There's been a few threads over the past couple years on here discussing this. Turkeys don't always just go to the next Tom just like snap like one might think. Giving the hens two weeks at the beginning of the season will allow more hens to be successfully bred just by the shear fact they aren't being bumped day after day, not to mention the killing of the toms.
I lean very heavily that decoy use/success is a major factor in the decline of the turkey population is so many areas. Im willing to be wrong about that and be laughed at for it. I know that they do not work every time, but they are vastly more successful on field birds than not using a decoy. Vastly more successful. These birds used to stay alive for weeks and oftentimes the whole season. They could be killed, but it took bushwhacking them from long distance or luck, waiting the whole morning for them to leave the field, or getting them before they got to the field. The only two times I've used a gobbler decoy, we killed 4 toms. It was indeed a show they put on, but I was left dumbfounded at how easy it was after spending so many years chasing field birds without much success. We could have kept the season date the same if decoys were not allowed.
The massive decline was not caused by nest raiders or hawks or coyotes. These have been around in pretty much the same numbers for all of turkey restoration. Disease is a possibility. Poor nesting and brooding weather are possible. Nor do I buy into habitat loss, as turkeys are so incredibly adaptable to so many environments…just look how many are thriving in the burbs.
Infertile eggs are bad juju for growing the next generation.
