For those wondering about declining populations

[Paulmyr]

Pretty crazy when you think about it. We got a couple old growth white pines around our cabin. One had railroad spikes driven into it. I climbed to the top one deer hunting season about 20 years ago and I was looking down about 30 yds to the top of new growth mature deciduous forest beneath it. That tree was huge. Can't imagine the whole countryside being covered with them. The lumber barons must have been drooling when they seen the pine forest of northern Mn.

[ChesterCopperpot]

All this brings me back to my statement  predators are present in the amount of the carrying capacity of the the land. It's no different today than it was 200 years ago. Nature will balance itself out without interference from man.

...and human influence greatly increases the carrying capacity of the land for certain species, especially scavenger species such as coons and possums. It's very, very, very different now than 200yrs ago. And one of the biggest differences is an increase from about 9.6 million people in 1820 to 332.4 million people in 2022. The idea of "without interference from man" is an impossibility.


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[merriamsman]

One thing that needs to be mentioned is that the habitat has been drastically altered by man to favor smaller predators such as foxes, raccoons, and skunks. These animals are much more effective nest predators than the larger predators. Humans have created much better habitat for foxes which do well in farm country. Also, human structures such as old buildings, culverts, old machinery, etc. are excellent coon and skunk habitat. There is no doubt that there are a lot more of these smaller predators on the landscape now than at the beginning of settlement of North America. Combine that with less trapping pressure, fewer large predators such as wolves that help control smaller predators, more human habitation, and overall less turkey habitat and you end up where we are today.

[redleg06]

The landscape and food chain was quite a bit different hundreds of years ago- coyotes weren't nationwide and wolves were, for example.  We're obviously another top predator of turkey and we put a bigger dent in them now than the settlers ever did.

Raccoon numbers have continued to increase (my guess is that possum and skunk have also) over the last hundred years and there's actually millions of government dollars spent annually to immunize raccoons in an effort to prevent rabies...which is a huge natural control on raccoons. When you couple that with less trapping and habitat changes that benefit coons and other small omnivores, it's pretty easy to understand why their numbers have exploded... more predators coupled with less habitat = reduced prey.

[Prospector]

Gotta get more hunters involved with predation control. My solution? One adult gobbler bag limit across the board. Bring a rule that a license holder gets a second adult gobbler tag if he proves up a certain # of predator points within a specified time frame. For example: 40 total points: skunk/possum 2pts, raccoon 4 pts, coyote or bobcat 8pts. Nonresident gets one tag. Ridiculous to continue a 3 bird (MS) limit if populations are down REGARDLESS the cause. IMO, this limits the harvest AND addresses some of the predator issues.... Now, if we can get a harness on deplorable timber management , corn feeders and poaching we ll be back in the black in no time?.....