I'm curious about hunter success rates. I've been asked to do a podcast about turkey hunting in Idaho, my home. Our Spring success rate for hunts for the last three years range from 35% to 46%, depending on the hunting unit. I'm wondering where we rank. Please reply with the success rate for your state. Thanks.
If Florida ever claimed a success rate I've never seen it reported. It would be a wild guess anyway since they continue to allow the over 65 year old resident to hunt without being licensed. The recent mandatory harvest reporting system helps with accountability but does nothing to account for the unlicensed unsuccessful.
I am an engineer by trade so I do a lot of number crunching on turkey statistics.
On public land, areas with a 35-40% success rate are VERY good. Your average success rate on public land in these eastern states I frequent is more like 18-20%
There are so many that go out once or twice then find something better to do that all these stats can be misleading.
Texas just started making harvest reporting mandatory last year. I'm very curious to see the data when it comes out. I'm betting harvest will be much lower than most people think. Not sure how they'll determine success rates either. We get 4 tags on a license, doesn't matter if you turkey hunt or not. You only fill out all the harvest reporting information and questions if you kill one. They'll have great data on those that log kills, but no data on anyone that hunts but doesn't kill, or people that have licenses but don't turkey hunt. Can't determine success rates if they're missing half the dataset.
Georgia looks to run about 25-30% for private land and 5-6% on WMAs.
The number of birds seems to still be declining in the areas that I hunt around the state. All private land
Success rates fell slightly after shortening of the season and reduction of bag limits.
Some states you'd never be able to know. Like my state of Virginia and many eastern states. The turkey tags are included in a big game license. So if you want to deer hunt you buy a big game license and here in Virginia it comes with 4 deer tags and 3 turkey tags. So it would be difficult to know who hunted turkeys and who didn't. Virginia had no issue separating the bear tag that use to come with the license but even at that you buy the sportsmen combo, that I do every year, and it comes with a bear tag. But I have no desire to kill a bear but it's cheaper to buy the all inclusive license for fishing and what not.
Virginia just "estimates" how many turkey hunters they think there is based off the harvest numbers and I gotta assume other states do as well that have the combo big game"big game" license. Although Virginia now calls it "deer/turkey" license. I'm not opposed to them splitting that up like they did the bear license. But Virginia doesn't have a big pull in the turkey lobby like they do the bear association here. And it would upset a lot of people who like to kill a turkey on Thanksgiving with a .30/06 just because turkey season is open that day and one wanders by. But I got off subject so I apologize
Quote from: deathfoot on May 07, 2025, 07:10:16 PMSome states you'd never be able to know. Like my state of Virginia and many eastern states. The turkey tags are included in a big game license. So if you want to deer hunt you buy a big game license and here in Virginia it comes with 4 deer tags and 3 turkey tags. So it would be difficult to know who hunted turkeys and who didn't. Virginia had no issue separating the bear tag that use to come with the license but even at that you buy the sportsmen combo, that I do every year, and it comes with a bear tag. But I have no desire to kill a bear but it's cheaper to buy the all inclusive license for fishing and what not.
Virginia just "estimates" how many turkey hunters they think there is based off the harvest numbers and I gotta assume other states do as well that have the combo big game"big game" license. Although Virginia now calls it "deer/turkey" license. I'm not opposed to them splitting that up like they did the bear license. But Virginia doesn't have a big pull in the turkey lobby like they do the bear association here. And it would upset a lot of people who like to kill a turkey on Thanksgiving with a .30/06 just because turkey season is open that day and one wanders by. But I got off subject so I apologize
This. Licenses desperately need to be separated and simplified. Just simply sell the tags similar to Missouri
Do away with this all game/small game crap with add on permits.
Wanna hunt deer, here's your deer tags (the tag IS the license.
Wanna hunt turkey, here's your turkey tags
And so forth.
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Quote from: sasquatch1 on May 07, 2025, 07:21:28 PMQuote from: deathfoot on May 07, 2025, 07:10:16 PMSome states you'd never be able to know. Like my state of Virginia and many eastern states. The turkey tags are included in a big game license. So if you want to deer hunt you buy a big game license and here in Virginia it comes with 4 deer tags and 3 turkey tags. So it would be difficult to know who hunted turkeys and who didn't. Virginia had no issue separating the bear tag that use to come with the license but even at that you buy the sportsmen combo, that I do every year, and it comes with a bear tag. But I have no desire to kill a bear but it's cheaper to buy the all inclusive license for fishing and what not.
