Tennessee spring season limit is 4 .. Do you think your State Limit is too much or too less ? Can you buy extra tags in your state with limit of number of tags in Tennessee we cannot. What do you think of your Spring limits?
In Miss our limit is 3. I think 3 is enough. We cannot buy extra tags.
1 per permit. 3 max. IL
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NC is 2 bearded birds. 1 per day, 2 per season. Youth can only kill 1 bird per youth week. No Fall season. 2 birds is a gracious plenty with 29 days to hunt.
Missouri is a limit of 2. The first week your only allowed one bird Gobbler,Jake or bearded Hen. You have to wait until the second Monday to take your second bird. Same with a youth that harvest a bird during youth weekend. If you don't harvest a bird the first week you can harvest both birds consecutively in the second or third weeks of season but not on the same day. We can hunt until 13:00 each day. They set the season to open the closest Monday to the 16th of April. MDC added a third week to the season several years back now and did away with check stations for Turkey and Deer. They use a tele check system and they also have a app for that. I think that the 2 bird limit is fine. We have had several wet springs in a row that resulted in bad hatches.I think that our total numbers of birds has decreased over the last several years. Mostly because of wet weather and loss of habitat.
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Missouri - two bearded turkeys, only one per day, and only one tag can be used in the first week. Therefore if you kill on opening Monday you are waiting until the following Monday to try and fill the second tag. No hunting past 1pm and a relatively quick 21 day season with a 2 day youth weekend before season.
Kansas - most of the state is one bearded turkey, with the exception of the NW zones being two bearded turkeys, long and generous 46 day shotgun season, with a 10 day early archery, and 5 day youth/disabled season to start off the spring.
GA-3
AL-5
Utah is one long beard a year..it should be 2
Kentucky has a 2 bird limit 1 per day in the spring and 4 bird 1 per day fall season. In the fall you can only take 2 with a shotgun during the 2 separate 1 week gun seasons, the other 2 have to be with a bow which runs from September to January and of the 4 only 1 can have a beard longer than 3 in.
I think we need to lower the limit in TN to two
Maryland Spring Season is 2 bearded birds, gobbler, hen or jake. 1 per day, 2 per season. 5 week season. Just right IMO, although I'd rather see no hens period.
There is also a one week fall season in 3 counties. 1 bird either sex, I believe.
A statewide 3 day winter season in January. 1 bird either sex.
Quote from: countryboy3006 on May 08, 2020, 11:03:09 AM
Kentucky has a 2 bird limit 1 per day in the spring and 4 bird 1 per day fall season. In the fall you can only take 2 with a shotgun during the 2 separate 1 week gun seasons, the other 2 have to be with a bow which runs from September to January and of the 4 only 1 can have a beard longer than 3 in.
Gee, I wonder if Kentucky W&F can figure out a way to make that a bit more complicated?
I like the limits that WV and MD have set. 2 gobblers per spring. I do wish that the use of rifles was illegal in Wv but it is what it is. All I can do is email the DNR and complain about it.
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I live in Connecticut were the limit is 5 bearded birds in the spring and 3 of anything in the fall. This is new this year as the spring limit used to be 2 birds on state land and 3 on private, so you could still get 5 but not all in one place. I think that limit is too high. Three would be more then enough and 2 even better. It boggles the mind why they set it at 5 as according last years hunter survey 88% of respondents said they would be satisfied with a 3 bird limit.
I also hunt New York and Rhode Island. New York has a 2 bird spring limit and 1 in the fall and Rhode Island is 2 in the spring if you buy two permits (only one can come from public land) and RI has a 1 bird fall archery only season. I don't hunt Mass but last time I checked Mass was 2 bird yearly limit ( 2 could be taken in the spring or 1 in the spring and 1 in the fall, you just couldn't use both tags in the fall.
Quote from: guesswho on May 08, 2020, 10:49:05 AM
GA-3
AL-5
I think the differences in the population estimates, and I suppose the resulting limits, differ as much as they do between two adjacent states is more than a little interesting. I`m sure there`s one published somewhere, but I`d like to see a scientifically/biologically based explanation.
