Well after 5 years on my lease in Nacogdoches,Tx i finally saw the all ellusive rare wild turkey. Just saw 1 that ran out of the brush on the side of the dirt road. Watched him for about 5 minutes before he walked off. Never believed they were really out there.......now I just need to see a cougar and a black bear and I have seen it all at my lease.

you out off 103E?

I am off of hwy1275.... South of the loop. Do you hunt that area?

I'm 8 miles east of the loop on hwy 21...and also several miles up 95 north of 103.

If wild turkeys had a sense of smell like that of a deer, you might never see one. I know of no other animal with eyesight that's better in picking you out from the surroundings and detecting the slighest movement.

I look forward to that day when I'll hear the thunder of an ole tom gobbling off his roost in East Texas on a cool April morning. Sadly, I understand the restocking efforts in East Texas have not produced the numbers that were hoped for.

they are plentiful out in our area... they just aren't expanding their territory very far

I was in Nacogdoches working on Hurricane restoration a few yrs ago and saw about 20 turkeys on the highway. I think we were SE of town??

Whats keeping them from doing well and re-populating? To many varmints/fire ants/poaching?

No one really knows for sure. I attended an event recently in the area where a grad student from Stephen F. Austin made a brief presentation on the research he had done to study the success of the restocking efforts. The overall conclusion seemed to be that while their numbers have showed some growth in some areas, overall expansion has been very poor.

His presentation was very interesting and explained how they had tracked by radio, numerous hens and their nests to see how well they had been able to reproduce.

My lease is east of Lovelady. A few years ago, about 80 turkeys were relocated about 10 miles west of Lovelady. But I've yet to see one or talk to anyone who has.

I can send you a private message with the grad students name and email address if you like.

from what the biologist out at the place holding the largest population in deep East tx said was that it was a combination of varmints (not so much poaching) and habitat. They exploded in the older stands of select cut pines and third row plantations. What we are seeing is them making their way up the river on the ridges that make the break from pine to hardwoods.

The ones they released down in the actual river bottom in the NF, where they wouldn't see any hunting pressure didn't do squat and figure nutria were mainly to blame.

That's good news overall. Thanks for sharing.

When I first learned of the restocking efforts in East Texas, my initial thoughts were the poachers would have a field day. With feeders and corn being legal, I thought most would probably be picked off in no time. Thankfully, that doesn't appear to be too much a problem.

Yes, mature forests, especially hardwood bottom, seems to be their best habitat overall. And a scattering of thicker stuff for nesting helps too.

The lack of trapping for foxes, coons, bobcats, and other nest-robbers probably comes somewhere into the equation as well. Keep these critters in check and turkeys seem to have much better chances of reproducing.

Dan, I wouldn't mind contacting the student and giving him my specific area to see what the stats are there. Please send me the info..Thanks

Brian.Krezinski@Academy.Com

controlled burns to remove understory would help turkeys in the area, as would predator control.

More hardwood bottoms wouldnt hurt too. Basically, the odds are stacked against them in east texas.

I need to do a little snooping around in Angelina Co...a cpl months ago I was leaving my parent's house and I came up to a bend in the road and a turkey ran in front of me and proceeded to run down the middle of the road in the direction of a large hunting club. I hadn't been around out there in a while so I didn't know if it was someone's pet or one that had been relocated.