Harvest report

[poorhunter]

Can anyone post the harvest so far this year? I was wanting to compare to past years, but for some reason I'm only gett

 

[Pilchard]

Not sure if I did this right. And I did not include youth dates but:

2022, 4/1-4/10: 13,576
2023, 4/15-4/25: 20,096

This also wouldn't account for the counties that were on delayed start last year. I don't know which counties these are.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I simply ran a report for Mar1-Apr25 of both 2022 and 2023 with the knowledge it was open 2 weeks longer at this point in the season last year.
2022: 24,159
2023: 22,365

If my math is right (and the report is valid) we're currently 1794 birds behind last year, but with the season having been open approximately 2 weeks less.

 

[knightrider]

It will be close to the same i have a feeling, the people that killed birds last year will kill them this year, only real difference is the loosing of the third tag which was unnecessary

 

[BamaHudson]

I don't think losing a 3rd tag is unnecessary. It just leaves more birds for the following year. The birds this year also had an extra two weeks to get their breading done. I think the changes will end up being good. Seems like everyone is still getting to hunt, still getting to hear birds, still getting to kill birds. Not so bad.

 

[knightrider]

I don't think losing a 3rd tag is unnecessary. It just leaves more birds for the following year. The birds this year also had an extra two weeks to get their breading done. I think the changes will end up being good. Seems like everyone is still getting to hunt, still getting to hear birds, still getting to kill birds. Not so bad.

If they got so much breeding done than why was loosing the third tag necessary? Loosing hunting opportunity for no reason other than a knee jerk feel good reaction is unnecessary

 

[hbg1]

If they got so much breeding done than why was loosing the third tag necessary? Loosing hunting opportunity for no reason other than a knee jerk feel good reaction is unnecessary

You need to consider areas outside of yours that are struggling to maintain any resemblance of a population. We should always remember our small window of how things are isn't the full picture.

 

[Popcorn]

There will still be renests that will need tending
Plus there is never anything wrong with leaving a few for good measure!! The "Kill 'em all" attitude can leave you without in several different potential crisis situations.

 

[Donk]

Just curious, how many of you guys that talk of taking away birds from the limit do predator controll? Trapping coons and other nest raiders. You just do the talk or do you do the walk too. What the limit is should be for your area, does'nt mean it should be state wide.

 

[megalomaniac]

Just curious, how many of you guys that talk of taking away birds from the limit do predator controll? Trapping coons and other nest raiders. You just do the talk or do you do the walk too. What the limit is should be for your area, does'nt mean it should be state wide.

Its too much work for most turkey hunters to improve habitat and predate the predators.

As far as the 2 bird limit... certainly wasn't necessary on my farms. If I wanted to, I could have killed 20 this year. As it is, my season is probably done in TN, and I'm still sitting on my 2nd tag. The bird I wanted to kill just bested me every single time I hunted him... but thats probably because I put too much pressure on him and hunted him every single day except for the one day I tagged my first bird on another farm right off the roost.

But the really funny thing is... even though I only killed 1 bird in TN, I certainly didn't feel less accomplished or less successful. I beat most of the birds on my farms, some of them even twice.... just didn't need to kill them.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Just curious, how many of you guys that talk of taking away birds from the limit do predator controll? Trapping coons and other nest raiders. You just do the talk or do you do the walk too. What the limit is should be for your area, does'nt mean it should be state wide.

I walk it. 133 trapped and killed in 2022 and thus far in 2023. Plus major habitat improvements.

Like @megalomaniac said, I get it - most can't do all that trapping. It's a lot of work and too much work for most. I've given up a lot of hobbies to focus on trapping and habitat. Used to golf 30-40 times a year. Now as I age, I'd rather be in the woods doing stuff rather than hitting a ball around big fields. It's just prioritization. This is what I choose to do. Wouldn't have it any other way. It's either doing this stuff or hang out with todays society that's going to hell in a hand basket

 

[woodsman04]

Delay was needed perhaps. Limit reduction not so much. I think only thing that needs changing is the way people shoot turkeys and methods they use.