WV is 2 bearded turkeys in the spring, and one of either sex in the fall. I like these limits, but like Happy said, I'd love to see them outlaw rifles. Doesn't make sense that #2 shot isn't legal but you can shoot one with a 300 mag if you want. ::)
Minnesota limit is 1 bearded turkey. We have five 7 day seasons, if gun hunting you have to pick one season and can only hunt the 7 days. Archery you can hunt every season, but I don't like to sit in a blind so I choose to gun hunt. wish i could hunt more than the 7 days. I do like to go out without a gun after the seasons just to call.
Mississippi is 3. I think it should be 2 and no more Fall hunts unless the population rebounds.
29 I think if you have enough permits and enough time. That's not a misprint either
Lol well it depends on how deep your pockets are in NJ the states conservation agenda is just send them all your money and you can kill as much as you'd like. No Limit!! Just buy as many permits as you'd like. Same goes for deer however the loophole is you can't find any property to hunt because it's mostly private and posted so your forced to hunt State land which is a disaster.
There's a turkey limit in NJ. It's only 1 a day. That makes 29 spring birds if you can get permits. Up north not hard.
Deer is ridiculous, it is actually worded unlimited. State land is no issue and often better than private up north
Ok I stand corrected 29 Turkeys what state in the lower 48 allows that many.
Where exactly is it all private n posted? I can't think of anywhere Excessive except the central.
Tons of county parks, town and private management hunts, land trusts, state, town, federal lands, wmas, state parks, state forests, it goes on n on.
Quote from: Ol timer on May 08, 2020, 12:26:18 PM
Ok I stand corrected 29 Turkeys what state in the lower 48 allows that many.
Not one it's completely asinine
I believe it is a 2 bird (one per day) either sex fall limit, and 3 bird (one per day) spring season.
No tags, and limits are by the "honor system." I would almost prefer a tag system with the same season limits, but allow more than one bird per day (I often have limited days to hunt in the season)... I would not mind paying a bit more for those tags as long as the money went back into the "Fish & Wildlife" system, or went to habitat management and accessibility for hunters.
I think a lot less birds would be harvested with a tag system, due to some private land hunting and the lack of "honor" in the honor system....
NY 2, NJ one per day per tag.
Nj is one per permit per day. You can buy additional permits. Weird thing, you would think that the population would go down with these liberal bag limits. They stay fairly stable, approximately 3000 birds shot per year, 10,000 permits are approx sold. Seems tougher the past several years. Fall seasons are only allowed in certain zones. It certainly isn't' the like it used to be in the 80's, 90's. Its a big money maker for the state. If you don't have private access, it's extremely tough. WMA's are crowded.
Quote from: Turkeytider on May 08, 2020, 11:16:50 AM
Quote from: guesswho on May 08, 2020, 10:49:05 AM
GA-3
AL-5
I think the differences in the population estimates, and I suppose the resulting limits, differ as much as they do between two adjacent states is more than a little interesting. I`m sure there`s one published somewhere, but I`d like to see a scientifically/biologically based explanation.
Start dates and ending dates are about a couple weeks difference as well. Deer season is even more skewed. Georgia's gun season opens almost a month before Alabama's. And Alabama stays open in parts of the State about a month after Georgia's season closes.
In Ontario, it's 2 bearded birds, 1 per day in a 5-week Spring Season, and 1 bird in the Fall season which is the month of October.
Quote from: Bowguy on May 08, 2020, 12:27:05 PM
Quote from: Ol timer on May 08, 2020, 12:26:18 PM
Ok I stand corrected 29 Turkeys what state in the lower 48 allows that many.
Not one it's completely asinine
I thought Michigan's fall season had somebody odd bag limit. For some reason I thought you could buy as many tags as you wanted in certain parts of the state. But I've been wrong before.
