Wisconsin Lowest Harvest in 20 Years.

[Parrot Head]

Wow
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/wisconsin-turkey-hunt-harvest-20-year-low

[bigriverbum]

well, we did push the opening back a week

a HUGE percentage of birds in WI have always been shot first week in blinds in front of decoys. most people don't hunt if they don't have that initial success

maybe adjusting the season dates will help protect birds at their most vulnerable.

[owlhoot]

Looks like a very long season.
How many harvest authorizations can one person get ?
Did 2020 , with the (covid) extra time to hunt increase the harvest significantly and leave gobblers in a shorter supply? Looks like 2020 was up 17%.
Looks like the harvest in the fall has been  in a downward trend for over 10 years.
How do the hatch rates look, population trends, are they decreasing ?

[deerhunt1988]

I've looked at the data back to 2017. Found it pretty interesting that zone 1 (southwest WI) saw the largest single year decrease (23% from 2020 - 2021) for any zone during that time frame. Zone 1 was absolutely raped and pillaged in 2020 thanks to a YouTuber putting it in the spotlight. The amount of hunting pressure in zone 1 during 2020 was silly. And plenty were non-residents, a pile of them there for the first time. Can't help but wonder if lack of carryover (compared to normal) played a part in the larger decrease compared to other zones.

[Meadow Valley Man]

While there were fewer bonus harvest authorizations sold in 2021 versus 2020, that decrease does not totally account account for the decline in harvest.  Wisconsin is seeing the same trend as many states.  There are fewer turkeys on the landscape .We can't expect the boom years of 2007 and 2008 to ever occur again, because those were the peak post reintroduction population years. Predators had not yet keyed in on a new food source, but they certainly have now.  Wisconsin has an overabundance of raccoons, and a surprisingly high population of opossums and bobcats. Add coyotes and ravens and crows to the mix, and turkey poults face large odds to survive. 

I have always felt that we hunt too early in Wisconsin, in many cases earlier than some southern states. Folks on this forum have already discussed the recent research indicating that hunting too early may impact breeding success. I tend to agree with that.

[Dtrkyman]

I tend to agree with the later starts in spring, however states like Wis. IL. and MI. spread the wealth so to speak and spread out the harvest and pressure with their season structures.

Wisconsin has a-f seasons, Illinois has 5 seasons and MI. has multiple hunt codes they use for different time frames.   

[whitetaildonky]

Ask around to those who harvested birds this year reaping them too? I've heard of several individuals who shot 3 and 4 birds all by reaping. What fun is that?? None IMO.

That's another problem we face. Over the last couple years the amount of birds that has been reaped vs called in and played on a level playing field is ridiculous. Before we end up like some other states declining populations, our DNR needs to fix this now before it gets to out of control. Band reaping and stop selling so many damn extra bonus tags.

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[owlhoot]

 Jan. 2021    Hunter participation and harvest were up sharply during the 2020 Wisconsin fall turkey hunting season, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Hunters registered 4,600 birds during the fall season, a 21% year-over-year increase. And the 81,710 harvest authorizations issued for the season represented a 9% increase from 2019, according to the agency.
The data are consistent with a trend of increased participation during the coronavirus pandemic of most forms of outdoor recreation.
They also highlight the state's turkey population and good hunting opportunities, according to the DNR.
"Fall turkey hunting license sales were no exception (to the trend), and hopefully, this sparked interest and recruited new hunters who will participate for years to come," said Alaina Gerrits, DNR assistant upland wildlife ecologist. "We are fortunate to have such a robust and healthy turkey population that can support both a spring and fall harvest season in Wisconsin."
Since 2018, the fall turkey drawing has been waived. Anyone with a fall turkey license and stamp was awarded one harvest authorization for the zone of their choice.
In addition to the harvest authorization included with a fall turkey license, a total of 14,000 bonus harvest authorizations were available for purchase in zones 1-4.
The harvest success rate in 2020 was 5.6%, up slightly from 5.1% in 2019. The success rate is calculated based on the number of harvest authorizations sold
Visit dnr.wi.gov

[owlhoot]

Ask around to those who harvested birds this year reaping them too? I've heard of several individuals who shot 3 and 4 birds all by reaping. What fun is that?? None IMO.

That's another problem we face. Over the last couple years the amount of birds that has been reaped vs called in and played on a level playing field is ridiculous. Before we end up like some other states declining populations, our DNR needs to fix this now before it gets to out of control. Band reaping and stop selling so many damn extra bonus tags.

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Ok , just how many extra bonus can 1 guy get in a spring season?

They do boast 350,000 turkeys in the state.
               2020
Spring harvest 44,963 + 4,600 in the fall = 49563

[Chad Gus715]

Ask around to those who harvested birds this year reaping them too? I've heard of several individuals who shot 3 and 4 birds all by reaping. What fun is that?? None IMO.

That's another problem we face. Over the last couple years the amount of birds that has been reaped vs called in and played on a level playing field is ridiculous. Before we end up like some other states declining populations, our DNR needs to fix this now before it gets to out of control. Band reaping and stop selling so many damn extra bonus tags.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

Ok , just how many extra bonus can 1 guy get in a spring season?

They do boast 350,000 turkeys in the state.
               2020
Spring harvest 44,963 + 4,600 in the fall = 49563

You can buy one a day starting in late march when they go on sale, with no cap on the number you can have.

[Shiloh]

They are capped.  There are only so many that they will sell and when they are gone nobody can buy any more. 

[Yelpster]

They are capped.  There are only so many that they will sell and when they are gone nobody can buy any more.

they have an allotment for each of the six seasons broken down into different zones

as long as there are tags available for any season, once they go on sale you can buy one a day until gone. so in theory one could have upwards of 70 tags

[Paulmyr]

Am I missing something? From what I'm seeing in the chart wasn't the 2018 harvest worse than 2021?

On another note and I maybe mistaken. If remember correctly in 2019 wasn't zone 1 in Wis hammered pretty much all year with torrential rainfalls. I tried to find historical data on the matter but didn't have much luck.

[deerhunt1988]

Am I missing something? From what I'm seeing in the chart wasn't the 2018 harvest worse than 2021?

On another note and I maybe mistaken. If remember correctly in 2019 wasn't zone 1 in Wis hammered pretty much all year with torrential rainfalls. I tried to find historical data on the matter but didn't have much luck.

Good eye. I made a keystroke error and hit a '6' instead of an '8' for zone 3 in 2018, making the total 2,000 less than it should have been. Corrected in my original post and below:







It makes the Zone 1 decrease from 2020-2021 the largest in that time frame.

[owlhoot]

Ask around to those who harvested birds this year reaping them too? I've heard of several individuals who shot 3 and 4 birds all by reaping. What fun is that?? None IMO.

That's another problem we face. Over the last couple years the amount of birds that has been reaped vs called in and played on a level playing field is ridiculous. Before we end up like some other states declining populations, our DNR needs to fix this now before it gets to out of control. Band reaping and stop selling so many damn extra bonus tags.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

Ok , just how many extra bonus can 1 guy get in a spring season?

They do boast 350,000 turkeys in the state.
               2020
Spring harvest 44,963 + 4,600 in the fall = 49563

You can buy one a day starting in late march when they go on sale, with no cap on the number you can have.

Wow that's almost unbelievable.