This 2021 OnX article on "best turkey hunting states" sure didn't age well!

[th88]

https://www.onxmaps.com/hunt/blog/best-turkey-hunting-states

HALF the states have since reduced opportunity in the forms of seasons, limits, public land restrictions.
And there's another state or two on the list that you can likely expect changes to in the future as the hunting quality rapidly degrades.

ALABAMA: "Best State for Turkey Population and Shooting Multiple Birds"

• Pushed statewide season opener back a couple days
• DRASTICALLY reduced public land hunting opportunity
  -delayed season on WMAs
  -1-bird first 10 days per zone on WMAs & National Forest
  -2 bird limit on each WMA/NF
  -1:00PM closure on all WMAS/National Forests

My favorite quote of the article: The Hunting Public's Zach Ferenbaugh is a fan of Alabama. He says, "The cool part about hunting turkeys is that they can take you to some pretty cool places and teach you a lot about hunting in general. One state I feel has been a standout for opportunity has been Alabama. The southern turkeys are challenging, but the population typically is pretty good and there is plenty of public land to stretch your legs. With a long season and the ability to hunt all day, there is no shortage of time to be in the field."


GEORGIA: "Best State for Longest Turkey Hunting Season"

A state that actually PAID YouTubers to come hunt there and promote the awesome turkey hunting

• Reduced bag limit from 3 to 2
• Delayed season opener
• DRASTICALLY reduced public land opportunity
  -Lost up to two weeks on the front end of the season on public lands
  -1 bird limit per WMA
  - Several new draw hunts (which just so happened to be some WMAs YouTubers had hunted)

KANSAS: "Best State for Hunting Multiple Turkey Species"

• Proposed statewide 1 bird limit
• Proposed non-resident quota system

KENTUCKY: "Best State for Hunting Different Terrain"

• Commission has discussed non-resident limitations for spring turkey hunting

NEBRASKA: "Best State for Archery Hunting"

• Reduced limit from 3 to 2 birds
• Cap on non-resident permit sales

TENNESSEE: "Best State for 'Turkeys in Every Field'"

A state that actually PAID YouTubers to come hunt there and promote the awesome turkey hunting

• Reduced statewide limit from 3 to 2
• Dropped 2 weeks off front of season and added them to end of May
• Reduced public land opportunity
  -1 bird limit on select WMAS the first 2 weeks of the season

So remember this before you hit that LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. Supporting those that exploit our public land resources for profit DOES have consequences. And these "sensationalist" articles do nothing but harm our turkey hunting opportunity. As you can see, changes can happen FAST.

 

[timberjack86]

You've done it now, get ready to feel the wrath of the you tube fanboys

 

[REN]

I don't get the seemingly shot at Onx article. Laws change and they didnt know that at time of writing it. At the time of publishing it was an accurate article.
I also dont get your last statement. Are you implying that people or companies shouldnt write articles talking about what states for animals are better then others? The idea that turkey hunting should be a good old boy kept secret is just not the world we live in anymore. Heck Ive known for YEARS that Iowa, KS, and IL are some of the best deer hunting there is but that hasnt changed my fiances or ability to get away to do it with 3 kids at home.

 

[th88]

I don't get the seemingly shot at Onx article. Laws change and they didnt know that at time of writing it. At the time of publishing it was an accurate article.
I also dont get your last statement. Are you implying that people or companies shouldnt write articles talking about what states for animals are better then others? The idea that turkey hunting should be a good old boy kept secret is just not the world we live in anymore. Heck Ive known for YEARS that Iowa, KS, and IL are some of the best deer hunting there is but that hasnt changed my fiances or ability to get away to do it with 3 kids at home.

I'm simply pointing out the irony and repercussions of today's digital/social media world. And with point creep, you definitely can't bowhunt KS or Iowa now as frequently as you used.

 

[TDW05]

I'm happy with the changes and wish they would have just kept the end date of season the same. This does nothing but benefit the turkeys hopefully in the long run. You still wanna go state to state and hunt turkey go for it.

 

[REN]

I'm simply pointing out the irony and repercussions of today's digital/social media world. And with point creep, you definitely can't bowhunt KS or Iowa now as frequently as you used.

my point being articles like this one isnt new. Those same articles have been in magazines for a long time for deer, turkey and ducks. Now youtube pushes etc are much more impactful then a standard "list of top 5 states to hunt X" are

 

[XCR-2]

I think it's hilarious that people will actually blame a decrease in turkey or deer population on social media.

