Current Turkey hunting parallels Duck hunting

[arkrem870]

Growing up in Arkansas duck hunting in the fall/winter was/is a busy time of year. Duck boat hooked to the truck 4-5 morning per week from late November until the end of January. Hunting various green timber wmas, refuges, sloughs etc. It was / is a passion for many of us. Then came the spinning wing decoy and the plug and play generation of new hunters that didn't learn to work/call ducks. Then along came social media and onX.  Arkansas duck hunting became more and more popular and started trending. New super fast duck boats, better decoys, better waders and clothing. YouTube full of hundreds of videos of Arkansas duck boats this and hunt that. Dr duck. Duck commander. Etc etc. What once was enjoyable started to become stressful......non-residents numbers exploding. A new generation of young Arkansan duck hunters going at it alone with no direction. Ethics have fallen off, sky busting with heavier than steel shot is the norm, boat racing, hunting too close to other parties, sleeping in spots, camping at the ramps etc. Arkansas duck hunting is now the biggest overcrowded cluster flock you've ever seen.  The ducks have literally changed how they use arkansas from the pressure among other things.


Turkey hunting..... the spring is a magical time of year. Red buds popping, dog woods blooming, whippoorwill singing. Turkey hunting was unmolested and separated the woodsman from the plug and play duck gods. We traveled state to state hunting every weekend of the spring. Then we saw fanning become popular. I did it some early on just like I used a spinning wing decoy some back in 1998. It plain worked. Strutter decoys came on the scene and they also worked......the Henned up field Tom was no match for b mobile.  Waddell / primos etc were /are in thick of it. Commercializing and pushing turkey products. Turkey hunting was being pushed by state agencies, nwtf etc and was growing in popularity. Then came YouTube- spring thunder, pinhoti project, the hunting public. I watched some early on.....some of these guys were doing what we were doing. Then I started running into these guys out on the road..... leaving trucks. Sleeping in spots etc. next thing you know locations of gobbling turkeys are being broadcasted to the masses and the masses have followed. Record applications for draw states and wmas permits. Traveling to turkey hunt has become a fad and social media is booming with turkey channels etc. Type Alabama/Mississippi public turkey hunt into YouTube and look at videos.

The parallels are plain to see. And for those of us that have watched Arkansas duck hunting driven into the ground its extremely alarming to watch turkey hunting going down the same path. I don't have a fix for it but I know turkeys will suffer. There aren't enough gobblers for everyone to travel and kill them. That's a fact. Big changes will be on the horizon and drastic measures will be taken. Kansas is proof. Oklahoma is proof. Fanning, filming on public land, use of decoys. Shortened seasons. Later seasons. Lower limits. More quotas. More non resident restriction. All will be on the table shortly. Technology is outpacing the wild turkey.

[Tail Feathers]

I hear what you're saying and agree with you on some points.  I was in W. Nebraska a week ago and despite the National Forest being a big place, the sheer number of folks chasing turkeys on it can't do the population any good. 
I don't know how much hunters affect population but I wouldn't be surprised to find that's impacted W. Oklahoma and Kansas turkey numbers.  It seems that certain states or WMA's would become "the place" thanks to the internet and get overrun by hunters.  After a few years then you're reading it's shot out, no birds and overrun with OOS'ers.
I'm no biologist but I think, at least in some cases, over hunting has hurt some WMA's and maybe even entire states.

[ChiefBubba]

Couple of points here. For myself running around outdoors for most of my 60 years fishing and hunting. I've noticed a few things going on the last 20 years. Habitats change huntable land shrinks so what ends up happening is everyone ends up on the same 5000 acres of property. It's a fact we're losing hunters every year. But what you think is overcrowding is a fact but the main reason is it's because of less places to hunt. Being in South Florida I can take you to a spot in the middle of a community that I Dove hunted on just 10 years ago. I can take you to a marsh that I hunted ducks on that's off limits now. 10 years ago while hunting the Everglades for ducks and coming out with 3 limits by 0730 and today you can't even buy a duck. The habitat is declining all the time. Most states have no money to put into any viable habitat work so most just declines. Then most land owners sell to developers instead of to states.
What ends up happening is Johnny Lunchpail hunter ends up on the same land as every other hunter in the state. Then the better places to hunt are so hard to get on because everyone in the coutry wants to hunt it.

Think about just 20 years ago. No one knew what You Tube was or really the internet. Information was just in your tight circle of friends. Everyone knew where the game was and it was more spread out because most if not all public land was open. Now you can cyber scout South Dakota from anywhere in the world. Everything is shrinking. Bubba 

[arkrem870]

I'm speaking for public land hunting.

[RutnNStrutn]

Excellent points, and add to that an increase in predators, especially coyotes. The results are already happening. Declining numbers, states leaving pristine tracts of lands off limits to hunters, reduced quotas, and non-resident restrictions in states like SC.
All valid concerns. But what can be done about it? You're not going to stop so I'll media or the Internet. You're not going to stop capitalism, you're not going to stop people from moving to your state or developers from building. So what's the answer?

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

[ChiefBubba]

I'm speaking for public land hunting.

