Turkey Numbers

[FL-Boss]

All good points.. and all contributing factors.  Predators, habitat, pesticides, corn feeders, etc..  add pigs to the list, they are big issue for turkeys in the south... and not why you think. Listen to this.. start at 30min mark >  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl4uMbfACyo&list=PLRyWvGPNuNpxIXH7Cz8o4VGjAsMvf00OL

But as mentioned above, I personally think hunter numbers is going to be the main issue looking forward. Everyone and their brother, plus cousin, decided they want to be a U.S. slammer over the last few years. I noticed the common theme this year for many of the YouTube hunters was the pressure, and number of hunters. Good for them, they created the issue. God help you guys that have to hunt southern/mid-west public in the coming years, it's going to turn into a dove shoot unless something changes with the trends, or out of state licensing. 

No state should have more than a (2) bird limit at this point. In fact, most should be 1 bird.
 

[LMO]

Wild hogs have exploded here in SOutheast in the last 20 years and the Turkey#'s seems to have went down with it, is there any research on wild hogs raiding nest?

[Old Timer]

This is just my observations. I have seen less turkeys, in more hours scouting, than ever. The last 5 years have been a sharp decline. The last 10 years, I am at 52% sightings of 10 years ago. All you southern and midwestern guys know this story. I hope we can get ahead of this and learn from others mistakes but it doesn't look that way. I am blessed with the best spot I have ever hunted in 24 years and it is exclusive to my wife and I. The land around it is being gobbled up, no pn intended, and I fear the worst is coming. Good luck to all the turkeys/hunters out there. I am an upbeat guy, but the sky is turning gray up in the Northeast. I'm doing my small part by thinning the nest raiders and coyotes, bobcats are off limits here. Good luck and god bless, Z

I feel your pain

[zelmo1]

If the birds are still there, I do believe there are less, then they are staying in the woods more.less sightings, less gobbling = less birds to me. I keep track of my area pretty well, about 200 days a year. The numbers are very much lower. I hope they are getting smarter and still around. I am just a realist, numbers look to be drastically lower. Z

[GobbleNut]

Many great points made in the posts above.  Do any or all of them apply in any one specific area? ...Likely not, but there is no doubt that some combinations of them are impacting turkeys in a lot of places.  Other places?...Not so much, CURRENTLY.

Having said that, I will point the blame, at least partially, at one entity that has not been mentioned.  That is...wildlife managers, themselves.  I don't know about other states, but I can tell everybody for a fact that an air of nonchalance (and seeming unawareness) exists HERE with what is happening across the country in terms of trends in turkey numbers AND the impacts human hunting is having on them.

The very fact that many states are taking rather draconian steps towards reducing the impacts of hunting (i.e. bag limit reductions, shortening season lengths, etc.), and the lack of awareness of what the impacts will be to states that are not doing that, is short-sighted, in my opinion.

In short, the "tunnel vision" I see here in my state indicates to me that our wildlife managers do not recognize, and seriously consider, the big picture of what is happening around us, both in surrounding states as well as nationally. That lack of "vision" is a looming recipe for disaster here.

[zelmo1]

That is a great point GN, same here. Just want to make the $$$. I am on them constantly to learn from other states pitfalls. Deaf ears as turkeys are relatively new $$ makers here.