TFT

[topnotch]

Been a member for over year and feel money is being spent on important projects. Would like to see a monthly email for those of us who steer clear of Facebook and other modern medias.

[eggshell]

....THINK he said they were at about 18,000 members. Maybe he will be along to confirm or correct that number.

I hope that is correct,...but it seems like a lot for an organization with such limited exposure so far, especially in areas outside of the southeast.  If that number is correct, they are well on their way to success.  That means people are starting to jump on board.

Word to the wise for those in charge:  Do not take your donors and volunteers for granted.  Always keep the mission as stated above first and foremost!  The temptation to do otherwise will be great.  We will be watching...

Once again I wholeheartedly agree with Gobblenut.  I have this deep dread and vision of The NWTF and the money hounding corporate lion it became, with the wild turkey left in the dust. Many good charities have started with noble intentions and became salary generators. Sure they all produce some good fruit, but get way off base when it comes to their initial mission. I speak from a strong position on this as I am Chairman of non-profit and fiscal officer. We are small, but we stay on course and actually signed an agreement with another group to provide oversight and auditing. I have sat in the Chairman's seat for over 10 years and the group is 27 years old. We take no salaries and return 94% to our mission. I hope that TFT does stay on course and has established third party oversight.

I have not joined and I am still watching. I agree, that work done in the south may provide some strong data, but some money needs to come North where winter climates are a whole other factor. People want to see their money spent in their area. They also need to scrutinize University grant request and reasearch. I now how Universities work, they produce paper and degrees first and sometimes good research comes with that, but they can burn through a ton of money with no product. Professors are looking for tenure and grad students degrees and jobs. The money is best used as a pass through to them via a state agency, with defined goals.

For now I am just watching, the burn from The NWTF has not healed yet. I am not paying someones huge salary ony to be ignored

[Terry]

I understand everyone's hesitation to join. For what little money it is I say why not. I will never regret spending money on efforts to save wild Turkey. Even if some of those efforts fail.

I personally set aside a specific dollar amount for hunting and conservation organizations each year. How I split that money up depends on what I'm seeing from the different organizations I donate to. TFT is currently getting more of my money than the NWTF and will probably do so for at least a couple more years. NWTF isn't getting much more than membership dues from me as of now.


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[eggshell]

I thought of something else I wanted to share. My home state of Ohio has a donation box available when you buy your tags. You donate directly to the wildlife fund and choose where your money goes(like habitat).  I have bought tags from several others states and most do the same thing. I donate directly to my home Wildlife agency.

[dzsmith]

Same thing happened to me. They messaged me , twice on here actually and asked me to give them a call. Took me a while to get around to it. Same thing though , 15 minute conversation , they explained what had happened , and the first year it was just a donation not a technical membership . Memberships started later which is why I couldn't technically renew. We had a nice chat. And it was nice to see them actually reach out .

[cj580]

I joined the first year. Seems like they are off to a good start. But now I'm a bit confused by their direction. I haven't paid for another membership yet. I'd like to speak with them to ask a few questions about some of the things I've saw recently.

[Notsoyoungturk]

I joined recently and received a letter and a decal within a few weeks.  I know a few of the people that are spear heading this effort and they are good people.  They were at NWTF convention constantly meeting with people and making contacts to help them branch out.  Any organization, that is expanding, is going to develop growing pains and have some ebbs and flows in momentum.   I think their intent is good and and believe in their mission.  I, for one, will keep supporting them and keep the faith.

[joey46]

The drawing for their guided hunt raffle will be Feb 8th 7pm CST and shown live on Facebook.  Be watching to see if I'm a big winner.  LOL.

[joey46]

Just watched the drawings live.  Didn't win.  Seems like a good group

[gobblerchsr]

Very good point! This is my second year as a member. I am from Michigan and are bird numbers are good. To me it was so concerning that the traditional areas that have always had great numbers were on the decline. When I looked into the research TFT was doing I wanted to support it because bird numbers declining anywhere is a bad thing and no one else is doing what is necessary to figure out what is happening. You need data to make changes and turn things around. I encourage everyone who is able to support this critical research.

[dublelung]

I joined last May and never heard a peep from anyone. Not worth my time to find out why but it doesn't show me much bang for a buck.