Numbers droping ?

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ImThere said:
Woodsman87 = Setterman? Lol
Gotta give it to you know it all!
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:D

Why don't y'all shut up and go coyote hunting. Save a few poults....

Oh and I saw spring deer season mentioned. If there were a spring deer season, I would hunt it. But I thought we weren't supposed to be comparing deer to turkeys here......
 
102 said:
I thought records were being set every year with the turkey bag limit?

Now, one bad season and we need to change limits?

Are you kidding me?

This was the worst season ever for me and every one I have talked to. But it is also the 5th coldest Spring on record.
Last year was the warmest EVER on record. It was also my best season ever.

I am SURE there are PLENTY of turkeys in all the areas I hunted this Spring.
THE BIRDS JUST PLAIN DID NOT GOBBLE!!!

I feel certain the weather screwed them up.

Now if I could just get a couple weeks extension on my season I would be set as I feel certain this Spring squirrel season will be GREAT for GOBBLING turkeys!!!
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102, its not that the birds didn't gobble, they are gone. A wintering group of over 300 birds every fall, on two different dairy farms, app. 6=700 birds, vanished. The locals who live in the area haven't seen them. My brother manages a local propane company in this county, as well as others in the area. He sees tons normally, but they have vanished. He lives three miles from one spot, normally has em in his yard ,hears em every spring. Nothing. To our knowledge, no trapping has been done. I don't know whats up, but to lose this many this quick is puzzling. Ive watched the flock grow since the early seventys, seen several, several yrs of bad hatchs, and have been a member of the NWTF for 30 yrs, working on lots of projects all over west Tn. for the turkeys, but I am telling you, something seems to really have changed, and its happened fast.
 
Not trying to be like setterman, just got worked over. Didn't realize I sounded like him till it was brought up.
 
Its all good Woodsman87 you have more than me on the subject for sure but i think what got we was the " i cant dumb it down more than that " statement
 
Once again, it's usually the "There done" crowd that believe weather(early or late spring) affects the breeding cycle of the wild turkey. Their ignorance of facts or just plain lack of knowledge never ceases to amaze me, no matter how many turkeys they may have killed the first and second week of the spring season. For someone to say that "all" hens or even "all" does are bred by a specific date or week is comical at best. As long as there is at least one hen that is willing to breed(young jennies, those that have lost nests and are "dry"), there will be a gobbler willing to breed her on into June. He will gobble, strut, spit and drum throughout this time to attract those willing hens. I could locate, call to the gun, and kill receptive, gobbling turkeys on into June, both here in the East Tennessee mountains, as well as in the everglades of South Florida if the season allowed it. As for numbers dropping, I choose strictly to hunt turkeys on public land. The intense pressure the turkeys I hunt receive garantees there will always be at least a few 3 yr old gobblers or better, for me to hunt. That is all I care about. As for this new breed of game keepers and "land managers" that are concerned with "their" turkey numbers, it's simple, if you don't have them, don't shoot them. But to tell me or anyone else that we can not kill the legal limit of four, because you can't go out and hear 20 different turkeys gobble as you might have done in years past, is insulting. As for fall turkey hunting, I will continue to yelp to the gun and kill at least one turkey, gobbler or hen, in November, whether there is a season or not ;)
 
tickweed said:
. . . . . they are gone. A wintering group of over 300 birds every fall, on two different dairy farms, app. 6=700 birds, vanished. . . . . . . something seems to really have changed, and its happened fast.
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Very strange.
Topping my list of possibilities would be aflatoxin poisoning from feeding corn, although aflatoxin may have had nothing to do with what happened. Just my best bet.
 
woodsman87 said:
Roost 1 said:
Roost 1 said:
AT Hiker said:
Does anyone know how Ft Campbell did this year? They used to be covered in birds a few years back when I hunted it. They were bonus birds for spring and fall I believe. It used to be a great hunt, but it got more difficult to get an area so I gave up hunting their.

Reason I ask is because it seemed they wanted to get rid of all the birds with the liberal limits, of course if they dont open up many areas then reaching that quota is difficult.
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Prolly one of the worst harvest on record. 192 total and lots of areas open each weekend. Like everywhere else there wasnt a bunch of 2yr olds which makes for less gobbling and harder hunting. The last weekend had the highest harvest of the whole season. Many reasons for this such as it was beautiful weather instead of raining and lots of the gobblers had lost their hens. But overall if was a very tough year at the fort.
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Let me add....the harvest has went down each year since the limit was raised to 4...All areas there cant handle a 4 bird limit. Harvest totals were higher when the limit was 2 and/or 3.
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Harvest limits effect on the population have minimal effect on the actual population. Science also proves that.
Saving gobblers obviously helps some because you still have 3 or 4 year old left over. I agree that maybe we should bring the limit down, but it will not be a quick fix like we all think.
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Science proves it has minimal effect? I wouldn't go that far, pretty sure harvest limits are really important. I think I understand what you meant, but to say limits have no effect as a blanket statement might be a little confusing. Harvest limits are really important, but there is more to the equation than just limits.

