Originally Posted by poorcountrypreacher
Originally Posted by gobbler

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The caveat to that is May is actually a VERY easy month to burn if the fuel dries up. Feb and March is, as we have discussed, windy, low hum and dry fuels and the fire WANTS to be on the neighbors, preferably 2 neighbors over. Its a nightmare to manage. May is flowers and sunshine smile Fuels are greening up, fires move slower and a simple road that has been driven on is an easy firebreak. Hardwood drains are also excellent and easy firebreaks. May is for amateurs, Feb is for pro's beers


I don't disagree that May would be a good time to burn for us amateurs; I just don't think many are doing it. Don't you think that the majority of the amateur burns are late winter?

I guess I still don't fully understand what the argument is in this thread. I thought it started with the complaint that May burns were bad because they burnt up nests? CNC, isn't that your position? My argument was that hardly anyone does those, and it surely isn't enough to affect the population on a statewide basis

Maybe I need to go back and read the whole thread.


The burr that got in my bonnet was this insinuating that the area around Barbour, Macon, Bullock, some of the finest game lands in the state were having turkey declines because they burned too much or at the wrong time. That and the bogus maps that came with it indicating, countywide, how populations in those areas were off.

Originally Posted by CNC
Originally Posted by N2TRKYS
Common sense and logic says it does impact nesting. However, most are done on a small enough scale that folks don’t notice it.


I agree…….I think we ARE noticing it though because of the totality of all the burns combined in some areas. Barbour Co Management Area is something like 22,000 acres…..they burn……The landowners bordering the management area that own several thousand acres……they burn…….The landowner that borders them that owns another thoudsand…..he burns too…..Pa-Ko plantation that borders him is another 5K I believe……they burn……It borders Midway Plantation which is 4,500 acres…..they burn it……Enon Plantation 4,500 …..yep they burn…….Sehoy 5,000……they burn……The Swift Property 7,000 acres…..it gets burned…..Down Under Plantation another 2500 it gets burned…..and so on and so forth for a lot of total acres across Bullock, Russell, Macon, North Barbour……If we look at this on a landscape scale…..Which “stands” or squares are likely drawing in the turkeys to nest in??....It's likely the areas that get burned right??

What I’m getting at here is that some folks are gonna look at the acres being burned compared to the total acreage and say that its not a significant amount but I’d argue that it most definitely is when your baiting in all the turkeys on the landscape to nest in these burn tracts and then you run fire through them at the last minute during spring.

Are all areas of the state having turkey issues??



I would say the majority of amateurs burn in feb/mar because that is the traditional time and folks say winter burns are easier (folks talk about how hot and hard to control growing seasons burns are - generally wrong).. No doubt it is easier to LIGHT a fire in Feb/Mar vs May but they are MUCH harder to control and keep in the lines. I think May is MUCH easier but it does come with complications - nesting season and poults.

As always, your posts are full of good information wink thumbup

Last edited by gobbler; 03/19/22 04:25 PM.
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