Turkey Population Decline?

[HunterS5]

So I just finished reading an article about the decline of wild turkey. I'm curious if you are seeing this in your areas. In MN we are seeing pretty significant population growth in the past decade or so. But hunting is not nearly as popular here as other parts of the country. Most of the references were places in SE and S Central US.

Are those of you in those parts concerned with the long term viability of wild turkey?

[rakkin6]

We are doing pretty good with them here where I am in Middle Tennessee/Southwest Kentucky area. I drove past a farm and had to stop counted 30 of them and had to stop it was getting confusing.

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[turkeymanjim]

I would think the population is down 50% in Pa.

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[guesswho]

Big decline in the areas of Georgia and Alabama I frequent.  Although I have seen more in the last couple of months or so than I have in recent years.  Seeing them in spots I haven't seen turkeys in a long time.   Hopefully that's a trend and not a fluke.

[rakkin6]

Deer are the same we are allowed 3 does a day all season long in both Kentucky and Tennessee. Kentucky is one buck only and where I am in Tennessee it is 2 bucks.

  I am kind of unique though I just retired from the Army and am 100% disabled I am a Tennessee resident so they give 100% disabled veterans Lifetime Sportsman's Licenses for a $10.00 one time fee. So I use the money I save every year on that and by a nonresident in Kentucky. Plus I hunt Fort Campbell Army Base which is an additional 2 turkey per year 3 does a day and 1 buck. So I can technically kill 7 birds 4 bucks and unlimited does within 15 miles of my house.

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[northms]

On public land last year in MS during the Covid "working from home time" there were more hunters in the woods than I had ever seen. Tuesday morning there would be a truck every 200 yards when normally mid week it wasn't so bad. Told someone this week I don't know how any birds survived that kind of pressure but I'm sure some did. No doubt in my kind more were killed on both public and private last year due to this.

I'm anxious to find out how much it will affect this year's hunting on public.

[HunterS5]

Deer are the same we are allowed 3 does a day all season long in both Kentucky and Tennessee. Kentucky is one buck only and where I am in Tennessee it is 2 bucks.

  I am kind of unique though I just retired from the Army and am 100% disabled I am a Tennessee resident so they give 100% disabled veterans Lifetime Sportsman's Licenses for a $10.00 one time fee. So I use the money I save every year on that and by a nonresident in Kentucky. Plus I hunt Fort Campbell Army Base which is an additional 2 turkey per year 3 does a day and 1 buck. So I can technically kill 7 birds 4 bucks and unlimited does within 15 miles of my house.

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Holy cats, there are lakes we can't even keep 3 fish a day. 

[PanhandleStrutter]

I have heard that Georgia and Alabama have had big declines recently. Here in northwest Florida it seems to be trending in that direction as well. I personally think regulations should be changed in the southeast but not super drastically. I've heard some people say that we need closer of fall seasons, and change the limit to 1 gobbler per season. I think if they implemented a regulation where a turkeys beard would have to be over 5 inches or so (eliminating the harvest of jakes) and eliminating the harvest of bearded hens for everyone that isn't a youth, for 2 or 3 seasons, then it would help the populations quite well.

I also believe that last year the harvests were substantially higher then they should've been due to the timing of shutting down the country for COVID. I would expect higher than normal harvests this year due to some people still not working in their place of employment, but not nearly as  high as last year.

[RiverBuck]

Target turkey predators and you'll have more turkey.

[rakkin6]

Target turkey predators and you'll have more turkey.

Whenever I am now hunting and see a song dog they get an arrow

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[Turkeytider]

Google Dr Michael Chamberlain and listen to the podcasts he has done on various shows. He's a wildlife biologist on the faculty at UGA. He's also an avid turkey hunter. Fascinating. Great deal of information on turkeys and population biology in the South and Southeast.

[ChesterCopperpot]

Significant declines where I live in the mountains of North Carolina. And, sure, partly predators, but for the most part RAIN. Rain during nesting killing the poults. Rain in the after spreading disease. This year we lost almost all the eggs and poults to rain and then all summer it was avian pox. I actually sent one bird off to Mike Chamberlain and it came back with a myriad of diseases, and most all were attributed to wet weather increasing severity.


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[El Pavo Grande]

Arkansas has experienced a decline over the last 15+ years.  There are pockets with turkeys but overall the population is down.  We have had a continual change in hunting seasons, shortened in length and a fluctuation in opening dates of around April 7-10, to a week later, and back once again to around the 10th.  It will open the 19th this year.  Jakes were restricted to adults and one per youth hunter.  Overall, none of these regulations have made a big difference in the population because of below average and poor hatch success.  Harvest numbers have decreased, but that's more of an indication of days hunted and season timing.  Coinciding with that is an increase in hunting pressure, especially last spring with Covid.

Although some areas fair better than others, the statewide Poult per Hen data shows only one year since 2002 and 2003 above 2.0 PPH.   That year was 2012 and it was reported as 2.80 PPH.   Following that year it was a decline for 5 straight years, with a slight bump in 2019.  In 2018 it bottomed out at .86 PPH.  2019 was .95 and 2019 was 1.13.  It's not a perfect science or measurement, but it is a gauge that is in line with the population.  The coyote population seems to have boomed, and nest predators (coons, possums, etc.) are thriving better than ever with little trapping.  Crows, hawks, and owls seem to be plentiful too.  Hogs have been added to the mix in many areas of the state in the last 10-15 years.   

All the above play a role.  As one previously mentioned, I believe the rain, most especially the timing of the rain, over the span of 15+ years has been very detrimental to not only the nesting success, but also poult survival after hatched.  The driest year was 2012, which happened to be a solid hatch.  I knew from memory it was a better hatch and when checked the data, it was far less rainfall.  We had a wet spring early in 2020, but it seemed to be a little more dry later. 

On a good note I saw some turkeys in spots this fall where I haven't seen any for a few years, and have heard a few similar reports.  Not sure of any data from 2020, but seems a little more promising.  It's just going to take stringing a few consecutive hatches together to see much of a difference. 

[Cowboy]

Target turkey predators and you'll have more turkey.

I agree 100 % on that.  No one wants to trap or coon hunt in our areas like they would back 20 to 30 years ago.

[Dtrkyman]

Central Illinois is way down.  In the early 90s the coons got distemper and were wiped out, the turkeys exploded. Now coons skunks and possums are way up, bobcat and coyotes are thick and I think the bush honeysuckle is a problem, little to no ground cover.