With my County opening 2 weeks later I will be going north to hunt Maury County on juvenile and normal opening weekend. I do like the kids will get two juvenile hunts! Who else will be hunting different counties during these 2 weeks?
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Southern 4 counties opening 2 weeks later
- Thread starter Acorn
- Start date
Western five counties that border the MS River (New MAV Unit - for turkeys only) also open two weeks later than majority of the other counties. The new Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) Unit consists of Dyer, Lake, Lauderdale, Shelby and Tipton Counties. Most legal and ethical hunters in these counties will travel to hunt as well. I suspect some will still hunt right behind their house, regardless if season is legally open or not. MAV Unit bag limit is two birds per spring season.
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Maury, Williamson and Marshall for me.
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No birds there....hence the delay for breeding.
A certain WMA in Middle, TN will be an absolute zoo on opening day with the counties to the south not being open. I'll have to take drive through just to see all the vehicles.
I was thinking the same thing.
^^^You can probably get a glimpse on YouTube, no need to drive through.
catman529
Well-Known Member
It's gonna be thick in there for 2 weeks at least...the other popular wma up the road ain't gonna be any better lol. Luckily those birds have property lines everywhere to find a little safe ground
You're exactly right!! I think the juvenile hunt will be crazy too.
I saw it time and again over the years in the agency where the biological side of things, or the Commission, would pass something they thought was a good idea only to find it was totally unenforceable. I highly suspect this management unit bs will be another in a long line of that. Hope I am wrong, but from the years in enforcement, it will be tough for the wildlife officers to get a handle on it.
Contact NWR as the hunt is on Federal property and controlled by USFWS.
Refuge Manager: Randy Cook
Phone: 731/287-0650
Officer Cook said he didn't know anything about the delay of the season . But thank you for his number. He said we would be fine to hunt for the juvemille
^^^ The National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) hunts are independent of the statewide seasons, so my gut told me the NWR hunts would still be on, but I wanted you to get an official answer from USFWS. You should be good to go unless the MS River is high and limits/prohibits access to Lower Hatchie. Good luck!
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
I'd bet you are correct, and we both know laws are typically only as good as their enforcement.
It's just too easy for someone in one of these counties to kill a turkey over a corn pile behind their house, then tele-check it into another county as a "legal" kill.
Also, shooting turkeys over corn or other bait piles has been illegal since Day One, yet it wouldn't surprise me if 20% of the birds killed "statewide" on opening weekend are in fact killed over a corn or bait pile (then tele-checked & bragged about on Facebook, etc., or in Sunday School Class).
If we could somehow enforce the baiting laws, much of the other "concerns" (like decoys, etc.) might no longer be such "issues"?