 

[megalomaniac]

I think it's hilarious that people will actually blame a decrease in turkey or deer population on social media.

you must not have read the original post... has nothing to do with a decrease in deer or turkey populations due to social media. It's all about 'hunting quality rapidly degrades' due to social media. Numbers of folks have doubled or tripled on certain open public WMAs/ National forests or number of applications has gone up 4 or 5 fold on limited access WMAs. And if you haven't seen that firsthand due to social media in the past 5 years, you must just be only hunting private land.

Is the turkey population decline directly caused by SM? Who knows. Certainly easy to point fingers and assume correlation equates with causation, but more than likely the decline is multifactorial.

 

[th88]

I think it's hilarious that people will actually blame a decrease in turkey or deer population on social media.

Yeah, that would be hilarious.

 

[XCR-2]

The problem is lack of habitat. With neighborhoods and all kinds of construction going on at a massive rate people are losing places to hunt at the same rate. Farms are becoming a thing of the past, especially in south East Tennessee. Therefore getting forced to hunt public. I've lost several places in the last 10 years and haven't really made up for them. I've been fortunate to have lots of private to hunt and don't take it for granted especially after this weekend at Yuchi, that was a sh'' show.

 

[megalomaniac]

The problem is lack of habitat. With neighborhoods and all kinds of construction going on at a massive rate people are losing places to hunt at the same rate. Farms are becoming a thing of the past, especially in south East Tennessee. Therefore getting forced to hunt public. I've lost several places in the last 10 years and haven't really made up for them. I've been fortunate to have lots of private to hunt and don't take it for granted especially after this weekend at Yuchi, that was a sh'' show.

So it's lack of habitat that's forcing everyone to hunt the same public hotspots for turkeys. Gotcha.

But wait??? How did folks from Missouri hear about those Hotspot in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and Tennessee????

If only I knew....

I'm not much of a travelling turkey hunter... ive been fortunate to own a property that used to have more turkeys than just about any other property east of the Mississippi back in the 90s, so no need to ever leave that slice of heaven. Habitat didn't change, but pressure from the neighbors (one property killed 17 opening weekend back in the heyday) sure ruined that 1000 acre farm. So I started travelling. Funny thing is... those neighbors quit hunting that farm because there were so few birds left on it 7 or 8y ago. And I called my best bird last year off their farm and shot him as soon as his feet crossed the line onto me.

 

[redblood]

you must not have read the original post... has nothing to do with a decrease in deer or turkey populations due to social media. It's all about 'hunting quality rapidly degrades' due to social media. Numbers of folks have doubled or tripled on certain open public WMAs/ National forests or number of applications has gone up 4 or 5 fold on limited access WMAs. And if you haven't seen that firsthand due to social media in the past 5 years, you must just be only hunting private land.

Is the turkey population decline directly caused by SM? Who knows. Certainly easy to point fingers and assume correlation equates with causation, but more than likely the decline is multifactorial.

Yes. But i think its because the average hunter invests in 70k dollar trucks, 25k side by sides and and 500k dollar homes in suburbia and then realizes he cant afford a place to hunt and roams wma to wma . Social media helps him figure which one to go to. It wont get any better

 

[RobbyW]

How many out of state hunters do you think YouTube really brings to TN? Hundred, thousand?

I'll tell you this. You think tn turkey hunting is bad, look at this video. I grew up around Big Lake Arkansas. I promise you out of state people aren't impacting Turkeys like out of state duck hunters do in Arkansas. Not even close. This started way before YouTube.

 

[deerhunter10]

How many out of state hunters do you think YouTube really brings to TN? Hundred, thousand?

I'll tell you this. You think tn turkey hunting is bad, look at this video. I grew up around Big Lake Arkansas. I promise you out of state people aren't impacting Turkeys like out of state duck hunters do in Arkansas. Not even close. This started way before YouTube.

While I think you are comparing apples to oranges with ducks compared to turkeys. It did start before YouTube but youtube has captured another audience and probably you could even say another generation. By the way I think its a multitude of problems for the decreases in turkey's. I live by yanahli not far from about 4 different entries and the amount of out of state turkey hunters opening week is mind blowing.

 

[AT Hiker]

While I think you are comparing apples to oranges with ducks compared to turkeys. It did start before YouTube but youtube has captured another audience and probably you could even say another generation. By the way I think its a multitude of problems for the decreases in turkey's. I live by yanahli not far from about 4 different entries and the amount of out of state turkey hunters opening week is mind blowing.

I think it was 2019 when 3-4 Youtubers hunted there, tens of thousands possible viewers exposed to that specific area. It had to have had an impact.

