The turkey hunting data from the Game Check numbers do not agree…..The production output for the counties we are talking about are less than many of the other ones around the state and they also show the heaviest fluctuations in output.

The map shows the density in a manner that is 1 bird killed for every "X" amount of acres.....For example in Jackson Co there was one bird killed for every 961 acres......In Russell there was 1 bird killed per every 3308. Those are actually some of the lower densities when looking at the county averages. If you look you see that the lowest population outputs are the areas where the most burning occurs.

Now he’s infected the turkey forum! Go away

Use the KISS method. If I had to burn it would be 2-3 weeks before season opened or up to before the majority of hens start nesting. That will be different across the state. For me, Based off years of me being in the woods in a specific area its mid to late April. So I would not burn after mid April. No need to over analyze with data. Recon on what the turkeys are actually doing in your area. Let common sense and visual evidence be your guide.

Wow, just wow. Sooooo, according to your map, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Dallas and Lowndes all suck. OK, burning is the demise of turkey populations. I think I will stop doing it now.

Burn baby burn til the 1st egg hits the nest. 🔥

Fire ants do more damage to the turkey population than controlled burns. IMO

Gobbler - the lower the number - the higher the success rate.

I understand your convoluted map now hence my comment. You are showing that Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Dallas and Lowndes all suck. I would suspect that NOT to be the case. Those are some of the highest harvest counties in the state. The map means nothing.

Do hens make a pattern change between Jan and April moving to nesting areas?? If so, how far in advance of nesting do they make that change?

Huh? I didn’t post it. Just adding some clarity that lower number means better hunting. I also don’t believe it or put any stock in it - especially if it’s based off GC in any way.

Do hens make a pattern change between Jan and April moving to nesting areas?? If so, how far in advance of nesting do they make that change?

As a burner, Forester and Wildlife Biologist, here's my opinion on burning and timing. As a rule, burning the woods is beneficial for turkeys and burning some is better than burning nothing.
Burning keeps the understory in good shape for turkeys to nest, raise broods and move about safely. Areas that are regularly burned typically have good broomstraw understories that are good nesting cover in the years they are not burned, especially 2 or 3 years after the last fire. Areas burned in the spring are good insect production areas, therefore good brood habitat the summer they are burned. The open nature of a burned woodland is also attractive to turkeys because they can see well through the woods and spot predators.
When we have a block, say, of 3 year rough broomstraw with some scattered shrubby cover in a pine stand that the landowner wants burned, we are highly aware that it is good nesting cover and we typically wont burn it between the end of April and the end of May (peak incubation period). If I burned it in early April, I might burn up a nest that was being laid into but the hen is highly likely to renest. If it is burned in mid may after a few weeks of incubation, it is a much more significant loss. She will still probably renest but it will be late and she has wasted valuable and risky incubation time. In areas that potentially hold nests and we are burning in Early April, research has indicated (and our experience show it to be true) that most nests are near an edge, often in the transition with a hardwood drain where the fire will often not burn the nest or go around the thicket. Researchers have found that some nests still hatched after a cool fire went over them but most nests in a burn block were never burned. We have flushed hens from nests occasionally from a nest and in that case we protect it so that fire does not get to it. We have had great success with this and most have hatched. If we hold off because a site is in peak nesting season and great nesting cover, we will burn in later May or June and still get good burn results. The only concern here is flightless poults and we hope that they are 1) not in this thick cover and 2) the fire is moving slow enough to allow the hen to lead the poults to the nearest drain. We don't encounter flightless poults often but I did come up on my partner once running around in the grass bent over and I asked him what he was doing. He said he was catching poults and moving them to the side we weren't burning! The hen was right there.
Size matters but not usually on most private lands. Burn blocks less than 200 acres or so are best and closer to 100 is probably best. Occasionally large landowners and, certainly, public lands will burn large blocks in the hundreds or thousands of acres and there is no doubt this is detrimental to turkeys and other wildlife. Size of burn blocks should be based on animal size and home range. Quail blocks should be 10, 20 acres or so since their home ranges are 100-300 acres. Turkey blocks should be less than 200 acres since their home ranges are 1,000-2,000 acres. Research has also shown that they are reluctant to travel more than 250 yds from the edge into a large burn and use decreases at about 100 yds. With that rule, a 500 acre burn can still be useful if it is less than about 3-400 yds wide but much longer.

Might want to slow down and pay a little more attention to detail.........