2025 harvest numbers

[Gravey]

 

[Wrangler95]

My county of Clay only killed between 100-200 but most counties that border Clay killed quite a bit more

 

[Carlos Viagra]

How does that compare to previous years?

 

[Creek bottoms]

31,600 last year

 

[MickThompson]

My county of Clay only killed between 100-200 but most counties that border Clay killed quite a bit more

Clay used to be an absolute sleeper. Tiny county that put up big #s

 

[yellalinehunter]

West not breaking 1k is probably due to most of the zone being shut down due to high water. Hopefully the high ground was a safe place and numbers will be better next season

 

[REN]

2 things always stand out to me on stuff like this
1 - with all the talk every year about bag limit only 22% actually killed a 2nd bird which TO ME seems really low.
2 - with all the public land in this state, only having 1850 birds killed on public just seems wild to me.

 

[MickThompson]

2 things always stand out to me on stuff like this
1 - with all the talk every year about bag limit only 22% actually killed a 2nd bird which TO ME seems really low.
2 - with all the public land in this state, only having 1850 birds killed on public just seems wild to me.

I think lots of birds are checked in but as private land instead of WMA. 1) you answer fewer questions, and 2) it keeps the kills by WMA lower so your spot isn't advertised.

 

[Boll Weevil]

1 - with all the talk every year about bag limit only 22% actually killed a 2nd bird which TO ME seems really low.

Hot, full foliage, buggy, birds not gobbling, flooding...folks in my area hunted far fewer days this season and many just flat gave up.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

2 things always stand out to me on stuff like this
1 - with all the talk every year about bag limit only 22% actually killed a 2nd bird which TO ME seems really low.
2 - with all the public land in this state, only having 1850 birds killed on public just seems wild to me.

I think two things:
1) as @Boll Weevil said - fewer days hunted due to elements
2) public land habitat improvements - are there any? I laugh but it also makes me sad. And it's only going to get worse unless they do something about it.

 

[nso123]

Not a bunch of birds killed in Sequatchie county either. The birds on the farm I hunt are almost nonexistent now. I used to see huge flocks, but the coyotes have taken over.

 

[th88]

2 things always stand out to me on stuff like this
1 - with all the talk every year about bag limit only 22% actually killed a 2nd bird which TO ME seems really low.

Thats actually par for the course and right in line with basically every other surrounding state too. Dropping a bag limit from 3 to 2 or even 4 to 2 basically does nothing on a landscape level. Modeling shows you'd have to drop it to 1 to have any noticeable improvement and even then that is under numerous assumptions like:

-Will the person quit hunting after they reach their limit? (What is to stop them from taking someone else to kill the bird they "saved" from the lower bag limit)
-That bird has to survive from the remaining hunters
-We all know plenty of folks wouldn't stop at 1. Nuff said.

 

[MidTennFisher]

2 things always stand out to me on stuff like this
1 - with all the talk every year about bag limit only 22% actually killed a 2nd bird which TO ME seems really low.
2 - with all the public land in this state, only having 1850 birds killed on public just seems wild to me.

Yep. Back when it was a 4 bird limit I'm pretty sure a lot more than 22% of hunters killed 2 birds.

Then again, a growing number of hunters on a decreasing number of acres to hunt will make it more difficult to kill 2. So maybe that statistic is legit.

 

[REN]

I think lots of birds are checked in but as private land instead of WMA. 1) you answer fewer questions, and 2) it keeps the kills by WMA lower so your spot isn't advertised.

yeah that makes sense.

 

[deerhunter10]

It was the hardest year we ever hunted. Many many fakes, not gobbling, rain, and most of all the most silent spring i have ever seen. Birds seem to stay grouped up all year. Never had one of those days where they seem hot ever. Good problem to have with Jake's. But one farm alone we couldn't get away from them ever. Around a 12 to 15 Jake's on that one farm.

 

[TnKen]

I only got one this year in TN which is the first time for a long time. Lack of gobbling = lack of interest for me and less hunting.

 

[Wrangler95]

Clay used to be an absolute sleeper. Tiny county that put up big #s

I think in the 90's and early 2000's we killed somewhere around 600 birds a spring season!

 

[MickThompson]

I think in the 90's and early 2000's we killed somewhere around 600 birds a spring season!

Hard to imagine the numbers tumbling like they have

 

[Joe2Kool]

My memory says kills peaked around 35,000 birds a year. And I agree with MTF, 22% seems low for 2+ birds in the 4-bird limit years. Seems low for this year also.
I must be one of the lucky 22% (or maybe just a much better hunter than the other 78% )

 

[ROVERBOY]

Clay used to be an absolute sleeper. Tiny county that put up big #s

Not anymore. Sad.....

 

[Creek bottoms]

Not anymore. Sad.....

Arkansas mentality? Kill them all if you can?

 

[Carlos Viagra]

I only got one this year in TN which is the first time for a long time. Lack of gobbling = lack of interest for me and less hunting.

Same for me.
I believe that lack of gobbling turned most hunters off, because that's what most of us enjoy the most about hunting them.

Like the Vol fans say, there's always next year.

 

[Bone Collector]

I think lots of birds are checked in but as private land instead of WMA. 1) you answer fewer questions, and 2) it keeps the kills by WMA lower so your spot isn't advertised.

I think you are spot on. I think the rule about only one bird off public in the first two weeks is ridiculous for RESIDENTS of the state. We pay taxes and the public lands should be for our use.

I understand limiting out of staters to protect the populations there, but residents shouldn't have to comply with that. Luckily over the past couple of years I have picked up some private with birds and have been able to kill one in the first 3-4 days of season. Leaving me a couple of weeks to get one on Public before they are pressured into silence. That being said, If all I had was public land to hunt, I am not killing a bird then sitting out 1-2 weeks before I can hunt again after waiting for season to get here.

 

[megalomaniac]

Hardest I've every had to work to kill my 2 birds in TN

I hunted 9 days in TN all day long. Only had 1 bird come to my calling. And my buddy missed him. The 2 I killed were just because I knew the terrain and their patterns, After they beat me off the roost, I looped around on them.