The case for banning the fan. Outdoor life

[REN]

I will never understand the logic and such pushback on this subject. Something that a change WILL save the lives of a few folks out there AND help the overall future of the species being hunted. Just blows my mind to be honest, and Ive never seen a good example of why it SHOULD be legal to do minus the "its exciting" or "dont tell me how I should hunt them you elitist"

we talk a lot on here why it should be banned in general, all with valid points and science behind it but I never see good arguments on the other side of it.

 

[TheLBLman]

I will never understand the logic and such pushback on this subject ("Fanning or Reaping").
Something that a change WILL save the lives of a few folks out there AND help the overall future of the species being hunted. Just blows my mind to be honest, and Ive never seen a good example of why it SHOULD be legal to do minus the "its exciting".

Agree.
And to a roadside poacher, their "tactic" is also "exciting".

Imo, TWRA is being very negligent (from a safety perspective) in their promoting of fanning-reaping as a legal tactic of turkey hunting.

 

[gobblegrunt]

Predators, habitat loss, disease, etc..... This list right here takes out way more birds in Tn than a full strut tom ever will.

 

[AT Hiker]

Predators, habitat loss, disease, etc..... This list right here takes out way more birds in Tn than a full strut tom ever will.

The case presented is that full strut decoys takes out a specific male, not just any male.
Id love to see a study on it to see if it is actually having a impact, I suspect it is, but it's speculation on my part hunting and watching turkeys for 25 years.

 

[TheLBLman]

The case presented is that full strut decoys takes out a specific male, not just any male.
Id love to see a study on it to see if it is actually having a impact, I suspect it is, but it's speculation on my part hunting and watching turkeys for 25 years.

I have no doubt that taking too many breeding males too soon
has a negative effect on nesting success.

What's the most effective way to make it happen less and later rather than sooner?

 

[Setterman]

Predators, habitat loss, disease, etc..... This list right here takes out way more birds in Tn than a full strut tom ever will.

This is 100% false.

 

[Setterman]

I have no doubt that taking too many breeding males too soon
has a negative effect on nesting success.

What's the most effective way to make it happen less and later rather than sooner?

No male decoys, and later season start

 

[gobblegrunt]

This is 100% false.

Yeah ok

 

[gobblegrunt]

No male decoys, and later season start

You act as if a male decoy means an automatic harvest which is 100 percent false....

 

[REN]

Predators, habitat loss, disease, etc..... This list right here takes out way more birds in Tn than a full strut tom ever will.

BUT you do see how the male decoy or Fanning is taking out a % of them. That is something that can change RIGHT AWAY to help the population. Not a lot you can do about the others for most people.

again, Ive yet to see a good reason to KEEP it at this point, just people saying stuff like this. Well predators take more than X so why bother changing X even if its the easiest thing to change.

 

[gobblegrunt]

BUT you do see how the male decoy or Fanning is taking out a % of them. That is something that can change RIGHT AWAY to help the population. Not a lot you can do about the others for most people.

again, Ive yet to see a good reason to KEEP it at this point, just people saying stuff like this. Well predators take more than X so why bother changing X even if its the easiest thing to change.

Because TWRA and really no one is addressing the predator or habitat issue! We need an open season on certain predators to thin that population out! They're just picking low hanging fruit (fanning) to say look what we did.

 

[TheLBLman]

I keep coming back to the regulations being only as good as their enforcement.

Perhaps the easiest reg to inforce is the season not being open (yet)?

Outlawing the possession of decoys could be a fairly easy one on WMAs,
but not on private property.

And I believe such outlawing would need to be an
all or nothing thing to enable reasonable enforcement. It's too easy to quickly make or unmake any standing hen decoy into a "male" decoy. Just need a little red tape to stick on or pull off the head. So what would be next, outlawing the possession of red masking tape?

Also, speaking of decoys in fields, how are they an asset when they can't even be seen? My hay fields are currently waist high, so no way could any decoy be seen from any distance in them. But nearby turkeys might see some hunter putting out (or retrieving) his decoys?

Sometimes I actually wish there were more people just sitting in a tent with their decoys so that I can roam the wilderness without their bird-spooking interference.

 

[TheLBLman]

Because TWRA and really no one is addressing the predator or habitat issue! We need an open season on certain predators to thin that population out!

I've been addressing the predator and habitat issue for years.

Season is open year-round on coyotes, but trapping them (not hunting them) has been proven the only significantly effective way of reducing their numbers.

My habitat has progressively improved now over the past two decades for both turkey & quail with a bent on improving nesting success. Interestingly, now have fewer turkey & quail than two decades ago when the habitat was not nearly as good, and there were a lot more coyotes.

In the case of the turkeys, I do believe nesting success has improved, but at the same time, poult mortality has increased more than nesting success improved, so the turkey population has declined. And this higher poult mortality has come not from coyotes nor a lack of insects, but seems primarily the result of the Cooper's hawk.

 

[REN]

Because TWRA and really no one is addressing the predator or habitat issue! We need an open season on certain predators to thin that population out! They're just picking low hanging fruit (fanning) to say look what we did.

good lord man you just cant see the forest for the trees huh. Even durning trapping and predator seasons now a small % of folks take part in that. SHOULD they looking into predator seasons? sure, is the easiest path to start helping out turkey decline population start with fanning and or male decoys? Absolutely.

this isnt a political race, start with the easy things while working on the other issues that require a heavier lift.

 

[kentuckylakebuck1]

The case presented is that full strut decoys takes out a specific male, not just any male.
Id love to see a study on it to see if it is actually having a impact, I suspect it is, but it's speculation on my part hunting and watching turkeys for 25 years.

Specific male? i have seen many guys and i mean many! that kill 2 year olds with their fan, i ask what is this specific bird? if it is all about letting mature toms breed, then open the season later but i can assure you a spin and strut will kill more than fanning ever will?

 

[kentuckylakebuck1]

good lord man you just cant see the forest for the trees huh. Even durning trapping and predator seasons now a small % of folks take part in that. SHOULD they looking into predator seasons? sure, is the easiest path to start helping out turkey decline population start with fanning and or male decoys? Absolutely.

this isnt a political race, start with the easy things while working on the other issues that require a heavier lift.

it sure doesnt help when TWRA writes depradation permits and farmers gut shoot deer all summer and leave them lay, im not a science or biology major but i do understand that predators of any kind populate to abundant food sources?

 

[REN]

it sure doesnt help when TWRA writes depradation permits and farmers gut shoot deer all summer and leave them lay, im not a science or biology major but i do understand that predators of any kind populate to abundant food sources?

I'm not following what the point of this is?

 

[Bgoodman30]

You act as if a male decoy means an automatic harvest which is 100 percent false....

IDK the Avian X Jake with hen combo is like the Mojo spinning wing of turkey hunting.. Its killed a LOT of birds. I think banning the fan will have a marginal impact probably not enough to notice but banning all male decoys would have a big impact.. I'm still not a big fan of more reg because not everyone has the ability to run and gun and its usually not wise on open ground BUT much rather see the deke ban before they reduce days or harvest.

 

[Dennis]

Sounds like came straight from the mouth of a person who fans and reaps to me. READ THE ARTICLE.

Hahaha, I am way too lazy to crawl across a field. That'll be the day!

 

[AT Hiker]

Specific male? i have seen many guys and i mean many! that kill 2 year olds with their fan, i ask what is this specific bird? if it is all about letting mature toms breed, then open the season later but i can assure you a spin and strut will kill more than fanning ever will?

Yes, it's in the article.