Quote from: fallhnt on May 08, 2020, 10:25:45 AM
1 per permit. 3 max. IL
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[/quote I usually get 3 permits but I'm fine with getting one or 2. Wish they would reduce it to 2 tags. However, good ol JB reduced it for us this year. :angry9:
3 annually in Virginia, three bearded birds in spring. Two tags can be hens or gobblers in fall. But if you shoot fall birds it takes away from what you can kill in the spring. I would be happy with two birds with one in the fall, and I don't like that rifles are legal fall or spring.
Quote from: Brs2427 on May 08, 2020, 01:07:38 PM
3 annually in Virginia, three bearded birds in spring. Two tags can be hens or gobblers in fall. But if you shoot fall birds it takes away from what you can kill in the spring. I would be happy with two birds with one in the fall, and I don't like that rifles are legal fall or spring.
I agree. Two tags for spring with one of them a fall tag. Our regs also state no shot larger than No. 2 fine shot, don't know of anyone still hunting them with that size load. The "r" word is a touchy one, in 26 years I've only encountered 4 hunters with rifles but it still made me feel uneasy.
Quote from: trkehunr93 on May 08, 2020, 01:17:46 PM
Quote from: Brs2427 on May 08, 2020, 01:07:38 PM
3 annually in Virginia, three bearded birds in spring. Two tags can be hens or gobblers in fall. But if you shoot fall birds it takes away from what you can kill in the spring. I would be happy with two birds with one in the fall, and I don't like that rifles are legal fall or spring.
I agree. Two tags for spring with one of them a fall tag. Our regs also state no shot larger than No. 2 fine shot, don't know of anyone still hunting them with that size load. The "r" word is a touchy one, in 26 years I've only encountered 4 hunters with rifles but it still made me feel uneasy.
It's the exact opposite in my experience hunting West virginia. In 15 years I have run into exactly 3 fellows carrying shotguns. The rest where rifles. One of those fellows carrying a shotgun had a buddy carrying a .223 "in case they hang up." was the explanation I received.
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As mentioned, 3 bearded birds in the Spring in VA. Absolutely hate that rifles are legal in the Spring, had someone come in on me carrying an AR.
Hunting in areas with riffles would make me really uneasy especially on public land.
I hunt in FLA & SC mainly. FLA has been 2 birds for as long as I can remember.
SC used to be 5, then they dropped it to 3, then this year they dropped it to 2 for non-residents and 3 for residents. They cited reduced turkey populations for their decision, which makes absolutely no sense because there are more resident hunters than non-residents. They also started charging non-residents $100 for turkey tags when historically they were free. The decision was about money, not turkeys.
Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.
Quote from: Zeke6685 on May 08, 2020, 11:38:43 AM
WV is 2 bearded turkeys in the spring, and one of either sex in the fall. I like these limits, but like Happy said, I'd love to see them outlaw rifles. Doesn't make sense that #2 shot isn't legal but you can shoot one with a 300 mag if you want. ::)
I agree 100%
Florida - 2
I Iowa we have 4 seasons. You can get 2 tags as long as one of them is 4th season.
La is two Gobblers one a day but if things keep going like they are it's gonna be zero per season. Only positive thing about our population not a lot of out of staters coming here to hunt, which is alright with me I got my hands full with these coona$$ mouth breathers lol
New York - 2 in the Spring must be male or bearded hen. I wish they would remove that beaded hen though, killing hens is killing the future and makes no sense to me at all. I am not sure about fall hunting to be honest, I have never done it.
Nebraska is 1 male or bearded female per permit, 3 permits allowed per hunter in the spring season, which is pretty long. Archery started March 25th, youth April 11th, and shogun April 18th. Fall season runs from September through the end of January, two birds of either sex per permit, 2 permits allowed per hunter.
So you could take 7 turkeys a year over the course of about 7 months if you wanted to.
some grocery stores are limiting you to 1 turkey
Living in ms/ La area I hunt both states
Ms is 3
La is 2
IMO Ms season is to long and starts to early .
La is trying to get population back with their late starting date , only time will tell if it works ? I haven't noticed difference yet in my area . Thank God for ms no Jake law , because with out it we wouldn't have much carry over !!
