As I see it; habitat loss is huge. And sometimes, somethinng weird just happens. Several years ago, a buddy of mine saw a bunch of jakes that particular spring while hunting. He probably let 4 or 5 groups of 4 or 5 walk away. We thought the next spring was going to be lots of fun..only problem was; the next spring, we never heard the first gobbler in any of those areas and only found 1 hen track. We have no idea what happened or where they could have gone. Wildlife and fisheries denies trapping them..says no reports of dieoffs..nothing.
I know the reports say that few guys collect more than 1 bird. But I know in some cases, some of these guys shoot far more than that. I know a guy who told me several years ago that he had gotten 10 the previous year by driving around on rainy days and shooting from the truck. He got caught last year for that exact violation..and not tagging the turkey. Years ago, a poacher was caught night hunting and had been selling the game. The report was he had killed over 1000 deer and turkeys in the previous 3 years. Just imagine the damage THAT did to the populations