 

[Donk]

A limit is a limit. As long as it is a safe method why would anyone care how I hunt. You don't hunt where I do, so what does it matter to you? Any of you give some thing back? or just keep on taking.

 

[timberjack86]

Just curious, how many of you guys that talk of taking away birds from the limit do predator controll? Trapping coons and other nest raiders. You just do the talk or do you do the walk too. What the limit is should be for your area, does'nt mean it should be state wide.

I trapped until season closed at the end of February on our local wma.

 

[BamaHudson]

If they got so much breeding done than why was loosing the third tag necessary? Loosing hunting opportunity for no reason other than a knee jerk feel good reaction is unnecessary

I think the simple answer is killing less birds will never hurt the population. It's 1 extra turkey for you but thousands of turkeys across the state. I think its a fine trade off and if it goes well they may up the limit again one day instead of eventually being lucky to even see 3 turkeys in a season like many places.

 

[BamaHudson]

Just curious, how many of you guys that talk of taking away birds from the limit do predator controll? Trapping coons and other nest raiders. You just do the talk or do you do the walk too. What the limit is should be for your area, does'nt mean it should be state wide.

If you can tell me how killing more birds will help the population I'll let it go

 

[megalomaniac]

If you can tell me how killing more birds will help the population I'll let it go

Killing more birds won't help the population, but if season structure is set properly, will not harm the population either.

Of course, killing excess males (and especially males that are not in excess in a localized geography) can cause irreprovable damage to the localized population if they are killed before hens are bred.

Multiple studies have shown the earliest hens to breed are also the most successful at actually hatching poults and their success or failure is mostly responsible for population increases or declines. Is that because the dominant hens are better nesters? Or is it because the later nesters are laying infertile eggs because all the sexually mature males were already removed?

Personally, I don't really care what the limit is with the new season structure. I'm not going to punch my last tag unless it's a really memorable hunt or a really special bird. Something psychologically in me NEEDS to know I could kill the bird if I so CHOSE to do so, rather than I could not kill the bird because I tagged out already.

 

[C1295]

I think the simple answer is killing less birds will never hurt the population. It's 1 extra turkey for you but thousands of turkeys across the state. I think its a fine trade off and if it goes well they may up the limit again one day instead of eventually being lucky to even see 3 turkeys in a season like many places.

2 birds are better than 1.

 

[Bgoodman30]

I think the simple answer is killing less birds will never hurt the population. It's 1 extra turkey for you but thousands of turkeys across the state. I think its a fine trade off and if it goes well they may up the limit again one day instead of eventually being lucky to even see 3 turkeys in a season like many places.

The 3rd bird is neglible statewide. Most folks will shoot 1 or 2. Taking away a ton of opportunity for no real population changes for those who are avid turkey hunters.

 

[Boll Weevil]

The 3rd bird is neglible statewide. Most folks will shoot 1 or 2.

^Fact.

 

[Boll Weevil]

hey may up the limit again one day

I've thought about this, and frankly how hard it might be to do.

Does bumping the limit back up say, "We thought we had an overharvest problem but in hindsight we don't? Does it say, "We weren't sure what the outcome would be but we had to try something and whaddya know IT WORKED!" Does it result in more confidence in our wildlife commissioners and decisionmakers or less?

I don't know the answer, just something to noodle.

 

[Popcorn]

^Fact.

Maybe statewide BUT locally it could be devastating. A few places each year and before you know it you have a regional decline. In some years renests are all you get! That makes them pretty important.

 

[knightrider]

I think the simple answer is killing less birds will never hurt the population. It's 1 extra turkey for you but thousands of turkeys across the state. I think its a fine trade off and if it goes well they may up the limit again one day instead of eventually being lucky to even see 3 turkeys in a season like many places.

Thousands thats not how it works

 

[Popcorn]

I've thought about this, and frankly how hard it might be to do.

Does bumping the limit up say, "We thought we had an overharvest problem but in hindsight we don't? Does it say, "We weren't sure what the outcome would be but we had to try something and whaddya know IT WORKED!" Does it result in more confidence in our wildlife commissioners and decisionmakers or less?