Florida is 2 in fall and 2 in spring. I don't hunt fall, but you could kill 4 in one year (2 fall, 2 spring). Bearded only in fall. When I deer hunted, I passed on a ton of gobblers. Save 'em for spring. I duck hunt in the fall, so just not enough time.
North Carolina - 2 beared only spring season.
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Arkansas is 2 bearded with only a spring season.
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Texas four total tags to be used over fall or spring. Jakes, bearded hens, or toms only in spring.
Idaho spring limit is 2 bearded turkeys 4/15 - 5/25, they can be shot the same day. You're issued a general tag, but you can purchase an extra tag for bird #2.
I'm not familiar with the fall hunting situation. I know you can buy a second extra tag for either-sex hunt where available.
I think two gobblers in the spring is fair.
Oklahoma: 3
Indiana, is one bearded Turkey in the spring, and one Turkey hen or gobbler in the fall. I wish the would not kill hens any time of the year. There are parts of the state that have lots of Turkeys and other parts that do not have any. It is even this way in my Northern county.
New Hampshire 2 birds either 2 in spring or one each spring and fall. BTW it is 32 degrees and snowing as I write. High winds and cold keep me out of the woods in morning. Safe Season to all
Pennsylvania is 1 bearded bird in spring with your regular hunting license, you can buy a "special turkey tag" for a 2nd bearded spring bird but you need to be sure your gonna need it cause they close the sale of the special tag right before the season opens and it costs about as much as your regular hunting license. I bought it last year and never filled it I only got my first. It's worth it for me Though to be able to stay out after them even if I don't fill it but I've heard several people say they'd never pay for that tag before they even know if they'll need their first.
We're allowed 1 either sex bird in most areas in the fall.
Alabama is 5 turkeys, one per day. No hens. There are a couple of counties with very short fall seasons and you can't use decoys. I think the 5 bird should go down to 3. Good hunting still, but lots of folks will say fewer turkeys then we've had in recent years.
In NY, two in the spring and one in the fall.
Never understood the bearded turkey reg,
I mean really you can't tell a hen from a Tom?
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Connecticut was 2 state 3 private and only hunt until noon in the spring. This year (2020)the state changed it to 5 birds anywhere (state or Private) and they moved to all day hunting. On top of that we have a fall season where you can kill another 5 if you get both the fall shotgun and bow tags. The fall also allows you to shoot hens. Crazy high limits for a state with only 35,000 birds.
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MD is 2 in the spring, plus 1 in the fall/winter. I like that limit.
Texas has a four bird limit per year. Only one of them can be an eastern. I live and hunt in eastern territory. :-\ :-\
You can take your four Rios in the fall or spring, your choice.
Easterns are spring only, one bird a year.
Quote from: Bennett on May 08, 2020, 11:08:19 AM
I think we need to lower the limit in TN to two
^^^THIS^^^
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Michigan is 1 bearded turkey in spring and 1 bearded turkey or hen in the fall.
TN needs to be lowered to 2.
For the guys commenting on TN, now is the time to voice your opinion to the TWRA and the TN Wildlife Commission. They may not make a change or follow what you want but at least you can say that you voiced your concerns. See below some info:
The TN Wildlife Commission will be voting at the end of May on the 21 & 22 Spring seasons. The TWRA has recommended to reduce the limit to two and push the season back two weeks in Southern Middle TN counties and MS River border counties. The rest of the state is recommended to stay the same. I believe that the limit should be reduced statewide and sent info in last week via the avenues below.
The proposals for the next two seasons can be found at the link below:
https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/ ... pdates.pdf
1) TWRA is requesting input on these proposals until 5/15. You can send an email to Twra.huntingcomments@tn.gov. with the title "Hunting Season Comments."
2) Now is time to email the commissioners with your comments. They make the final vote on the seasons and do look at the comments. Their email and info can be found here.
https://www.tn.gov/twra/tennessee-fish- ... ssion.html
3) Normally they allow public participation at these meetings which usually has more pull than anything but really not sure how they will do this with the virus going around.
