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Tennessee Hunting Forums
Long Beards & Spurs
Fewer turkeys every year
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<blockquote data-quote="Smoke" data-source="post: 5325983" data-attributes="member: 3324"><p>One of the things i cant believe that hasnt been mentioned is the fall turkey hunts that allowed the harvest of hens. Around my area, Washington County was one of the last to start the fall turkey hunts. There was usually 150-180 birds that wintered on the farm including several gray phase hens. Once the fall turkey hunts started, we started noticing less and less of the color phased hens around and less turkeys overall. Of course weve noticed a rise in hunting pressure in the area that wasnt there 10 years or more ago. Were the hens being shot in the fall or was there something else that was eliminating them? I dont know but from observation they went hand in hand. Now its bearded turkeys only but is it too late to make a difference. Say 120 hens raising a poult or 2 from flock we had. Now were down to lets say 30-40(thats on the high side) raising the same amount. </p><p>As far as predators go, i think the damage has gotten worse as their numbers have went up. I grew up a coon hunter and had all kinds of buddies that did the same. I stopped years ago because it was getting too hard to find places to go. Look at all the fussing you see on here about someone getting pics of dogs or hunters on their trail cam. Not saying im for the trespassing hunters but you cant cut off a hound on foot. Ive tried, doesnt work. Most of the people i used to hunt with have given it up as well. Trapping is becoming a thing of the past since fur prices are so low. No justification for the time spent to work up furs. Raccoon population around here has exploded. I walked around my hay and pasture field one night and saw 15 coons and several possums. Add into that coyotes, foxes, bobcats, skunks, owls, hawks and feral cats that ive got running around and i dont know how any turkey poult could survive. Its up to us to try to get the numbers back up however we are able to. Weve cut ourselves back to number of birds harvested off the farm. We started trapping to remove predators off the farm. Gonna hit it alot harder next fall. Hay has to be cut when its ready and we usually lose some nests to that but have set aside areas we dont mow to make it more appealing to nest in besides just the hay field. None of it is going to be a quick fix but there is alot of little things i can do on my end to try to help out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Smoke, post: 5325983, member: 3324"] One of the things i cant believe that hasnt been mentioned is the fall turkey hunts that allowed the harvest of hens. Around my area, Washington County was one of the last to start the fall turkey hunts. There was usually 150-180 birds that wintered on the farm including several gray phase hens. Once the fall turkey hunts started, we started noticing less and less of the color phased hens around and less turkeys overall. Of course weve noticed a rise in hunting pressure in the area that wasnt there 10 years or more ago. Were the hens being shot in the fall or was there something else that was eliminating them? I dont know but from observation they went hand in hand. Now its bearded turkeys only but is it too late to make a difference. Say 120 hens raising a poult or 2 from flock we had. Now were down to lets say 30-40(thats on the high side) raising the same amount. As far as predators go, i think the damage has gotten worse as their numbers have went up. I grew up a coon hunter and had all kinds of buddies that did the same. I stopped years ago because it was getting too hard to find places to go. Look at all the fussing you see on here about someone getting pics of dogs or hunters on their trail cam. Not saying im for the trespassing hunters but you cant cut off a hound on foot. Ive tried, doesnt work. Most of the people i used to hunt with have given it up as well. Trapping is becoming a thing of the past since fur prices are so low. No justification for the time spent to work up furs. Raccoon population around here has exploded. I walked around my hay and pasture field one night and saw 15 coons and several possums. Add into that coyotes, foxes, bobcats, skunks, owls, hawks and feral cats that ive got running around and i dont know how any turkey poult could survive. Its up to us to try to get the numbers back up however we are able to. Weve cut ourselves back to number of birds harvested off the farm. We started trapping to remove predators off the farm. Gonna hit it alot harder next fall. Hay has to be cut when its ready and we usually lose some nests to that but have set aside areas we dont mow to make it more appealing to nest in besides just the hay field. None of it is going to be a quick fix but there is alot of little things i can do on my end to try to help out. [/QUOTE]
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