Bag Limits

[redleg06]

I'd be really interested for someone wiser than myself to do a formal correlation between raccoon numbers and turkey numbers in that same area. My guess, just from the limited amount that I've studied about it personally is that this may have a bigger cause and effect than most people think.  Consider this - a pretty good hunter may "tag out" or account for 3 or 4 (depends on local bag limit) dead birds per year but a single raccoon can stumble on a nest of 12-13 eggs and knock it out in about 30minutes. They're destroying hens and gobblers both when they destroy a nest. My guess is that there's more raccoons in the woods than hunters.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYoa2Dp_y0I&t=373s

[idgobble]

Idaho has a two bird limit and they can both be taken on the  same day.  That's a mistake in any state. Limit should always be 1 per day.  I'm also starting to look into the youth season that starts a week before the regular. I'm in favor of recruiting new young hunters but not sure about letting them start a week early. I'll have to find out how many they actually get in that early season. Biggest problem is two in the same day. Second biggest might be starting the regular season too early. Sure wouldn't hurt to delay it a week but I know some hunters will complain.

[Loyalist84]

In my province it's a 2 bearded birds, 1 per day limit. In my WMU, which covers 4 counties and around 975 square miles, there are around 650 birds killed a year and have been for the last 8 or so years. I'm not worried about excess hunting, but a wet spring we had last year no doubt hammered the poults so we may see a dip in mature birds next year. I certainly agree that nest predators are an issue and that bearded hens should not be shot, but as the populations stand I have seen nothing but very steady and plentiful numbers - not as good as they were 10 or 15 years ago in the post-reintroduction boom, but I can go to 4 farms at opposite ends of the same county and count well over 7 mature toms and the same or more number of jakes at each one. At least in my hunting spots we should be good barring a bad winter or a similar occurrence which, really, happens in nature whether we want it to or not. It may help that when our season rolls around, the peak nesting period has already occured if we have an early spring, and is well on its way if we run according to schedule so knocking mature birds out of the running has less of an effect than other seasons.

[Sir-diealot]

As an Okie I've been killing my three birds per year for years but for the last few years I've went to a self imposed one per county limit.  Now everyone has to follow suit...I'm such a trend setter.

So is that one per day per county for the entire season or was there a limit to how many you can take per season total? I mean I can't imagine you could hunt all 77 counties and take one in each so long as you did not get more than one in a county per day?

[eggshell]

Modern bag limits are set low enough that they will not impact an over-all change in turkey flocks across a state or region. They will impact the hunting experience. If a population as a whole is declining then something else is happening, other than legal harvest. I stated earlier that I manage the harvest on the land I control. Sure it gives me a steady number of mature gobblers to hunt, but the flock numbers remain unchanged (allowing for year to year fluctuations ). There was a period where this farm wasn't hunted for several years in the 90s and the flock changed very little. My vote still goes to nest and poult depredation.

[jgard]

In Oklahoma it is a max 3 toms. Prior to this year you had counties with either a one bird or two bird limit. Se Oklahoma had a one bird limit combined over a specific  6 countIes   Now all counties will be one bird. Se no change and the same 3 bird spring limit

[Sir-diealot]

In Oklahoma it is a max 3 toms. Prior to this year you had counties with either a one bird or two bird limit. Se Oklahoma had a one bird limit combined over a specific  6 countIes   Now all counties will be one bird. Se no change and the same 3 bird spring limit

Okay, thanks, that makes more sense to me.

[jgard]

no problem  And i should say that jakes and bearded hens are legal birds which i dont like

[zelmo1]

NH just went to a second spring bird last year. That is plenty. 2 total for spring and fall. Maine is 2 spring birds and 5 fall birds anything goes. Just only 2 in a day. Way too many. A lot of hunters up here are meat hunters. They don't even go in the spring and go out and shoot a bunch in the fall, first opportunity. I would like to see a split season in NH. One bird in first 2 weeks and one in the second. No hens, even bearded, and jakes to youths and first time hunters. This will keep the pressure down and hopefully maximize the resource. Plus it will get the "leaky booters" out of the woods, lol. Al

[quavers59]

        Up here in New York in DEC ZONES 3+4- The Fall Turkey Season was Slashed + Shortened from 6 Weeks to 2 Weeks and the bag lowered from 2 Turkeys to 1 Turkey. In Addition- the Season was pushed back 3 Weeks from October 1st to The 3rd Week in October. This change was started before the Fall Turkey Season of 2015. That same year the Early Bow Deer Season was moved back 3 Weeks from the 3rd Week of October to October 1st in DEC ZONES 3 +4.  ( Basically a Switch was done..).    The Turkey Population was Strong and remains so. " My observation".     The Problem, I see in 2 areas that, I hunt Fall Turkeys in every year are NO TURKEYS where they always roost just prior to October 1st. Traditionally- just about everything opened on October 1st as far as alot of Small game and remains so. Squirrel,Rabbit,Pheasant,Woodcock,etc,etc.     The only thing, I can figure is in those 3 weeks before the opening day of Fall Turkey Season--- the Turkeys are being Poached out of their ( regular) Fall Turkey Roosts.   I guarantee some Fall Turkey Poachers are out on the October 1st Squirrel opening day.           I already had to Yell at 3 Fall Turkey Hunters back in 2014- one year before the Fall season change.  Legal Time is Sunrise in the Fall and these 3 were shooting before Sunrise. Just a Cascade of Shots. I know because, I was back there and getting ready to set up and wait.    Only my Yelling stopped the Shots.    Now-- when, I scout back in these 2 areas before the opening date of the 3rd week in October, I just see very old Turkey sign or none.    I suspect this is probably happening in many other secluded areas.      I don't think that moving the Fall NY Turkey Season back 3 Weeks has helped much. On the other hand-- the Bow Deer hunters are enjoying 3 extra weeks since 2015.       Just my personal observation in a few of my areas that used to be solid in the Fall.