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Turkey hunters across the South are telling of successful hunts and fired-up birds. (Photo by Tes jolly)

As turkey season progresses throughout the South, reports are coming in of productive youth seasons and high harvest numbers, which is what everyone wants to hear. Hunters throughout the region are finding birds that are willing to talk on the roost but often playing hard to get after fly-down, setting the stage for a season that’s equal parts challenging and rewarding.

The birds are dropping both in North and South Carolina, according to Turkeys for Tomorrow (TFT) Board Member Stacy Boland.

"There’s lots of gobbling and strutting, but the toms are still following hens in the morning. We have worked birds daily and I am getting reports of banner youth weekends and openers,” Boland said.

Pete Muller, National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) director of communications, says a bunch of folks he knows had success during South Carolina's opening weekend, which was Good Friday through Easter.

“Though many hunters were in the woods, which is to be expected, gobbling was abundant on and off the limb,” Muller said.

Brittany Niembert, TFT social media manager, says the Georgia birds were gobbling on the roost during the first day of her hunt, but went tight-lipped after that. “Over the next few days, they were silent. I shot my Georgia bird when it came in totally silent," she said.

TFT writer Josh Honeycutt says he was afield for the Kentucky youth weekend with his cousin and his son. "Birds gobbled decently on the roost, but only the hens were vocal after fly down. One old lady fired up hot, and so I cut her off repeatedly and slung a few nasty insults at that boss hen. She came in yapping as if fresh off the Golden Girls set, and hung around the decoys for nearly an hour. Our youth hunter got a kick out of that, but we all had hoped a gobbler was in tow. Of course, a few longbeards fired back up around mid-morning, but they were all henned-up,” Honeycutt said.

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Timber 2 Table Editor Michael Pendley says Kentucky is at or approaching peak breeding. “I was scouting one of my spots yesterday and saw multiple strutters with hens. Gobbling at my place is strong on the roost and then it slows a bit. Our season starts on the 18th. I’m rolling back into Florida as we speak for another go at public land birds down here.”

Kentucky youth hunters were pretty successful during two NWTF JAKES hunts, according to Charlie Tollett, NWTF regional director.

“During one event, the Cave Run Travis Trent JAKES Day hunt, youth hunters took 13 birds. During the other JAKES hunt, hosted by the DNR and the NWTF Kentucky River Longbeards Chapter, youth hunters took eight birds. Overall, youth weekend harvest was up 106% over 2025 and up 56% from the 5-year average, according to Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources,” Tollett said. (For context, there were torrential rains during both days of the 2025 Kentucky youth season.)

The Mississippi harvest has been “very high” according to Caleb Hinton, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks wild turkey program coordinator. “It is shaping up to be one of the highest harvests we've had in several years," he said. “As far as regionally, I think things are slowing down in the north a bit as birds have gotten henned up. In the southern half of the state, activity has picked up recently since hens are beginning to leave the gobblers.

Jason Hardin, Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) wild turkey program leader, said some areas of Texas finally got some much-needed rain this past weekend and more rain is in the forecast.

“The central part of the state looks good, but additional rain is welcomed. The northern and southern extent of the Rio Grande wild turkey range in Texas remain very dry. Last week in McMullen County, the only green vegetation was mesquite. Birds are responding to calls and being harvested in decent numbers across the state. TPWD has received 9,303 harvest reports as of this very minute.

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Bob Moltrum, an NWTF volunteer from Arizona, scouted the day before turkey season opened in Texas, but didn’t hear or see any birds.

“The next day was opening morning, and I encountered the same, no sounds or sightings. On Sunday, a gobbler showed up in full strut as I was setting up in the blind. He was 60 yards away and I had no shot, and he wouldn't respond to my calling. Then he showed up again about an hour later in full strut with three hens at almost 200 yards away. I tried calling to him. He wasn’t gobbling. He was just strutting and then they all walked away. Later that day in the distance, I heard a single gobble,” Moltrum said. “On Monday morning, I heard a gobble in the distance. I made some calls off and on over the next hour or so, but nothing responded. Then the gobbler showed up strutting about 200 yards away with a single hen. She spotted the decoys after I made a few calls and they slowly headed toward them. He put on a great show, strutting, drumming, spitting and gobbling as the two of them headed closer to the decoys. Eventually they got within range and I made the shot. Bird down!”

This season is shaping up to be a successful one for a lot of southern hunters. With strong harvest reports and shifting turkey behavior across regions, hunters willing to adapt are finding success, and the weeks ahead promise even more opportunities as the spring woods continue to change.