Harvest Numbers 2006-2018

[Goodtimekiller]

Well, it IS possible we are starting to lose hunters. My main farm that no longer has any birds no longer has any hunters around. Used to be 7 or 8 other hunters within a 1.5 mile radius of that place. Always heard at least 2 shots on a weekend day, sometimes 5 or 6 on neighboring properties. Don't know if those guys quit hunting altogether since the birds are gone, but I bet not... I suspect they are still hunting, just somewhere else like me. Don't think I've ever met a turkey hunter who was hooked then quit. Just too addictive.

But, the newer generations are not taking to it like older ones and the older generations are getting too old or dying or losing spots. Despite the perception that the younger generations are joining the sport like wildfire, it is not true.


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[Roost 1]

I say this as my opinion, there may be less hunters overall but their are definitely more guys turkey hunting now.
There are most definitely more effective ways to kill turkeys today. The only reason the harvest numbers are being sustained is because more of the population of gobblers are being killed. This can only happen so long and eventually the shortfall will be very noticeable. I suspect many hunters who don't have birds now are venturing out further to other places or maybe other counties to kill their birds. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long before it catches up to you.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

I say this as my opinion, there may be less hunters overall but their are definitely more guys turkey hunting now.
There are most definitely more effective ways to kill turkeys today. The only reason the harvest numbers are being sustained is because more of the population of gobblers are being killed. This can only happen so long and eventually the shortfall will be very noticeable. I suspect many hunters who don't have birds now are venturing out further to other places or maybe other counties to kill their birds. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long before it catches up to you.

All reports show fewer turkey hunters as reported by the state. Now if we have fewer hunters and same harvest then that could mean more effective methods. If we have fewer hunters and the harvest stays the same percent wise then the methods must be equally effective.

But no one answered my question from earlier, how many that are strongly arguing that the population is decreased and are in support of lowering the limit killed turkeys this year?


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[Setterman]

I say this as my opinion, there may be less hunters overall but their are definitely more guys turkey hunting now.
There are most definitely more effective ways to kill turkeys today. The only reason the harvest numbers are being sustained is because more of the population of gobblers are being killed. This can only happen so long and eventually the shortfall will be very noticeable. I suspect many hunters who don't have birds now are venturing out further to other places or maybe other counties to kill their birds. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long before it catches up to you.

All reports show fewer turkey hunters as reported by the state. Now if we have fewer hunters and same harvest then that could mean more effective methods. If we have fewer hunters and the harvest stays the same percent wise then the methods must be equally effective.

But no one answered my question from earlier, how many that are strongly arguing that the population is decreased and are in support of lowering the limit killed turkeys this year?


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I killed turkeys. But I'm smart about it. I hunt roughly 750,000 acres. The areas I go, if I hear 4 birds and kill,one it's not the end. However, the places I hunt used to have ten times more birds

 

[Goodtimekiller]

I say this as my opinion, there may be less hunters overall but their are definitely more guys turkey hunting now.
There are most definitely more effective ways to kill turkeys today. The only reason the harvest numbers are being sustained is because more of the population of gobblers are being killed. This can only happen so long and eventually the shortfall will be very noticeable. I suspect many hunters who don't have birds now are venturing out further to other places or maybe other counties to kill their birds. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long before it catches up to you.

All reports show fewer turkey hunters as reported by the state. Now if we have fewer hunters and same harvest then that could mean more effective methods. If we have fewer hunters and the harvest stays the same percent wise then the methods must be equally effective.

But no one answered my question from earlier, how many that are strongly arguing that the population is decreased and are in support of lowering the limit killed turkeys this year?


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I killed turkeys. But I'm smart about it. I hunt roughly 750,000 acres. The areas I go, if I hear 4 birds and kill,one it's not the end. However, the places I hunt used to have ten times more birds

I'm not criticizing anyone for shooting a turkey. But this is what i'm saying, we have people screaming its the end of the world and saying turkeys are disappearing off the face of TN even in areas where they have been very judicial in their killing but yet continue to kill and blame the twra. I'm saying if i felt that strong about it and was seeing the decline on my farms i would sit out a year or two.


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[Andy S.]

.....but their are definitely more guys turkey hunting now.

No doubt about that........

 

[megalomaniac]

But no one answered my question from earlier, how many that are strongly arguing that the population is decreased and are in support of lowering the limit killed turkeys this year?


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I'm in favor of lowering the limit, and I KNOW the population is declining. Why would I not hunt? Turkeys are impossible to manage even on 1000 acres under our current season structure/ limits. They will continue to decline whether I kill them or not. Might as well get them while there are still a few around. Like I said earlier, I'm responsible for 9 this year in TN. I would have liked to have gotten a few more, but it's turkey hunting. I left at least one dominant bird on each of my farms when I finished up. So the real question is whether the neighbors chose to kill the last bird or not...

 

[Andy S.]

Despite the perception that the younger generations are joining the sport like wildfire, it is not true.

