MickThompson":19lmsrl0 said:
The reasoning is poor recruitment because of recent floods. While a later opener will not address flooding, it will hopefully ensure all hens are bred, and in the case of another flood, ensure there are a few gobblers left to breed hens when they renest. Every one of the listed WMAs are in flood plains or wetlands.
There is your biological justification. While hunters pay the bills, TWRA has a responsibility to the resource first, and the sportsman second.
Its taken TWRA nearly 5 years to respond to the devistating floods of 2011. 2012, 2013 and 2014 passed by for them to recognize this. Where was the responsibility to the resources as open to statewide hunting resumed then? Ive yet to receive an answer on that.
My personal experience with John Tully WMA (since I hunt it religiously) was the population was nearly whiped out in 2011. Since then the population has rebounded on its on, allowing for the highest harvest total in a decade prior to the quota hunt change. Local TWRA personnel also reported great hatches in 2014 and I can attest for the increased number of sightings from my time in the field through out the year.
Ive sent respectful emails to Commisioner Bill Cox as well as others since last spring, im still awaiting a reply to this day regarding these issues. As a result I dont have much faith in receiving a email reply from any Commissioner we have.
The issue I have with TWRA and the TWC is you cant manage each WMA the same. Even though all of our WMAs in question are in the flood plain, they all flood differently. Some flood at lower Ms River stages than others. They also have different aspects that should be considered as well. Shelby Forest is flat over run with wild hogs and is having an negative impact on other native game species such as turkeys. Emails have been sent to our area Commisioner Bill Cox about this issue, once again no reply was received and after watching the videos he failed to bring this up during the final meeting on the proclamation just the other day (unless I missed it). However, as a side note, Cox jumped in at the last moment and brought forth an admendment so Unit L could extend deer season by 5 days for doe only on private lands, against the advice of Chuck Yoest (as I perceived it). Obviously Commisioner Cox's interest is in private land hunters.
It sure seems poor management is a contributing factor for the issues we face with our flocks in the alluvial flood plain of West Tenn compounded by a record flood. Decades ago Shelby Forest and Anderson Tully had turkeys when many places in Tennessee did not, as a result many years of trapping took place to aid in the restoration efforts across the state. Now the original flocks suffer while others prosper.