My entire life, SC has been started on March 15, and ran until the end of April, with 2 gobblers per day, and 5 per season, with bearded hens. Tags have always been free. This year, they reduced the season limit to 3 per season, with only one in the first ten days, and one per day total. Tags are also $5 now. The season dates have also been pushed back to start one week later in my GameZone.
With the sudden drastic changes, it looks like a knee jerk reaction. I and others have not seen a drastic decline in bird numbers, if anything we have seen more. I don't mind paying the $5, or even the new regs, but the changes don't reflect the severity of the situation. We have seen more hunters, but from those I've talked to, the increased pressure is making the harvest numbers reduce. They say that the recent arrival of coyotes and bad storms in spring the past few years has hit the population hard. Maybe believable, but if that's the case, then don't burn giant tracts of govt woods in April that hold birds like you have been for the past 5 years, SCDNR!
Quote from: Big Guy on May 08, 2020, 03:08:26 PM
I Iowa we have 4 seasons. You can get 2 tags as long as one of them is 4th season.
You can also have 2 tags in the fall. You can shoot bearded and non-bearded turkeys in the fall.
I hunt in NC (2 birds) and VA (3 birds). I live right on the border and we hunt all private land. My son and I only shoot Toms with beards over 7-8" inches. We hunt enough land to limit out in both states but that never happens. We get to hunt as much as we want though and see or hear turkeys on most of our outings. We're very fortunate.
I Turkey Hunt in New York + New Jersey. I would like to see a 3 Spring Turkey limit in NY rather then just 2. In New Jersey-- no doubt about it- the Spring Turkey Limit should not exceed 5 . 1 PERMIT ( MAX) FOR PERIODS A,B C,D,E. No Spring Hunter in NJ Should be taking 8- 10- 15-17+ Gobblers in New Jersey. Give other Spring Hunters a chance. New Jersey should change to ( 5 MAX).
Quote from: quavers59 on May 11, 2020, 03:57:55 PM
I Turkey Hunt in New York + New Jersey. I would like to see a 3 Spring Turkey limit in NY rather then just 2. In New Jersey-- no doubt about it- the Spring Turkey Limit should not exceed 5 . 1 PERMIT ( MAX) FOR PERIODS A,B C,D,E. No Spring Hunter in NJ Should be taking 8- 10- 15-17+ Gobblers in New Jersey. Give other Spring Hunters a chance. New Jersey should change to ( 5 MAX).
I live in NY and am personally against a 3 bird limit in the Spring, our population has dropped enough, we do not need to kill more. I also would love to see the bearded hen law abolished, killing hens is killing the future and very foolish in my mind.
Wild Turkey Populations have rebounded in Zones 3 + 4 in New York. The Fall Turkey Season was slashed from 6 weeks to just 2 weeks in 2015. In addition- Fall Turkey no longer opens on October 1st. Now the Fall Turkey opener is 3 weeks later in October. As a result - not many Fall Turkeys are taken compared to the former Season. That is why there are many more wild Turkeys in New York and a 3 Spring limit is now possible in NY.
Quote from: quavers59 on May 11, 2020, 05:15:54 PM
Wild Turkey Populations have rebounded in Zones 3 + 4 in New York. The Fall Turkey Season was slashed from 6 weeks to just 2 weeks in 2015. In addition- Fall Turkey no longer opens on October 1st. Now the Fall Turkey opener is 3 weeks later in October. As a result - not many Fall Turkeys are taken compared to the former Season. That is why there are many more wild Turkeys in New York and a 3 Spring limit is now possible in NY.
There are not many more in NY I saw more 20 years ago than I see now by far and just about every hunter and farmer I know says the same thing. Lowest since 2009 https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/sports/2019/06/27/new-york-state-turkey-population-lowest-observed-since-2009/1573159001/ I would gladly vote against a 3 bird limit, and banning taking bearded hen.
