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Long Beards & Spurs
3 bird limit???
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<blockquote data-quote="TheLBLman" data-source="post: 5874898" data-attributes="member: 1409"><p>For those comparing the near extinction of bobwhite quail to the decline of turkey populations, the comparison indeed does have validity. But there are many differences.</p><p></p><p>It's fair to compare quail populations to turkey populations. As ground-nesting ground "birds" they may be more similar than different.</p><p></p><p>But what about some of the differences?</p><p>In a nutshell, quail populations are simply much more fragile than turkey populations.</p><p></p><p>And almost everything that matters to help turkey populations thrive,</p><p>matters even much more with quail populations.</p><p></p><p>But as to some of those differences, wild quail have a natural lifespan of approximately 1/3 that of wild turkey. Quail simply don't have but a fraction the time to make a comeback when the population declines.</p><p></p><p>Quail seem to be more dependent on more specific habitat than turkey, and quail also may need much larger acreages of contingent great habitat to thrive.</p><p></p><p>Quail nests are also more susceptible to being broken up (by predators) than turkey nests. A hen turkey may ward off a common housecat, while a hen bobwhite will simply be eaten by that housecat. Then there's more variety of predators (especially raptor predators) capable of killing adult quail than adult turkeys.</p><p></p><p>My understanding is the Cooper's hawk may be the #1 killer of quail in TN; and the #1 killer of young turkey poults; but it would rarely go for an adult turkey.</p><p></p><p>But as to human hunters, we had little to do with the decline of bobwhite quail;</p><p>but we've had a lot more to do with the decline of wild turkeys, particularly in those areas that had had thriving turkey populations for more than a decade.</p><p></p><p>What am saying is that hunting regs actually matter quite a bit with turkeys,</p><p>but didn't appear to have as much to do with the decline of quail.</p><p></p><p>That said, the actual season length and the actual bag limits, likely take the back seat to all the other combined factors effecting ongoing turkey populations. <u>It's just that seasons & bag limits are among the few items we can actually exercise control</u>, unlike the weather, when the rain floods, etc.</p><p></p><p><strong>From a statewide "regulatory" standpoint, there may not be much that can be done (practically speaking) beyond season length & bag limits. </strong> IMO, it was a mistake when the statewide turkey limit went from 2 to 3; it was a much bigger mistake when it went to 4. Ditto for fall turkey seasons, even though it could be argued half the birds human hunters killed were going to die anyway from some other cause. It could also be argued more might survive to nest in spring without fall human hunting.</p><p></p><p><strong>As good conservationists & sportsmen, we can do things like habitat improvements and trapping of nest-raiding predators. </strong> That could help more than shorter seasons & lower bag limits. But we may <em>NEED all</em> and everything else we can do, to help turkey populations thrive.</p><p></p><p><strong>But I don't see most non-resident hunters being in a position to help us trap predators & improve habitat.</strong> The 4-bird limit and early season really was attracting a lot of non-resident hunters, many of whom were turkey killing machines. No way that didn't contribute significantly to statewide turkey declines.</p><p></p><p>So from my perspective, few things have had so much potential to help TN statewide turkeys thrive as opening the season a couple weeks later, and going back to a 2-bird limit. </p><p></p><p>We've just been simultaneously "lucky" we had above average nesting success the past 2 years. But "luck" is not a plan, and going back to higher limits, and an earlier opening date could be the recipe for bad luck, bringing us right back to where we were with statewide populations 3 years ago.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TheLBLman, post: 5874898, member: 1409"] For those comparing the near extinction of bobwhite quail to the decline of turkey populations, the comparison indeed does have validity. But there are many differences. It's fair to compare quail populations to turkey populations. As ground-nesting ground "birds" they may be more similar than different. But what about some of the differences? In a nutshell, quail populations are simply much more fragile than turkey populations. And almost everything that matters to help turkey populations thrive, matters even much more with quail populations. But as to some of those differences, wild quail have a natural lifespan of approximately 1/3 that of wild turkey. Quail simply don't have but a fraction the time to make a comeback when the population declines. Quail seem to be more dependent on more specific habitat than turkey, and quail also may need much larger acreages of contingent great habitat to thrive. Quail nests are also more susceptible to being broken up (by predators) than turkey nests. A hen turkey may ward off a common housecat, while a hen bobwhite will simply be eaten by that housecat. Then there's more variety of predators (especially raptor predators) capable of killing adult quail than adult turkeys. My understanding is the Cooper's hawk may be the #1 killer of quail in TN; and the #1 killer of young turkey poults; but it would rarely go for an adult turkey. But as to human hunters, we had little to do with the decline of bobwhite quail; but we've had a lot more to do with the decline of wild turkeys, particularly in those areas that had had thriving turkey populations for more than a decade. What am saying is that hunting regs actually matter quite a bit with turkeys, but didn't appear to have as much to do with the decline of quail. That said, the actual season length and the actual bag limits, likely take the back seat to all the other combined factors effecting ongoing turkey populations. [U]It's just that seasons & bag limits are among the few items we can actually exercise control[/U], unlike the weather, when the rain floods, etc. [B]From a statewide "regulatory" standpoint, there may not be much that can be done (practically speaking) beyond season length & bag limits. [/B] IMO, it was a mistake when the statewide turkey limit went from 2 to 3; it was a much bigger mistake when it went to 4. Ditto for fall turkey seasons, even though it could be argued half the birds human hunters killed were going to die anyway from some other cause. It could also be argued more might survive to nest in spring without fall human hunting. [B]As good conservationists & sportsmen, we can do things like habitat improvements and trapping of nest-raiding predators. [/B] That could help more than shorter seasons & lower bag limits. But we may [I]NEED all[/I] and everything else we can do, to help turkey populations thrive. [B]But I don't see most non-resident hunters being in a position to help us trap predators & improve habitat.[/B] The 4-bird limit and early season really was attracting a lot of non-resident hunters, many of whom were turkey killing machines. No way that didn't contribute significantly to statewide turkey declines. So from my perspective, few things have had so much potential to help TN statewide turkeys thrive as opening the season a couple weeks later, and going back to a 2-bird limit. We've just been simultaneously "lucky" we had above average nesting success the past 2 years. But "luck" is not a plan, and going back to higher limits, and an earlier opening date could be the recipe for bad luck, bringing us right back to where we were with statewide populations 3 years ago. [/QUOTE]
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