Hunters in Kentucky have lots of opportunities to bag a wild turkey in the fall, considering our long archery season, and split crossbow and shotgun seasons.
The 2023 fall turkey season dates are:
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The bag limit for the fall season is liberal too. Hunters may take two turkeys, one with a beard at least three inches long, and one with no visible beard or a beard shorter than three inches.
Only one turkey may be taken per day.
For complete regulations regarding fall turkey hunting consult the KDFWR website.
Harvest Trends
In the 10 fall turkey seasons between 2013 and 2022, the harvest by hunters trended up and down annually, often dramatically for a number of reasons, from a high of 4,306 in 2015 to a low of 1,577 in 2021, when the COVID-19 national emergency prompted travel restrictions.
In 2022, hunters reported taking 2,075 turkeys during the fall season, 624 with archery gear, 1,055 with modern shotguns, 2 with muzzleloading shotguns, and 394 with crossbows.
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Looking over the fall harvest data, the one statistic that stands out is the harvest of turkeys with crossbows, which has trended upward steadily, from 197 in 2013, to 394 last fall.
As of September 17 the 2023 fall turkey harvest reported was 77, according to the KDFWR website.
Season History
Hunting wild turkeys is highly anticipated and important to hunters in Kentucky.
It’s hard to imagine a time when this native species was absent from our state. An estimated 10 million wild turkeys were present on the North American continent in the early 1800s, but by the 1930s, populations throughout the eastern U.S. had fallen to their lowest levels.
Wild turkeys had all but disappeared from Kentucky by 1900 because of year-round subsistence hunting and habitat destruction. Bringing the big birds back in Kentucky would take decades.
In fact it was 65 years from the first experimental stockings, to the time when in-state trapping and relocation of wild turkeys ended. Most of the restoration work took place in about a 20-year period beginning in 1975.
Wild turkey restoration in Kentucky ended in 1997. That same year, the state’s first fall seasons were held.
Find Flocks, Figure Out Daily Patterns
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Bagging a wild turkey in the fall is as much about finding concentrations of birds as figuring out their daily patterns.
Concentrate scouting efforts around fields of sprouting winter wheat, established clover and alfalfa fields, and groves of mature oak trees.
Oak acorns, especially white oak acorns, are a preferred food for turkeys in the fall. Typically, when there’s a moderate to poor crop of acorns there’s an increase in turkey harvest. That’s because turkeys spend less time in the woods. They move around a lot in search of food and therefore encounter more hunters.
Biologists use the annual mast (red oak, white oak, and American beech) survey and summer turkey brood survey as tools in monitoring turkey population and harvest trends. When there’s good turkey reproduction and poult survival it’s usually reflected by increases in the fall harvest.
The record fall turkey harvest occurred during a year when there was a statewide mast failure. Late frosts or heavy rains in April, which impact flowering trees, are usually the reason for low mast production.
The harvest record for the fall turkey season is 6,589 birds set during the 2004-05 season.
In the fall, turkeys flock up as the cold weather progresses. There’s a big behavior change between the two shotgun seasons. In October, birds are segregated by age and sex. By the start of the December season, turkeys are in big winter flocks and it’s all about food.
One of the most effective hunting strategies anytime during the fall is setting up a ground blind where turkeys are feeding and waiting for them to show up in the morning.
Autumn is a great time to go turkey hunting. With thorough scouting and time spent afield hunting, your chances are good for bringing home a prized bird for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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