Can you substantiate this claim with solid facts? Link to the reports you speak of?

 

[Andy S.]

You need the right data and harvest results is not it. Brood surveys and population surveys is what you need. Check out Missouri's info for examples.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

 

[Shooter77]

Weather has had a impact on the numbers of kills this year. When it's 20-30's in the AM with high winds, rain or snow during most weekends. There has only been 3 weekend days (most hunting happens) on my end of the state that were good weather. Most of the birds are hitting the ground and staying henned up with no gobbling.

They changed the fall season 2 years ago, then we should be seeing the benefits of it now. Instead we are "seeing" a decline. i use to see guys on here post pics of 6-20 hens they killed during the fall season. there is no dought that has a huge impact. In VA where I grew up, they allowed you to kill fall turkeys just about any time with any weapon. When the population took a dive in they early 2000's after 4 years of bad hatches, VDGIF stopped most of the fall season during gun/ml deer seasons but added a 3 week late season (January). That has helped it bounce back some, but it's not like it use to be in the late 90's. I have a buddy, on his farm that I could get up on top of the ridge and look over a river valley and hear over 20+ birds each AM. Last time I hunted (2007), there was only 3 birds each AM. One option is to keep the fall season open to please those few that like it, but do it like VA has. You get 3 tags (1 is the max used in the fall). So if you kill one in fall, you just have 2 tags for the spring.

There really isn't 1 answer to fix the problem. I see a huge list of things that have changed and are factors to the problem. Ruffed Grouse have almost disappeared in my part of state. I use to jump 1-2 a deer hunt. I've not seen one in 4 years. A lot of guys that I know were big time grouse hunters and would go kill a truck load over a season. Now they just gave up over the past 5 years. They sold their gear and not replaced their old dogs.Early to mid 2000's, they would go and kill 1-2 over 15+ trips. I don't want the turkey to become the grouse for us.

 

[AT Hiker]

Regardless if we have huge influx of hunters or not, we do have new hunters every year. These new hunters are replacing the older ones and with them they bring a different ethic and method.
I can guarantee you my 74 yr old granddad is not going to crawl through a field to get on a turkey, but the excitement and rush of it draws the younger group to do it. Which are more capable to do so.


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[Goodtimekiller]

Despite the perception that the younger generations are joining the sport like wildfire, it is not true.

Can you substantiate this claim with solid facts? Link to the reports you speak of?

Greater than 55% of hunters are older than 45 with 32% being over 55, about 12% are 16-25 check out the usfws studies. I am currently waiting on tns actual numbers


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[Goodtimekiller]

Regardless if we have huge influx of hunters or not, we do have new hunters every year. These new hunters are replacing the older ones and with them they bring a different ethic and method.
I can guarantee you my 74 yr old granddad is not going to crawl through a field to get on a turkey, but the excitement and rush of it draws the younger group to do it. Which are more capable to do so.


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But you are getting 1 new person for every 4-5 that quit hunting


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[Andy S.]

But you are getting 1 new person for every 4-5 that quit hunting.....

That may be true in the big picture (squirrel, rabbit, quail, grouse, duck, etc), but there is no way that is even remotely true for turkey hunters in my neck of the woods. Every other jacked up 4WD truck has a turkey foot or gobbling turkey decal on the back window. They are almost as popular as the 30A stickers.

 

[knightrider]

there is most definitely more turkey hunters now than ever before, ive had more walk in on top of me and bust birds than ever in the past, places were there was no trucks for miles now there at every farm.

 

[Roost 1]

there is most definitely more turkey hunters now than ever before, ive had more walk in on top of me and bust birds than ever in the past, places were there was no trucks for miles now there at every farm.

......... and it's like this any state you go to.

 

[megalomaniac]

Goodtimekiller... we may be looking at hunter numbers from a different perspective...

Some of us who have hunted 3 decades are comparing number of hunters back in the 90's to today- and that's clearly at least a 10 fold increase.

If this is only your 10th year or so hunting them, you may be comparing numbers from a decade ago to today. And those numbers are probably flat to slightly lower due to fewer birds to hunt, and to decreased availability to private lands. I'm sure numbers who only hunt public lands will also decline- from the numbers killed this year on LBL, Swan, Yuchi, Cheatham, etc I'm sure many will get discouraged and not bother going. Most of those places are just a glorified camping/ hiking trip now. Heck, even I was ready for the season to end on my lease in MS, having heard only 1 bird on it the entire season in about 12 hunts I went on.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Goodtimekiller... we may be looking at hunter numbers from a different perspective...

Some of us who have hunted 3 decades are comparing number of hunters back in the 90's to today- and that's clearly at least a 10 fold increase.

