Most Palmetto State turkey hunters enjoyed a good season in 2004, despite the fact that the overall harvest numbers were down just a bit. On a statewide basis, hunters seemed to encounter plenty of gobblers that were willing to gobble. In fact, according to the harvest figures, on 12,950 occasions the hunters were successful.

But there were two themes that I heard repeated countless times by the host of hunters I've spoken with.

First, there was an obvious shortage of jakes in the woods during the 2004 season. This most certainly reduced the number of jakes harvested from the overall total.

Second, there were more "missed opportunities" than I ever remember hearing about. Of course, I doubt that this would qualify as a scientific approach in determining the harvest trend, but it seemed to happen a lot. Even now-retired, longtime Wild Turkey Project coordinator for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Dave Baumann reported the same thing. "I've heard more stories about hunters missing shots or messing up at the last moment than I ever remember hearing before," Bauman said.

As Baumann notes, there were fewer jakes than we'd normally encounter because of less successful reproduction the previous year. While the average brood size in 2003 (the would-be jakes for the 2004 season) was good, about 3.3 poults per hen, the number of hens with no poults was extraordinarily high, a whopping 52 percent. This was the reason, Baumann says, that overall fewer jakes were seen last year.

In some areas, the number of jakes may have been about the same as hunters are used to seeing, but on a statewide basis there were numerous areas where the number of birds recruited in the population was very low.

Although turkey hatches were depressed in 2003, there were still big turkeys and bright days for some South Carolina turkey hunters. (Photo by Terry Madewell)

But overall, there were, and still will be in 2005, plenty of mature birds in the population. Bauman is also very hopeful that the 2004 reproductive season was excellent, based on preliminary reports. That will ensure a bumper crop of jakes into the population and, in 2006, a bumper crop of mature longbeards.

"The total harvest in 2004 was down from 13,502 in 2003 to 12,950 in 2004. I don't know of any single explanation other than there were fewer jakes for hunters to potentially harvest," Bauman said. "The weather overall was OK, we just had one of those years where the season was OK, just not great."

But the prospects for 2005 remain good in his opinion. "There's no reason we shouldn't see the numbers go back up a bit. I doubt we'll see a huge jump, but unless weather conditions are really against hunters, I think the population of birds is in good shape, especially if it turns out we did have a really good reproductive season in 2004," he said.

Final data for the 2004 reproductive season was not available at the time this story was prepared.

As far as looking for the best places to get your gobbler in 2005, we'll look at the harvest data from 2004. This will tell us where the most turkeys were harvested last year and unless some major habitat changes occur, you can expect those places to again be reliable producers in 2005.

In addition, we've got data on the areas where the biggest birds by weight were harvested in 2004. Plus, we'll give you the places where the gobblers with the longest beards and limb-hanging spurs were harvested. If you're truly after a trophy specimen, you can employ this information to help you plan your hunt where the birds with your personal trophy criteria are most likely to be found. There are a few areas where you'll have good opportunities to harvest birds with heavy weights, long beards and big spurs.