 

[AT Hiker]

Speaking of articles/youtube, seems like AZ continues to get their moneys worth. Now this with the OTC deer tags.
Bottom line, social media marketing works...actually works too well.

Attention Non-Residents
Recent changes were made to Arizona statutes and rules that govern the sale of over-the-counter archery deer hunting opportunity in Arizona. These changes affect the sale of archery deer nonpermit-tags (over-the-counter, OTC, tags) to nonresident hunters beginning with the 2023 calendar year.

• The number of archery deer nonpermit-tags available to nonresidents will be set annually at 10% of the average total sales of archery deer nonpermit-tags for the most recent 5 years, rounding down to the nearest increment of 5.
• The total OTC archery deer nonpermit-tags available for purchase by nonresidents for the 2023 calendar year will be limited to 2,890 total tags. Once all 2,890 nonresident archery deer nonpermit-tags have been sold, no additional tags will be available for purchase by nonresidents for the 2023 calendar year.

AZGFD

www.azgfd.com

 

[th88]

Speaking of articles/youtube, seems like AZ continues to get their moneys worth. Now this with the OTC deer tags.
Bottom line, social media marketing works...actually works too well.

Attention Non-Residents
Recent changes were made to Arizona statutes and rules that govern the sale of over-the-counter archery deer hunting opportunity in Arizona. These changes affect the sale of archery deer nonpermit-tags (over-the-counter, OTC, tags) to nonresident hunters beginning with the 2023 calendar year.

• The number of archery deer nonpermit-tags available to nonresidents will be set annually at 10% of the average total sales of archery deer nonpermit-tags for the most recent 5 years, rounding down to the nearest increment of 5.
• The total OTC archery deer nonpermit-tags available for purchase by nonresidents for the 2023 calendar year will be limited to 2,890 total tags. Once all 2,890 nonresident archery deer nonpermit-tags have been sold, no additional tags will be available for purchase by nonresidents for the 2023 calendar year.

AZGFD

www.azgfd.com

Crazy how fast it works too, ain't it? Thanks for sharing.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Speaking of articles/youtube, seems like AZ continues to get their moneys worth. Now this with the OTC deer tags.
Bottom line, social media marketing works...actually works too well.

Attention Non-Residents
Recent changes were made to Arizona statutes and rules that govern the sale of over-the-counter archery deer hunting opportunity in Arizona. These changes affect the sale of archery deer nonpermit-tags (over-the-counter, OTC, tags) to nonresident hunters beginning with the 2023 calendar year.

• The number of archery deer nonpermit-tags available to nonresidents will be set annually at 10% of the average total sales of archery deer nonpermit-tags for the most recent 5 years, rounding down to the nearest increment of 5.
• The total OTC archery deer nonpermit-tags available for purchase by nonresidents for the 2023 calendar year will be limited to 2,890 total tags. Once all 2,890 nonresident archery deer nonpermit-tags have been sold, no additional tags will be available for purchase by nonresidents for the 2023 calendar year.

AZGFD

www.azgfd.com

Not only are they going to cap the licenses, they're still going to close the units when quotas are met.

• A valid 2023 over-the-counter archery deer nonpermit-tag is required to hunt all open seasons during the 2023 calendar year. These seasons include Jan 1-31, 2023, Aug 18-Sept 7, 2023, and Dec 8-31, 2023. Check online at www.azgfd.gov/ArcheryDeerReport for open areas; open areas will close when harvest limits are met.

Decisions, Decisions..... I'm dying to do another August bowhunt, but if I've got to stay up on New Years Eve to snag a tag that's good for a year, do I try to squeeze in a quick January hunt? Also, will it F with my points if I draw a rifle hunt? I've got some research to do.

 

[Displaced_Vol]

How many out of state hunters do you think YouTube really brings to TN? Hundred, thousand?

I'll tell you this. You think tn turkey hunting is bad, look at this video. I grew up around Big Lake Arkansas. I promise you out of state people aren't impacting Turkeys like out of state duck hunters do in Arkansas. Not even close. This started way before YouTube.

Internet heroes put a hurt on public land ducks years before it became cool to chase turkeys on YouTube.

 

[woodsman04]

It isn't good. They are taking away from the rest of us that don't live the life of traveling the country. They are making money off of it too. Probably need some sort of fee for them to film on these public areas.

The people literally showed the exact field on aerial photo where they killed a turkey. It just baffles me how people like this.


Oh well. When there is no where left to Turkey, deer, or duck hunt, maybe all of the YouTube lovers will finally learn what they did.