I am in the school that NY has seen a population rebound in the last few years. Nothing like the early 2000's, but better than it was
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Quote from: Terry on May 11, 2020, 06:26:09 PM
I am in the school that NY has seen a population rebound in the last few years. Nothing like the early 2000's, but better than it was
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Every report I have read has said differently. Maybe marginally better in some areas but not in most.
Quote from: LRD on May 11, 2020, 09:13:03 AM
For the guys commenting on TN, now is the time to voice your opinion to the TWRA and the TN Wildlife Commission. They may not make a change or follow what you want but at least you can say that you voiced your concerns. See below some info:
The TN Wildlife Commission will be voting at the end of May on the 21 & 22 Spring seasons. The TWRA has recommended to reduce the limit to two and push the season back two weeks in Southern Middle TN counties and MS River border counties. The rest of the state is recommended to stay the same. I believe that the limit should be reduced statewide and sent info in last week via the avenues below.
The proposals for the next two seasons can be found at the link below:
https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/ ... pdates.pdf
1) TWRA is requesting input on these proposals until 5/15. You can send an email to Twra.huntingcomments@tn.gov. with the title "Hunting Season Comments."
2) Now is time to email the commissioners with your comments. They make the final vote on the seasons and do look at the comments. Their email and info can be found here.
https://www.tn.gov/twra/tennessee-fish- ... ssion.html
3) Normally they allow public participation at these meetings which usually has more pull than anything but really not sure how they will do this with the virus going around.
Comments sent to commissioners and TWRA
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Quote from: Sir-diealot on May 11, 2020, 06:28:54 PM
Quote from: Terry on May 11, 2020, 06:26:09 PM
I am in the school that NY has seen a population rebound in the last few years. Nothing like the early 2000's, but better than it was
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Every report I have read has said differently. Maybe marginally better in some areas but not in most.
That's true, some areas are up other's are down. The problem with NY is that we had a huge population boom over 20 years ago and people thought that was the norm. Now we have a more stable population and people are complaining the population is low. There are plenty of turkey to be killed, it just takes more effort than it did in the good Ol' days. One of the guys I occasionally talk to has hunted several states and he loves NY due to the lack of hunters and high numbers of birds. We have a good population, just takes more work than it did during the boom
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Quote from: Terry on May 11, 2020, 06:42:35 PM
Quote from: Sir-diealot on May 11, 2020, 06:28:54 PM
Quote from: Terry on May 11, 2020, 06:26:09 PM
I am in the school that NY has seen a population rebound in the last few years. Nothing like the early 2000's, but better than it was
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Every report I have read has said differently. Maybe marginally better in some areas but not in most.
That's true, some areas are up other's are down. The problem with NY is that we had a huge population boom over 20 years ago and people thought that was the norm. Now we have a more stable population and people are complaining the population is low. There are plenty of turkey to be killed, it just takes more effort than it did in the good Ol' days. One of the guys I occasionally talk to has hunted several states and he loves NY due to the lack of hunters and high numbers of birds. We have a good population, just takes more work than it did during the boom
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I worked a whole lot hard back before my car accident (Because I could) than I do now and got my first bird last year. As I said almost every hunter I see post and almost every farmer says they are seeing less and less every year. Now what I will say is I think my county (Yates) has really suffered because of the widespread practice of most Mennonites to rape the land leaving no habitat in sight and many of the as the Mennonites call us "English" have started to do the same thing in this area. I have talked with several people with Mennonite populations in their area and they all say the same thing. You got to the other side of Yates County where there are not as many Mennonites and it is better, the hard thing is getting permission. Still I do not believe we have a strong population at all. I am going to try to hunt some in Niagara County where I grew up next year if my trip to OK does not pan out and see what it looks like out there, I know I can get permission out there.
Yates is loaded with turkey, especially just outside of Penn Yan, Stueben is close and also one of the state's best producing counties. If you'd like to continue this topic it's probably best in it's own thread. Don't want to Hijack this one any more than I have.
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Quote from: Terry on May 12, 2020, 06:54:45 PM
Yates is loaded with turkey, especially just outside of Penn Yan, Stueben is close and also one of the state's best producing counties. If you'd like to continue this topic it's probably best in it's own thread. Don't want to Hijack this one any more than I have.
