TWRA seeks input on Changes to seasons

[TheLBLman]

And also why in the world are they worried about processors? That's a private business if they can't keep up that's on them not on twra.

Just a little side note about this.
Many deer processors in West TN shut their doors in part due to TWRA's CWD "policy".

 

[Omega]

And also why in the world are they worried about processors? That's a private business if they can't keep up that's on them not on twra.

If it was done properly, then yea, I agree, but if, as the law suit insinuates, the counties were erroneously marked CWD positive, then I would argue those same private businesses may have grounds for a lawsuit for lost revenue.

 

[deerhunter10]

Didn't really think about cwd as we aren't dealing with that (yet)

 

[knightrider]

They lost me when for years they harped , no changes unless biologically necessary, than they let the commission screw every east tn hunter by taking our third buck tag, on the whole parade!

 

[megalomaniac]

I don't mind adding the turkey regions as much, we've already got that for deer. And having different turkey bag limits per region at least makes some sense.

LOL at TWRAs proposed turkey regions to manage biologically similar... when you include Green County (one of the highest density population centers in the state) in the same region (proposed NE zone) with multiple other counties that have very few birds... then expect them to be managed the same is just asinine.

If you are going to be serious about micromanaging for turkeys, you have to go back to what the regs were back in the late 80/early 90s. Some counties (Greene) with a liberal framework, while a couple counties over may be closed completely, or portions of those counties closed. Just chopping up the state into 5 units geographically isn't going to work. Keep it simple and set statewide regs, or manage it biologically, but you will need at least 50 units.

 

[TNhunter]

DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING. IT WILL BE WORSE.

 

[oldmanelrod]

I sat through the whole dog and pony show presentation. It is very obvious from the presentation that their HANDPICKED focus groups have already made the decisions. If they don't get the response they want from the "after the decision" survey for the commoners, I suspect they will change the data like they did in the duck blind debacle.

I have ZERO trust in anything coming from the biological side of TWRA at this point. Even knowing it was a total waste of my time, I did submit a survey with some very directed how futile it is it is you. SCN you know I'm better than me but I agree with you.

 

[TNGunsmoke]

LOL at TWRAs proposed turkey regions to manage biologically similar... when you include Green County (one of the highest density population centers in the state) in the same region (proposed NE zone) with multiple other counties that have very few birds... then expect them to be managed the same is just asinine.

If you are going to be serious about micromanaging for turkeys, you have to go back to what the regs were back in the late 80/early 90s. Some counties (Greene) with a liberal framework, while a couple counties over may be closed completely, or portions of those counties closed. Just chopping up the state into 5 units geographically isn't going to work. Keep it simple and set statewide regs, or manage it biologically, but you will need at least 50 units.

That's where they need will need some work. Put the counties in a unit that makes sense for their population of turkeys. I agree that just slicing the state into 5 sections is probably not the way to go. It might work out that way eventually, deer units did, I don't remember them all being contiguous when they were set up.

 

[Lost Lake]

I was surprised at the four buck limit and Earn-a-Doe proposal. Gotta kill two bucks before you get a doe tag.

If you hover your cursor over the bald guys head in the vid and it'll open the link…..

 

[Lost Lake]

Just joking LBLman!!

 

[Stalkhunter]

Survey done

 

[killingtime 41]

LOL at TWRAs proposed turkey regions to manage biologically similar... when you include Green County (one of the highest density population centers in the state) in the same region (proposed NE zone) with multiple other counties that have very few birds... then expect them to be managed the same is just asinine.

If you are going to be serious about micromanaging for turkeys, you have to go back to what the regs were back in the late 80/early 90s. Some counties (Greene) with a liberal framework, while a couple counties over may be closed completely, or portions of those counties closed. Just chopping up the state into 5 units geographically isn't going to work. Keep it simple and set statewide regs, or manage it biologically, but you will need at least 50 units.

Do You live in greene county. Not sure if you remember how huge the turkey numbers use to be. I've watched the flocks go down over the years To non existent in some areas. It seems like I'm seeing more birds slowly maybe making a comeback to the flocks I use to see in mid 2000's. I use to see 50 birds at a time back then.

 

[megalomaniac]

Do You live in greene county. Not sure if you remember how huge the turkey numbers use to be. I've watched the flocks go down over the years To non existent in some areas. It seems like I'm seeing more birds slowly maybe making a comeback to the flocks I use to see in mid 2000's. I use to see 50 birds at a time back then.

Greene county had more birds killed than anywhere in the state except for Maury county this year. Lumping the 2nd most populated county in the state into the same 'management unit' as some of the least populated counties in the state doesn't seem like good 'biology' to me.

Now could Greene county get better than it is under better management? Sure. But I fear this micromanagement will harm turkeys in sparsely populated areas more than it will help the population in the highest population density counties.

 

[woodyard]

I will not ever bother with their surveys again. Changing the results doesn't seem to be a problem to them.

 

[mike243]

Well if you don't vote in a election I don't think you should be able to say a word about the outcome, same thing with a survey, would have liked it better if they took email addresses to verify if a resident of the state and somebody with a hunting license.

 

[Ski]

would have liked it better if they took email addresses to verify if a resident of the state and somebody with a hunting license.

I feel that was by design. Same thing with not emailing license holders to make them aware. I thought it was strange I didn't have to sign in to complete the survey. Everything about it screams dog & pony show.

 

[oldmanelrod]

I replied to the "TWRA seeking input". I smell a rat in the works when TWRA talks about splitting gun season with an archery period in between in the split gun season. Why do we need a NOV-DEC archery only season when archery can already be used in gun season. Watch out for gun season and antlerless limit changes!

 

[41Magnum]

Submitted

 

[r2darr]

Alright, good point @TX300mag .... nerd time.

I looked at data going back to 2019 season for 4 counties (Henderson, Madison, Gibson, Crockett, referred to as HMGC). I don't have the time to pull in all of unit CWD, and would exclude Fayette and Hardeman either way since they are actually high prevalence. There are 12 total core counties in unit CWD. HMGC are similar boundary counties with low levels of reported CWD cases.

Specifically, I wanted to see if the % of antlered bucks harvested in HMGC is changing as compared to the statewide totals.

In 2019, HMGC accounted for 4.1% of the total statewide antlered deer harvest. The 3 year average from 2019-2021 was 4.19%

Last year, the % of bucks harvested accounted for in HMGC was 4.6% (3,812 antlered bucks vs 87,373)

This extra ~0.5% accounts for almost 500 more antlered bucks harvested in these 4 counties last year over expected trends.

Extrapolating this out, you can roughly assume an extra 1500 antlered bucks across unit CWD last year over prior year trends.

You can also see that the % is increasing across all 4 counties individually.

View attachment 200839

 

[Ski]

Why do we need a NOV-DEC archery only season when archery can already be used in gun season. Watch out for gun season and antlerless limit changes!

Agreed. Makes no sense to me and I'm primarily a bow hunter. This has special interest stink all over it. I've always erred to TWRA's side trusting that someone more educated/informed than me was making the decisions. But the CWD fiasco caused me to raise an eyebrow and this now has me outright suspicious. This faux transparency act is insulting.