I was too. Everyone do a little research in your home state and see how much state and federal land you're not allowed to recreate on. I think most would be shocked. That land is owned by us but we're not allowed on it. Bubba

[hotspur]

LIVING IN AMERICA ,, commercialization of a grand sport, inevitable

[bonasa]

Turkey hunters:  want to call and not use decoys. Want a stationary target with as many pellets as possible. The equilivent of "pass shooting" is called wordsmanship and is a glorified skill. 

Duck hunters want to finish birds in decoys, calling secondary. Would never water swat a bird. Pass shooting is tolerated but the real skill is calling them in and decoying.

Both believe Patterning and scouting kills birds day in day out. Roost shooting is frowned upon. Call them in close is the name of the game. Sky busting and long range TSS shots are never talked about.

[turkeyfool]

I do a lot of traveling. I like to do it because I enjoy traveling and I want to extend my season as long as possible. I like seeing new places around the country. I don't record any of it, don't have any social media. I just do it for me. Anyway, I say that as a preface to my opinion that you really don't see all that many traveling guys around the country. It seems that the earliest opening season states  get hit hard and the destination locations get hit hard (black hills, black kettle, Nebraska, etc.) But as far as seeing a lot of traveling turkey hunters in other areas of the country, I really can't say that I notice it all that much. With that said, I am growing frustrated of the THP with revealing too much info. There's a particular state they'll be hunting at the end of the season that I really hope they just kind of avoid saying where it is.  Dave Owens does just about everything right I think. But overall depending where you're at, I can tell you that the traveling turkey hunters coming into an area hot and heavy doesn't exist everywhere

[Roost 1]

I rode a plane out west, there were 3 other traveling turkey hunters on that plane. Seemed like a lot to me.

[Pluffmud]

Ducks have many more issues than just the internet and robotic duck decoys. Without a doubt, with reduced habitat, lack of severe weather and "safety" zones where ducks can loaf and gorge themselves all winter, waterfowl hunting has for sure proved to be less than fruitful the past few years.

The resident vs nonresident argument is a pet peeve of mine. Not that this is a stab at Arkansas folks by any means... All people do this... But the same Arkansas residents that complain about SC resident overcrowding, are the same folks that are overcrowding  Mississippi turkey woods.

It will change. For the worse, I believe. I foresee hunting either being pushed out legally, or it becoming so expensive that only the elite of society will have the funds and access to do so. As hunters now, we are too worried about what the next fella is or isn't doing rather than actually organize and meet some common ground and conserve what we all love. This goes for the YouTuber and the Oldschool hunter alike. I'm fortunate enough that I atleast got to witness and be a part of the tail end of the good ole days of hunting.

[bigriverbum]

man, don't get me started on what happened to duck hunting. this boards been too negative lately anyways

screw DU

[ChiefBubba]

Ducks have many more issues than just the internet and robotic duck decoys. Without a doubt, with reduced habitat, lack of severe weather and "safety" zones where ducks can loaf and gorge themselves all winter, waterfole hinting has for sure proved to be less than fruitful the past few years.

The resident vs nonresident argument is a pet peeve of mine. Not that this is a stan at Arkansas folks by any means... All people do this... But the same Arkansas residents that complain about SC resident overcrowding, are the same folks that are overcrowding  Mississippi turkey woods.

It will change. For the worse, I believe. I foresee hunting either being pushed out legally, or it becoming so expensive thatbonly the elite not society will have the funds and access to do so. As hunters now, we are too worried about what the next fella is or isn't doing to actually organize and meet some common ground and conserve what we all love. This goes for the YouTuber and the Oldschool hunter alike. I'm fortunate enough that I atleast got to witness and be a part of the tail end of the good ole days of hunting.

All good points. I agree outdoor recreation is in real danger. Hunting, fishing, trapping anything that has to do with taking an animal. Most likely won't happen in our lifetime but will see declines all across the board. I don't won't look back in my older years and think I could have done better.  Anti Hunters we will never change their point of view and no use in arguing with them. We need to work better with the non hunting and fishing people that have no opinion and sway them over to our side. We need a favorable view of hunting and fishing. That includes the Dreaded idea of bringing in new hunters. Not just people that look like us or live like us. That's anyone that wants to go out, that includes city people too. Bubba

[ChiefBubba]

man, don't get me started on what happened to duck hunting. this boards been too negative lately anyways

screw DU

I have to agree with you to some extent and same with NWTF. But on the other hand who else is doing and paying for anything to do with wildlife? Who on here has a couple of million dollars to do habitat improvement on public lands? The tough thing about ducks is they're migratory and what happens in the tundra doesn't directly relate to your back yard. Bubba

[bigriverbum]

man, don't get me started on what happened to duck hunting. this boards been too negative lately anyways

screw DU

I have to agree with you to some extent and same with NWTF. But on the other hand who else is doing and paying for anything to do with wildlife? Who on here has a couple of million dollars to do habitat improvement on public lands? The tough thing about ducks is they're migratory and what happens in the tundra doesn't directly relate to your back yard. Bubba

not saying they don't do some help to birds but i'll save my money for an organization that doesn't silence people like don thomas and build private hunting resorts for the rich.  huntings done nothing but decline here for 3 decades. yeah i'm sure paying for a flooded rice field and cabin/restaurant/resort in arkansas is really saving the ducks