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I will just PM you.
Delaware -- 1 Spring Season
Maybe 2 gobblers in one day isn't good management (or even 2 in one week)?
Hunter Johnson---Arkansas Game and Fish
April 22 at 6:13 PM
Turkey hunters- You've called in that longbeard, he's drumming and strutting in front of you and you've got a bead on his neck. This is the moment you've been waiting for, it's all come together and fixing to happen.....but do you know what it's taken to get here? Most turkey hunters don't know. Most turkey hunters believe that turkeys just do their thing and they will be there to shoot come spring. I was born into a long line of turkey hunters, I killed my first bird 37 years ago when I was 10 years old and have hunted most years since. I thought I knew turkeys, but I have recently became a "turkey nerd". I manage a fairly large farm for turkey habitat, and a few years ago I set out to learn everything I could about turkeys....their behavior, breeding habits, nesting, brood rearing, roosting and feeding. My research led me to Dr Mike Chamberlin, one of the top turkey research biologist in the nation. Dr Chamberlin has devoted his life to turkey research and has recently came out with solid research that debunks most everything I thought I knew about turkeys. Yesterday I was listening to a podcast titled "Are you a producer or consumer", and it got me thinking, is the average hunter doing anything to help the declining turkey population that is currently going on nation wide? Probably not! Let's look at a few things we have recently learned from Dr Chamberlin's research:
1. The "pecking order" that goes on during the breeding phase- did you know that wild turkey hens have a pecking order that they breed in? Starting in the early spring, male turkeys get vocal, they gobble trying to establish their dominance amongst other males, hoping that hens will pick them for breeding. In the mean time, hens are establishing their dominance amongst each other as they choose a male to mate with. All this goes on for several days to several weeks. This is why we often hear a lot of gobbling in the early spring. Once breeding time arrives, a male "gobbler" may have several hens that have chosen to breed with him.....and him alone. The boss hen gets to go first, but only after she takes her sweet time and is good and ready. Then the next hen and so on till they are all bred or just run out of time in the breeding phase and decide to stop. So what happens if the gobbler the hens have chosen gets shot? Do they just breed with the next gobbler in line, kind of like deer do? No, the hens start all over! They re-evaluate all the gobblers in the area again. This often forces hens to travel to other flocks of turkeys to choose a gobbler to bred with, and yep you guessed it, the hens have to once again re-establish their dominance with other hens in that group to establish breeding order. What if all this takes place again and that gobbler gets shot....yep they start it all over once again. In spite of all of this, statistics show that about 75% of mature hens will get bred. Not a bad number right?.....wait, we ain't done!
2. Nesting- so now 75% of our hens have been bred. Not a bad number if we have 100 hens in the area, but sucks if we only have a few! So these hens have been traveling to their nesting site and laying 1 egg per day, this can last for about 2 weeks till her entire clutch is laid. Once she lays her last egg she starts sitting on them. She sits there for 23 hours each day, only leaving the nest to feed and use the bathroom. She sits there on the ground on top of her eggs day and night, through rain, thunderstorms and even snow fall in some areas, for 28 days. This leaves her vulnerable to everything in the woods.....coyotes, bobcats, snakes, coon, possum, rats, skunks, hogs, tractors, skidders, fire, extreme weather; basically everything can destroy her nest! Because of this there is only a 25% chance that 1 or more of her eggs will hatch!! Ok, now the numbers are getting real! But wait, we still ain't done!
