon her nest altogther.

I guess an elementary question but one I have always wondered about and never been certain is whether a hen ever stays on nest at night or does she always go to roost?

RayC

Cods, I belive the answer to your question is: The hen will lay their eggs over a period of many days, and will roost as normal during this time. After she has layed all of them she will stay on the nest and incubate them almost constantly (even at night), only getting up to eat and drink during warm parts of day

Rob/PA Bowyer

12:00 noon cut off here in PA as well. Rumor had a bill in the PAGC to extend it to 5:00 pm but alas....not this year...

Walked away from some hard pounding gobbles at noon...breaks your heart.

<font color=blue>Good Luck and Good Shooting</font id=blue>

<font color=red>Rob</font id=red>

Bobgobble2

4:00 pm here in Calif is the cut-off time!I've had some incredible afternoon hunts,and would definately feel shortchanged if I had to quit at noon!! <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>

Monarch isn't a butterfly it's the King of the Spring!

SnoBall57

I've kicked more than a few hens off of nests over the years, and I hate to say it, but I agree with the &quot;high noon&quot; quitting time here in PA. I've already got back and set up with the camera after flushing a hen off of the nest, and within a half hour, she would come back to the nest. But if We could hunt all day, and the hen would get bumped off the nest more than once in a day, I think most of them would abandon the nest. I spooked the hens off while heading out of the woods after noon, which gave them a chance to get back on the nest without interruption for the rest of the day.
The turkey breeding cycle in My hunting area is different from year to year, and sometimes drastically! Last spring I jumped a hen coming out of the woods that had a bunch of few day old poults with her, and this was the beginning of the second week of the season. If You hunt an area that gets a lot of pressure and spook a hen with poults, one or two of those little ones are going to get left behind for fox fodder. I'm basing these judgements on past experience.

Deerslayer_37

1/2 before sunrise to 5PM here in Wisconsin.

slayer