Virginia just "estimates" how many turkey hunters they think there is based off the harvest numbers and I gotta assume other states do as well that have the combo big game"big game" license. Although Virginia now calls it "deer/turkey" license. I'm not opposed to them splitting that up like they did the bear license. But Virginia doesn't have a big pull in the turkey lobby like they do the bear association here. And it would upset a lot of people who like to kill a turkey on Thanksgiving with a .30/06 just because turkey season is open that day and one wanders by. But I got off subject so I apologize
This. Licenses desperately need to be separated and simplified. Just simply sell the tags similar to Missouri
Do away with this all game/small game crap with add on permits.
Wanna hunt deer, here's your deer tags (the tag IS the license.
Wanna hunt turkey, here's your turkey tags
And so forth.
Amen !! I wish Illinois would
Quote from: sasquatch1 on May 07, 2025, 07:21:28 PMQuote from: deathfoot on May 07, 2025, 07:10:16 PMSome states you'd never be able to know. Like my state of Virginia and many eastern states. The turkey tags are included in a big game license. So if you want to deer hunt you buy a big game license and here in Virginia it comes with 4 deer tags and 3 turkey tags. So it would be difficult to know who hunted turkeys and who didn't. Virginia had no issue separating the bear tag that use to come with the license but even at that you buy the sportsmen combo, that I do every year, and it comes with a bear tag. But I have no desire to kill a bear but it's cheaper to buy the all inclusive license for fishing and what not.
Virginia just "estimates" how many turkey hunters they think there is based off the harvest numbers and I gotta assume other states do as well that have the combo big game"big game" license. Although Virginia now calls it "deer/turkey" license. I'm not opposed to them splitting that up like they did the bear license. But Virginia doesn't have a big pull in the turkey lobby like they do the bear association here. And it would upset a lot of people who like to kill a turkey on Thanksgiving with a .30/06 just because turkey season is open that day and one wanders by. But I got off subject so I apologize
This. Licenses desperately need to be separated and simplified. Just simply sell the tags similar to Missouri
Do away with this all game/small game crap with add on permits.
Wanna hunt deer, here's your deer tags (the tag IS the license.
Wanna hunt turkey, here's your turkey tags
And so forth.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I totally agree. But I doubt I see that in my lifetime here. Just like the law allowing rifles that needs to be changed and won't be.
I don't think it's as difficult to track hunting success as some of you think. My state has about 20,000 Spring hunters. They send out a survey at the end of the season. here's another thing they do: https://idfg.idaho.gov/node/49836
Quote from: idgobble on May 07, 2025, 08:38:12 PMI don't think it's as difficult to track hunting success as some of you think. My state has about 20,000 Spring hunters. They send out a survey at the end of the season. here's another thing they do: https://idfg.idaho.gov/node/49836
You are correct. But a state needs to do a survey and people need to fill it out. When you combine a "big game" license that includes turkey tags I'm guessing the state isn't worried about how many turkey hunters there are. When you sell over 150,000 combo tags I doubt they want to survey that. I could be wrong. But of those 150,000 plus, how many are turkey hunters. We don't know. They don't ask. Splitting the license would definitely help. But that's my opinion
Much more interested in harvest numbers than success rates. So many variables in success reporting. Did the hunter hunt two days or 30 days? An unsuccessful hunter that only hunted opening weekend or one that hunted hard throughout the season is a big difference. What's Idaho's ultimate goal? If Idaho is going to publicize a 46% success rate then hang on because you've got a deluge coming. Agree with the "loose lips" group on this one. I had never researched Idaho as a turkey destination. I will now.
Yeah the whole thing is flawed from the start. As if success is only measured in terms of kills.
As previous posters have pointed out for most states that sell tags in a combination it's impossible to get reliable data.
With that being said It's a good bet the Western states are going to rank much higher than Eastern states where turkeys have inhabited much longer and been hunted for much longer. It's nowhere near the same.
I agree with previous poster. It's a meaningless stat and pales in comparison to actual harvest numbers.
If they know how many tags were sold and and how many birds are harvested and require you to e-check your harvest, they know tom/jake, resident/non resident, county, public/private, weapon used, and time of harvest. To me that's alot of info collected in a short time it takes the hunter to report the harvest and they have the data gathered with minimal effort on their part or the hunters. In kansas you even have to take a picture of the harvest to add to the info given. I hunted Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin this season and used the e-check to report all harvests. It's not a perfect system due to having to have cell service, but to me it's better than sending out hunter surveys.