3. Brood rearing- After 28 days of the hen sitting on her nest, the eggs start hatching. Once the last egg has hatched the hen leaves the nest sight with her newborn poults following, she's in search of adequate brood rearing habitat.....a place with bare ground so the little chicks can move around freely, a place with short overhead cover to hide the poults from owls and hawks, and a place with lots of bugs because 70% of a poults diet comes from bugs for the first few weeks. The place the hen chooses to raise her poults has to have all 3 of these things. Statistics show that the further she has to travel to find this spot drastically reduces the poults survival rate to a point that at having to travel 1000 yards to find adequate brooding habitat equals zero survival of her poults! Ok, we all know that's a challenge in itself, but let's assume the hen and all of her poults made it safely to adequate brood rearing cover. Now they have the next 2-4 weeks to try and survive on the ground. They mainly hunt bugs by sight which keeps them actively hunting for food over the next few weeks. Owls and hawks are sitting on limbs waiting on their chance to attack from above. Coyotes, Bobcat, foxes and even coon are lurking in the bushes around them waiting on their chance to attack. Landowners are running around with tractors and bush hogs mowing everything so it looks "pretty". But still these aren't their number one problem, the worst problem is that they can't regulate their body temperature! The morning temps are still in the 40's and 50's on good days in a lot of cases, now imagine that front moving in where it is cold, cloudy and drizzling rain for 3-4 days in a row....this is their number one killer! In fact, it's so bad that we can normally only expect about 25% of these young poults to survive the first 2-4 weeks till they are able to fly up to a limb! Once they are old enough to fly up to a limb their survival rates drastically increase and we can start breathing a sigh of relief!!
So think about this- how many hens do you have now?....75% of those hens get bred, 25 % of those bred will have at least 1 egg hatch, 25% of those newborn poults will survive long enough to fly up to a limb. Now assume that only 1/2 of these poults are males and now those males have to survive for 2 years before you can put your shotgun sights on him like we started this story out with!
Wow!! Did you have any idea this was all so complicated? I didn't have any idea till recently. It's no wonder turkey numbers are declining, in fact it's a wonder we still have any turkeys at all! These aren't sustainable numbers for a steady turkey population.
So, why are turkeys declining? It's death of 1000 cuts! What can we do????......The best answer is better nesting/brood rearing habitat and allowing more gobblers to bred before they are killed. So how do we get better habitat across the state?
For private landowners, this means educating ourselves first on what better turkey habitat is, then rolling up our sleeves and getting busy making it. For public land, it's slightly different but this is where your help is needed the most!! Since we can't manage public land ourselves, we have to support those that can. All across the nation Game and Fish departments have heard this latest research and are re-evaluating their turkey regulations as we speak. We need to do all we can to help them help us! We have to educate ourselves enough to know that closed canopy mature hardwoods have very little benefit to turkeys and how silly we sound griping about timber cutting and burning as both are necessary for good turkey habitat! Instead, we have to push for them to continue to create better nesting and brood habitat, insist on later season dates so more hens have time to breed, stop shooting bearded hens and things like only 1 gobbler per week can help...... support anything that can help these gobblers breed more hens each spring. But perhaps the most important thing we as hunters can do is to realize our own greed and that it's ok to not "tag out" every year. When I was a kid there was a covey of quail in most of the fence rows and ditch banks, I never dreamed a day would come that we didn't have quail to hunt, yet here we are and for a lot of the same reasons the turkey are declining. Those of you that still have a small covey of quail on your property, would you go out and shoot them? Heck no you wouldn't, because then you wouldn't have any! But you realize that as long as you have a few quail there is a chance that number can grow. We are headed that way with turkeys, and we are headed there pretty fast! Let's do something before it's too late! So examine yourself, then ask yourself this question.....am I just a consumer or am I also a producer? HJ
The problem is that we have way to many people obsessed with how many sets of spurs they can rack up as opposed to understanding the role of a hunter as a conservationist first and foremost. For some reason there are people that feel like killing a lot of turkeys makes them special and warrants extra attention.
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Quote from: Happy on May 16, 2020, 06:31:09 PM
The problem is that we have way to many people obsessed with how many sets of spurs they can rack up as opposed to understanding the role of a hunter as a conservationist first and foremost. For some reason there are people that feel like killing a lot of turkeys makes them special and warrants extra attention.
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Same things going on in duck hunting.
I'm happy just to go out as much as I can. Thankful whether I shoot nothing but my woodies, slay a bunch of mallards, get a nice mix bag, get a hot diver flight, or get skunked