How did we have such a great hatch this past season with no two week delay? The same way we always have and will in the future. Weather , predators and habitat determine nesting success. Nothing wrong at all with our past opening dates . No problem at all with the two bird limit , moving our season was unnecessary in my opinion only , as I could be wrong ( will not be first time). I wish they had at least compromised and went with the commissioners original request at the meeting to just move it back 1 week( I think most would have been fine with that). I do not use decoys or a fan at all and you will not kill a boss Tom in the early season using just a call unless you are really lucky or just that good , he is not leaving the real deal. I do have a question for those that believe the dominant gobbler theory. If we wait on season so " the hens can be bred" why do we need a two bird limit? The Gobblers work has been done according to the theory. Why not just leave it at 3? Again I want to stress I have no problem with the limit but just a question. Also only a small percentage I believe around 10 percent or less killed 3 birds anyway, with most people killing just 1. Remember we have actually went from 5 birds to 2, we used to be allowed a bonus bird on quota hunts. Just a thought that I have wondered about.
I don't believe in the dominant gobbler theory, just basic biology facts.
Fact... hens control breeding. hens allow toms to mate with them unlike other poultry
Fact.... to ensure maximum fertility, hens desire to mate approx 7 to 10 days before initiation of nests (start of egg laying).
Fact... fertility begins to drop 7 days after mating. For this reason, most hens will mate multiple times during egglaying.
Fact... The average nest initiation in TN is end of April. Sure, a few start earlier, a few start later.
Fact.... the average hen mates for the first time in TN the 3rd week of April.
Fact.... hens that do not mate will not hatch any eggs, even though they may initiate a nest and may complete a full clutch.
While we cant control the weather, we can improve nesting success by managing habitat, predators, and ensuring a few toms make it all the way through the end of the season to ensure hens get bred the first time, as well as have a chance to initiate a fertilized 2nd or even 3rd clutch if they lose their first nest.
And dry springs result in better spring hatches not because the poults get wet and drown, but because the setting hen doesn't get wet and stink to high heaven attracting evert predator around
As far as limit... we don't need one at all... IF the toms are all killed AFTER all hens have been bred (which is likely around July 1st in TN), AND ALL jakes are protected to ensure there are 2yo mature toms to do the mating the following spring.