For a long time FL went the survey route. Most thought it worthless. Glad for at least an attempt at mandatory reporting.
Quote from: Rio Bandito on May 07, 2025, 11:29:37 AMTexas just started making harvest reporting mandatory last year. I'm very curious to see the data when it comes out. I'm betting harvest will be much lower than most people think. Not sure how they'll determine success rates either. We get 4 tags on a license, doesn't matter if you turkey hunt or not. You only fill out all the harvest reporting information and questions if you kill one. They'll have great data on those that log kills, but no data on anyone that hunts but doesn't kill, or people that have licenses but don't turkey hunt. Can't determine success rates if they're missing half the dataset.
In Oregon we have to report kills. But also report.on un filled tags and report if didn't hunt on the tag, which units we hunted, number of days hunted in the units, sex of the bird, juvenile or adult, private or public and weapon used.
The reason for the extra tags and licenses is simply money. The agency receives a percentage of the money for each Tag/license sold. The more they can sell or come up with that you have to purchase, the more money they receive. I also think the percentages of birds harvested will never be close to correct due to those people who shoot birds and never report. In a 3 bird state, they may report the first one killed, but forego the other two. Which happens a lot more than you think. So it's always going to be skewed to a degree.
We have to report on each tag if we got a bird or not and for each tag not reported on by a certain date, has a $25 fine attached to it and must be paid off before we can purchase a new hunting license.
I assume that can all be done on line. Seems a bit extreme at first glance but basically a good idea especially if quota areas are involved. Down here in Florida there is often suspicion that anti-hunters apply for and draw hunts that are never used. Might slow that down some. Wouldn't hurt.
Quote from: joey46 on May 14, 2025, 05:56:52 AMI assume that can all be done on line. Seems a bit extreme at first glance but basically a good idea especially if quota areas are involved. Down here in Florida there is often suspicion that anti-hunters apply for and draw hunts that are never used. Might slow that down some. Wouldn't hurt.
Yes, it can done on line or called in to an automated questionnaire on the phone. Living in Oregon, a very blue state, I am sure anti hunters do apply for tags and then trash them all they have to do is report that they didn't hunt on the tag. No quotas for turkeys and they post the harvest results so that one can see which units produce the most kills, has the most hunters and an age population.
In my opinion, hunter success rates are pretty much meaningless to anyone other than the individual hunter himself, because they don't take into account any data other than the hunter/harvest ratio.
Now if you have accurate information comparing the number of man days hunted to the kill numbers, that can give you a better picture of the actual situation. I might have a tough year, but still tag out because I'm in the woods every day compared to striking out because I only hunted a couple of mornings.
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Quote from: Neill_Prater on May 16, 2025, 08:03:57 AMIn my opinion, hunter success rates are pretty much meaningless to anyone other than the individual hunter himself, because they don't take into account any data other than the hunter/harvest ratio.
Now if you have accurate information comparing the number of man days hunted to the kill numbers, that can give you a better picture of the actual situation. I might have a tough year, but still tag out because I'm in the woods every day compared to striking out because I only hunted a couple of mornings.
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That is what Oregon is doing. How many days hunted, how many days in each unit you hunted and so fourth.
Take a look at the "Surveys are going out" topic for opinions on surveys.
Quote from: Neill_Prater on May 16, 2025, 08:03:57 AMIn my opinion, hunter success rates are pretty much meaningless to anyone other than the individual hunter himself, because they don't take into account any data other than the hunter/harvest ratio.
Now if you have accurate information comparing the number of man days hunted to the kill numbers, that can give you a better picture of the actual situation. I might have a tough year, but still tag out because I'm in the woods every day compared to striking out because I only hunted a couple of mornings.
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That's pretty much how I look at it. Makes me feel kinda bad when I do.
Where I live you must register your kills in 48 hours after your kill. You are allowed 2 male turkey (jake or tom). And the success rate is at 30% for a first turkey than 12% for the second turkey...
My home state success is low, second bird success is pitiful, I kill two every year and it only takes a few days!
Just lots of boot leather!
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When reporting Easterns in Tx, they ask for days hunted, Jake's seen, spur and beard lengths, and if turkey populations are up, down or steady in your area.
Kind of subjective but it can help spots trends.
great... another podcast....