If this is only your 10th year or so hunting them, you may be comparing numbers from a decade ago to today. And those numbers are probably flat to slightly lower due to fewer birds to hunt, and to decreased availability to private lands. I'm sure numbers who only hunt public lands will also decline- from the numbers killed this year on LBL, Swan, Yuchi, Cheatham, etc I'm sure many will get discouraged and not bother going. Most of those places are just a glorified camping/ hiking trip now. Heck, even I was ready for the season to end on my lease in MS, having heard only 1 bird on it the entire season in about 12 hunts I went on.

Ive been hunting 27 years, turkeys 24. I'm sorry if you do not believe the data from the usfws and the state of tn. Could it be that hunting land has been greatly reduced so hunters are much more concentrated? You can't tell me we have near the amount of hunting land that we did 10 years ago. Sorry if you are talking about the 90s then there may be an increase in turkey hunters since it was just really picking up at that time frame and many parts of the states had very few birds then. I can tell you the areas i hunted then that i can still hunt have way more birds than they did then.

However, i was pretty sure the post was talking about hunter increases since 2010. Look up the data instead of basing on your subjective opinion.

The wma managers i have talked to say their numbers are not declining and catmans videos show several public land birds. The managers did say with the weather hunter numbers were way down.


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[Setterman]

Goodtimekiller... we may be looking at hunter numbers from a different perspective...

Some of us who have hunted 3 decades are comparing number of hunters back in the 90's to today- and that's clearly at least a 10 fold increase.

If this is only your 10th year or so hunting them, you may be comparing numbers from a decade ago to today. And those numbers are probably flat to slightly lower due to fewer birds to hunt, and to decreased availability to private lands. I'm sure numbers who only hunt public lands will also decline- from the numbers killed this year on LBL, Swan, Yuchi, Cheatham, etc I'm sure many will get discouraged and not bother going. Most of those places are just a glorified camping/ hiking trip now. Heck, even I was ready for the season to end on my lease in MS, having heard only 1 bird on it the entire season in about 12 hunts I went on.

Ive been hunting 27 years, turkeys 24. I'm sorry if you do not believe the data from the usfws and the state of tn. Could it be that hunting land has been greatly reduced so hunters are much more concentrated? You can't tell me we have near the amount of hunting land that we did 10 years ago. Sorry if you are talking about the 90s then there may be an increase in turkey hunters since it was just really picking up at that time frame and many parts of the states had very few birds then. I can tell you the areas i hunted then that i can still hunt have way more birds than they did then.

However, i was pretty sure the post was talking about hunter increases since 2010. Look up the data instead of basing on your subjective opinion.

The wma managers i have talked to say their numbers are not declining and catmans videos show several public land birds. The managers did say with the weather hunter numbers were way down.


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I've hunted chuck swan for over 20 years. I spoke with the area manager this week and he said the population has been on a steady decline for 5 years. I stopped applying because it was so bad a few years in a row.

Last fall I ran into the Royal Blue manager and he said they were seriously worried about the population as turkeys were not nearly as prolific as they were 10 years ago.

Again these are facts, you're assuming. You are in the minority, glad you think everything's great. There's a bunch of seasoned turkey folks here telling you the exact opposite of what you keep saying.

Are you so selfish you won't take a cut in tags? Are you so focused on you that you're unwilling to give up a little to save a lot? Honestly, your heads so far in the sand I'm not sure you can even hear what a bunch of very kmowledgable turkey folks keep saying. I'm calling bs on you turkey hunting for 20+ years based solely on your posts and General turkey knowledge.

 

[scn]

I say this as my opinion, there may be less hunters overall but their are definitely more guys turkey hunting now.
There are most definitely more effective ways to kill turkeys today. The only reason the harvest numbers are being sustained is because more of the population of gobblers are being killed. This can only happen so long and eventually the shortfall will be very noticeable. I suspect many hunters who don't have birds now are venturing out further to other places or maybe other counties to kill their birds. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long before it catches up to you.

I agree with you 100%. Per a conversation with the TWRA turkey biologist at the last commission meeting, TWRA has NO data on the number of turkey hunters and how many days they are hunting. She tried to get funding a couple of years ago to research that issue, and the funding was denied.

While the TOTAL number of ALL hunters in TN has remained fairly stable or slightly declined based on license sales, there is no way to extrapolate that data to say whether turkey hunters are up or down. My opinion, which is worth absolutely nothing, is that turkey hunting is likely at an all time high. The new technology in the last few years with the tents, super realistic decoys, fans, extended range shotshells, etc, etc, has opened up the sport to a large group of hunters that wouldn't have had much success using traditional turkey hunting methods. Thus, they are out there killing gobblers rather than getting burned out from the learning curve. And they are killing a lot of gobblers. While I have an opinion on that, we've beat that horse to death and there isn't any reason to rehash. Suffice to say, after talking with hunters from all across the state who tell me their turkey populations are down dramatically, IMO, the increased hunting pressure and success rate has been greatly masking the decline by keeping kill figures up. IMO, it is like comparing apples to oranges in comparing today's kill figures to those of a few years ago before the increased pressure.