Arkansas

[Gawhitaker]

In the Southeast, extreme habitat loss, predators, illegal poaching, and flooding during nesting are the biggest culprits.

[Tail Feathers]

Arkansas kind of began the turkey loss phenomenon.  Before 2000 or so, they had a LOT of turkeys.  Their population was probably the first to rather inexplicably drop many years back.  I have a couple of brothers-in-law there who used to have lots of turkeys in their area who now rarely see or hear them.  I don't know if Arkansas ever figured out why but I hope they led the country in research and can provide some guidance to other states facing loss of birds.

[Jimspur]

I don't know how to post a link but if any of you are interested, I just
listened to a podcast with the Arkansas Wild Turkey Program coordinator.
He talks about what they're doing to help turkey populations.
His name is Jeremy Wood. Interesting stuff.
Just search for "The Turkey Hunter Podcast with Andy Gagliano".
It's the latest episode from 6-17-21. Episode 346.

theturkeyhunterpodcast.com

If anyone knows how to post a link please post it up here.

[RutnNStrutn]

Never hunted there and don't know anything about it.

Sent from deep in the woods where the critters roam.

[Happy]

I don't know much but when a term for poaching something is called "arkansawed" you have reached a level of notoriety. Sure that doesn't help things much.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[MS TurkeyHunter]

https://www.theturkeyhunterpodcast.com/e/346-possible-progress-in-arkansas-with-jeremy-wood/


Enjoy!


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[Jimspur]

https://www.theturkeyhunterpodcast.com/e/346-possible-progress-in-arkansas-with-jeremy-wood/


Enjoy!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks MS TurkeyHunter!

[bigriverbum]

i MIGHT tolerate the poor turkey hunting if i could pick and hang with people like Nick Shoulders

https://youtu.be/FmAwFPqHTe0

[dzsmith]

I wish everyone else liked being in Arkansas more than Mississippi!

yeah no crap....

[quavers59]

   I am going to say Arkansas s*#$@ because there are probably  3 " Arkansas  Turkey Killers" in alot of family's. From Gramps,Son and all the way down to Grandson/a.
    They know their trade well and plenty of them travel to Mississippi  to Hone those skills before clearing out the Arkansas Gobbler 2 Year olds.

[owlhoot]

Use the Arkansas Regulations
A new free Predator-Control Permit also will be available to private landowners, which will let permit holders shoot or trap bobcat, coyote, gray fox, red fox, opossum, raccoon and striped skunk day or night.
This permit will be available by late August to enable more opportunity to control these species on private land.
Commission Chair Ken Reeves of Harrison and Commissioner Stan Jones of Walnut Ridge explained that the goal of the regulations was not to eliminate any of these species on a statewide basis.
"I think everyone knows that the reason we're doing this is we simply don't have people trapping and hunting raccoons and opossums like we did many years ago because the pelts aren't worth much,"
Reeves said. "We're trying to fill that gap by letting private landowners reduce these predators on their property to try to boost their quail and turkey numbers."

[nativeks]

Use the Arkansas Regulations
A new free Predator-Control Permit also will be available to private landowners, which will let permit holders shoot or trap bobcat, coyote, gray fox, red fox, opossum, raccoon and striped skunk day or night.
This permit will be available by late August to enable more opportunity to control these species on private land.
Commission Chair Ken Reeves of Harrison and Commissioner Stan Jones of Walnut Ridge explained that the goal of the regulations was not to eliminate any of these species on a statewide basis.
"I think everyone knows that the reason we're doing this is we simply don't have people trapping and hunting raccoons and opossums like we did many years ago because the pelts aren't worth much,"
Reeves said. "We're trying to fill that gap by letting private landowners reduce these predators on their property to try to boost their quail and turkey numbers."

I like it. Ive been trying to get my state to do something similar. Our state furbearer biologist has a daughter that plays on my daughter's team. Gonna have to try and press him harder.

[silvestris]

It is "one" of the problems, but a serious one.  If the dogooders have killed the fur industry, man must do what he can to keep the furbearers in balance.  I hate unintended consentances.  I have also learned to hate spelling, damned old age.

[El Pavo Grande]

I'm from Arkansas and have seen the good and the bad with our population.  There are still pockets of turkeys, with wide ranging reports of "we have no turkeys" to "the population is just fine".   There are some areas that almost seem void of turkeys, but by and large it's somewhere in the middle, in my opinion.   One key point is that many confuse the quality of hunting with the state of the population.  With 9 consecutive seasons of 16 days in length, judging the population on gobbling activity or even harvest totals can be misguided.   With that said, overall the decline is real. 