None the less...Ft Campbell, imo, is a prime example of what extreme hunter pressure and harvest can do to a population of turkeys. Not sure why FC was so extreme on their turkey "eradication" but that appears what it was...an eradication.

I just got back from the Black Hills of SD and the hunting has suffered dramatically. It used to be considered a turkey hunters dream land, but years of bad hatches, fires, timber harvest, etc and no change in regulations has caused some major decline in populations. Top that with fires and declines in surrounding states, which has caused an influx in out of state hunters, and the hunting is pretty tough in most areas. This is going off experience I might add, but if you ask one biologist they might tell you the population is great while another might say it is in horrible shape. When you have these two conflicting statements from biologist in the same agency you will likely never fix the problem. I assume this is happening in TN as well.
 
woodsman87 said:
I have read your posts, and you come in acting high and mighty because you kill your turkeys the first week of the season, acting like you know everything about it, and think your cool because your in a contest every year. You are just someone who gets to hunt everyday and has the best spots in the country to hunt. Don't come bragging to me and everyone else on how good you are and how much you get to hunt.
Be thankful that you have good places and get to go alot, one day you might not have any turkeys left.
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Acting high and mighty is not my intentions and if you perceive it that way I apologize. I am just sharing information as I perceive it from my personal experiences. Not trying to brag or be cool either. Just offering my opinions if you don't like that then I can agree to disagree.
Btw some of best spots are public......
 
I think if you want to hear bragging just scroll up a few posts and you will see it...
And if you can read between the lines you will find part of the problem with the turkey population. Alot of folks have the same mindset. Kill all you can while you can!!!!
 
X2 on kill all you can while you can being a problem I know several with that mindset or if I don't kill it somebody else will....
 
I think we have it wrong... From what I have observed this spring natural predators are on the rise. I cannot count the number of coyotes that came into my [HEN] yelping. Also called up 3 bobcats. I think they are taking a toll on our hens.
 
I'd rather have people trying to kill their limit than people who don't give a hoot about limits or seasons or buying a license. I know a guy who hunted before season and then when season opened one of his friends and another guy went out and killed 8 toms in a row out of a flock. The "it's my land, I can kill what I want" mindset kills me...
 
I think the "new breed" are the self pro-claimed turkey killers, who always have a tag in their vest. In case you wonder what I mean check out the "silence" thread.
One of the biggest problems with hunting today.
I am glad I am not the only one whose skin it gets under.
 
I deleted my post. Most wont know what Im talking about. It really bothers me to see a person just post a statement like that. Ive worked as a volunteer for over 30 yrs. with the NWTF, and its like a slap in the face. To see how long it took, to get the birds we have and than say that. Im done on this topic.
 
If you will study the Harvest Report,you will see that things are changin.The Jake numbers are way down,use to be about 40 percent or so.That shows that hunters are taking Toms over Jakes.Looks like the shooting Jakes raggin is workin LoL.
 
I also have been a NWTF volunteer in the past for about 12yrs. Still a member prolly always will be....although I don't like the direction they are going in I still respect what they have done with wild turkey restoration..I tell everyone I kno who turkey hunts they should be a member. I consider it to be one of, if not the greatest restoration effort ever!!!!
 
Roost 1 said:
I think the "new breed" are the self pro-claimed turkey killers, who always have a tag in their vest. In case you wonder what I mean check out the "silence" thread.
One of the biggest problems with hunting today.
I am glad I am not the only one whose skin it gets under.
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I can take criticism for my views just fine, but take offense to being called a poacher(wild hogs are a completely different story :grin:) My old man hunted with me a lot this season. Both of us are legally licensed hunters. Now I'm not one to ever brag about the number of longbeards I kill, but of those 8 legal tags, we filled 7 of those in the South Cherokee, two of which were killed the final week of season. Everyone was tagged and checked in, either at the Hiawasse Corner Market in Polk county or online. I also killed a gobbler at Chuck Swan, which was a bonus turkey. You were wise to delete your post, because there may be some out there who are "as" serious a turkey hunter as myself, but I assure you, there is nobody out there "more" serious about it then myself ;) As for fall turkey hunting, my kin, going back over 150 years in Florida, have had a freshly killed, fried wild turkey on the table every Thanksgiving for as many years. That "Cracker" tradition will continue no matter what state I may reside in.
 
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