I don't know the answer, just something to noodle.

It's all in the eye of the beholder!
I tell my brother he would biotch if they hung him with a new rope.
On the other hand I would rent a billboard and run ads to point out that "it worked".

 

[megalomaniac]

As much as I don't think limits have a lot to do with overall population trends (or at least shouldn't)... one cannot argue the drastic population decline coincided with TWRA raising limits to 3, then to 4, especially when the vast majority of those birds killed were removed before breeding had even occurred. Turkey hunters have become incredibly effective at removing all males from a flock if they so desire (I'm 100% convinced I could have killed my nemesis bird this year just reaping him). How do we encourage ALL hunters to 'save some for seed' instead of forcing them with limits????

I've told this before, but personally, I shut a farm down to all hunting once 50% of gobblers have been killed, done this for 2 decades. Perfect example, one farm had 5 toms. A friend and I went in there the 2nd day of the season, and I killed one right off the roost and 2 hours later I called in another for my friend. That farm has been unhunted since then, and hopefully the neighbors don't kill the 3 remaining birds.

 

[BamaHudson]

The 3rd bird is neglible statewide. Most folks will shoot 1 or 2. Taking away a ton of opportunity for no real population changes for those who are avid turkey hunters.

If most folks will shoot 1 or 2 then setting the limit at 2 seems like a fine idea. For the real hunters, it really will be okay to go with one less turkey. They can still go out with someone else and help them get a bird.

 

[BamaHudson]

Thousands thats not how it works

From 2006-2020 the average birds killed a year was around 34,000.

2020: 40,105 birds killed with 90,015 hunters

The limit changed from 4 to 3 after 2020

2021: 32,703 birds killed with 91,247 hunters

2022: 29,940 birds killed with 95,905 hunters


Despite hunter numbers increasing by the thousands, birds killed has decreased by the thousands. I think this is a valid reason to believe that dropping the harvest limit will in fact limit the harvest. We don't get more turkeys by killing them.

 

[knightrider]

From 2006-2020 the average birds killed a year was around 34,000.

2020: 40,105 birds killed with 90,015 hunters

The limit changed from 4 to 3 after 2020

2021: 32,703 birds killed with 91,247 hunters

2022: 29,940 birds killed with 95,905 hunters


Despite hunter numbers increasing by the thousands, birds killed has decreased by the thousands. I think this is a valid reason to believe that dropping the harvest limit will in fact limit the harvest. We don't get more turkeys by killing them.

Really who would of thunk it 50 some percent kill one , 20 some percent kill two, cant find the exacts right off but three would be ten percent or less im just guessing so its not saving thousands is all im saying. Its not how many of the male species you kill its when and before you run loops with that statement , as in any other thing yes there is exceptions to the rule.

 

[Bgoodman30]

If most folks will shoot 1 or 2 then setting the limit at 2 seems like a fine idea. For the real hunters, it really will be okay to go with one less turkey. They can still go out with someone else and help them get a bird.

Regulating away someone's hunting opportunity for no good biological or conservation reason is a precedent I don't care for... I work hard so I can have the opportunity to hunt birds over several farms and several counties.. If I kill one on a farm I am done there...

 

[Bgoodman30]

From 2006-2020 the average birds killed a year was around 34,000.

2020: 40,105 birds killed with 90,015 hunters

The limit changed from 4 to 3 after 2020

2021: 32,703 birds killed with 91,247 hunters

2022: 29,940 birds killed with 95,905 hunters


Despite hunter numbers increasing by the thousands, birds killed has decreased by the thousands. I think this is a valid reason to believe that dropping the harvest limit will in fact limit the harvest. We don't get more turkeys by killing them.

Wow haven't seen the hunter number. I thought they couldn't track that because there is no actual turkey license or tag? If someone has a sportsman or BG license how do they know if they are turkey hunting or not?


My point is we certainly don't have a hunter recruitment or harvest problem we have a poult recruitment problem...

BUT most hunters reporting a great hatch last 2 in spite of a large harvest.