I'm not sure much is unique to Arkansas, that other states don't deal with, except for maybe less suitable habitat statewide to support strong populations as compared to other states.  Like many states, we have seen an explosion in predators that prey on both adult turkeys and nests/poults.  All in the last 15-20 years, trapping has declined, baiting with corn for deer has increased, hogs have spread throughout the state, and fire ants have spread much farther north.  In my opinion, arguably the most damaging issue has been the trend of increased rain fall in the critical months of April, May, and June.  This has been the norm over the last 15+ years.  To note, in 2012 it was much more dry, to the point of a 1/3 or 1/4 of the average during this span.  We had a great hatch.  In fact it was the best since 2001 and any year after.   As a result, in 2014 we killed 12,074.  Not too impressive for many, unless you understand Arkansas and recognize that this would rival the peak years of the early 2000s, considering days hunted and Jake restrictions.  But, in 2017 we had a tremendous amount of rain and flooding and our hatch suffered greatly.  2018 hatch results were much the same.   Both resulted in poult per hen counts below 1.00. 

I believe habitat is the basis for a good population.  Without it, the population can't thrive.  I have a few opinions on it concerning Arkansas.  Some agree and some disagree.  Timber companies and the USFS manage trees, not wildlife.  Concerning the USFS, I understand the benefits of prescribed burns in the long term.  But, the reality is that late season burns on a large scale aren't necessarily beneficial to already nesting or hens preparing to nest.  I realize the benefits of new growth and bugs, etc.  The key words are "late season" and "large scale" together.  You have removed nests on the ground and while hens can re-nest a few times, the success rate goes down.  Maybe not a big deal unless you'd re dealing with an already depleted and struggling population.   Mid April burns won't result in suitable nesting habitat until early summer.  In Arkansas this spring, there were burns conducted on back to back mid April days of over 10,000 acres in one region combined, in sizes of around 1,500, 2,500, and 3,000 acres.  With the majority of hens utilizing the fringes, I'm interested to know the congregation of more hens correlates with predation.  I would like to see the acreage quota reduced depending on dates scheduled per re-scheduled.  With habitat as a whole, we have seen a loss like many states, but many areas have been somewhat unchanged or even improved, yet the population has continued to decline.

I support conservative season structures, obviously within reason.  What many unfamiliar with Arkansas don't realize, or even some in Arkansas fail to realize, is that we have had conservative seasons.  Minus going to a limit of 1, which one could argue might not drastically reduce the actual overall number killed, the conservative hunting regulations aren't a new approach.  In 2001, even before our peak years, they implemented a limit of 1 jake.  2003 was the peak with nearly 20,000 turkeys checked.  By 2005, the season was reduced from as many as 39 days to 21 days and opened April 14th as compared to around April 1st or 3rd.  The season opened later than the 10th through 2010 and was 18-21 days in length.  In 2009 the fall season was canceled.   In 2011, jakes were limited to 1 per youth only.   From 2012 - 2020, the season opened from the 8th to the 20th with a length of 16 days.   Often the season landed in a gobbling lull or consisted of poor weather, driving the overall kill total down.  Considering the jake restrictions, the percentage of the overall kill dropped from nearly 40% prior to 2000, to and average of 22% from 2000-2010, then to an average of 4% from 2011 to 2020.  In 2021, further restrictions were implemented:  1 turkey limit the first week and 1 limit per WMA for the season.   What has been the result over the last 20 years?   While I don't devalue some positives for breeding and carryover, I think it's a mistake to place too much worth on it being "The" solution to the problem.  Arkansas is a prime example.  We could reduce the harvest even lower than 2021 (around 7,000) or even close the season for a year or two, and I'm of the opinion it wouldn't make much of a difference in the overall population.   

Other states are implementing changes to reduce the harvest numbers, but I expect the same results as Arkansas if the root causes of the decline are not addressed.  Other states may be on the same trajectory, but have had much larger population bases to work with.   

[strutnrut]

i just moved back to Arkansas last year. When you can ride around and see as many coons in the daytime as you do. You have a problem.  In the Delta there are a few turkeys but not many. Hunter to gobbler ratio is high. Can you kill a gobbler in Arkansas yes but you are going to have to hunt hard and expect company. I hunt them but nothing says i have to kill him.