Midwest US turkey decline

[jims]

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I was wondering how many have noticed the steady decline in turkey numbers the past few years in the Midwest states (S Dak, Nebraska, Kansas, etc)?  I hunted several states this year and there seemed to be a similar decrease in the population across the board at all of them.  Other hunters that I ran into also said the same thing.

I have a feeling there is a combination of things that has lead to this decline.  In Nebraska I have notice a huge increase in the coyote population.  In the past I spotted very few coyotes and the ones I saw seemed to have mange.  I would expect coyotes, raccoons, and other predators have a pretty high impact on poult survival.  I also noticed that the turkeys tend to be a lot quieter in recent springs with very little gobbling off the roost.  This may be an indication that they get eaten if they make noise!  Where I recently hunted in S Dakota there was hardly a turkey in the river bottoms.  I talked to several hunters and farmers that mentioned that they tend to leave the river bottoms (at least during daylight hours) to get away from predators.  Hens may totally leave river bottems to nest....and I'm sure the toms follow them.

I guess I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this in some of the Midwest areas where there are adjoining open draws and canyons above river bottoms where they tend to be in large flocks during the winter months?  If you happen to be big game hunting this fall be sure to do the turkeys a favor and shoot every coyote you run into!

[Marc]

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What I have seen on the west coast is that turkey populations are extremely cyclic...  You can go from feast to famine in one season with the proper (or improper) weather or habitat conditions...  Seems that it can take about 2 years to go from famine to feast in my experience as well...

However, it is likely that we will see a continued overall down-ward trend of turkey (and other game populations) due to changes in farming practices and more and more loss and change of habitat...

[RailRoader]

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Marc is right. Farming practices are hurting the population. I’m not sure what could be done to change them. I’m the south east populations have declined severely. Hope it’s not to late to turn it around.

[Gentry]

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I think they're getting killed! I have hunted WIHA in a certain area of Kansas for years with very rarely seeing another hunter except for the last couple years started seeing more and more people and population shows it!   

[FL-Boss]

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More people every year... Less land every year...simple.  Think about how much it's changed in just the last 10-15 years. Grim outlook for you younger guys.
 Start saving now...because if you enjoy hunting in piece and quiet...its going to cost big $$$ in the coming years.

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[fallhnt]

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Seen a lot of jakes in NE this year but KS has been down for 10 years at least.

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[Cottonmouth]

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I'm from MS but have hunted NE for close to 20 yrs. The population there has steadily declined. The coyote population has exploded,  that would be my guess as the reason for decline. I never heard a coyote there until about 2005 or so.

[owlhoot]

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How about them nest raiders and egg sucking raccoon, no one hunts them ,traps them or monitors that population. Hides are worth virtually nothing and except for a few hard core hound guys no one bothers with them.
Bet I saw more of them this year than strutting toms.

[DTGobble]

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Not sure about the Midwest, but I feel like our population is down quite a bit here (VA).  Some may disagree, but that’s been my experience.  I do feel like the farming practices have a negative effect on the turkeys, as well as predators.  Hopefully it’ll turn around but I wouldn’t bet on it.

[Gooserbat]

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There's a lot of factors, predation, drought, to much rain at the wrong time, hunting pressure, and hunting pressure can be broken down into several aspects, land access, length of season, harvest, online information exchange.

I just got back from Nebraska and I saw plenty of birds on private ground that received no pressure.  Public was a different story.  Sure it was late season.  Some things we as hunters can change or at least try to effect such as predator numbers, bag limits, or length of season and such.  Other things like weather is out of our hands. 

[Improvinghunter101]

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One of the bigger problems has been the fur prices being down in my opinion. Nobody traps just to trap. It was a way to make extra money or a living in some parts of the country. In central Illinois, I’ve also noticed the buffalo gnats seem to affect the turkey population. They can be downright agitating being outside. I can remember my face swelling up like a basketball after one hunt and I was only out there for about 15 minutes. Think about what a turkey has to endure while sitting on a nest.


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[jims]

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The private land I hunted in Nebraska has 0 hunting pressure.  I'm the only hunter allowed on a couple of the properties.  There has been a slow decline in turkey numbers and around 2/3 fewer turkeys than there were 7 years ago.  Predator numbers have skyrocketed plus they've had some lousy nesting conditions.  Hopefully things turn around soon!

[MissLouHunter]

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I have hunted Central Kansas for 10 years, and this year there was a noticeable decline in the population.

Drought, hard winter, down fur prices, increase OOS hunters, etc. are probably all factors.

[jims]

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What I don't quite understand is why states are lowering tags.  Many states up their winter tag quotas and even offer hen tags.   I'm not sure if many hens are harvested in the winter but it may be a good idea to eliminate hen tags in areas where turkey numbers have dramatically declined?

[captpete]

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The sad reality is limited tags sales means limited income for the DNR. I also agree on agricultural practices have changed. Here in Iowa, 25-30 yrs ago you could drive down the road and tell where every creek was from all the trees. Now all the trees and fence rows have been torn out and the sloughs have been tiled. Not only has it hurt the turkey population, but pheasants and other small game also. Iowa went from one of the top Pheasant hunting states in the country to nothing. It use to pretty common to get out of school and be able to shoot a Pheasant or two before season closed at 4:30. Now you can hunt most of the day and feel lucky to see a couple of birds.