Why population plummeted?????

[Triple Gobble]

I was wondering on everyone's thoughts
That hunt or have hunted Arkansas over the last
8 or 9 years, what they think about why
Our turkey population declined? It is back
On the rise the last couple of years, which
Is good to see, but I have my own theories
Just wondering y'all's.

[BowBendr]

I dont know about other southern states but here in NC, I believe the wildlife commission was in such a hurry to get flocks into all 100 of our counties and open the season statewide, they didnt let the flocks become established long enough before they let John Q. Hunter start hammering them...




Sent from Gobblers Knob, NC

[hunter22]

I am from Arkansas and I agree the turkeys are coming back in our state. I filled both my tags last spring in Arkansas which was the first time I had done that in about three years. There were a couple years I heard one bird gobble the whole season and managed to kill both those birds. Six years ago I could hunt this same land and hear birds gobbling in every direction at daylight and have a hard time deciding which bird to hunt.

I think we had several years of bad hatches and predators such as coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons about took over. 

[nativeks]

Populations cycle up and down. Its natures way. My part of Kansas hit rock bottom a couple years ago. We were low since the mid 2000s but it got worse. Starting to see some recovery.

[Swampchickin234]

I was wondering on everyone's thoughts
That hunt or have hunted Arkansas over the last
8 or 9 years, what they think about why
Our turkey population declined? It is back
On the rise the last couple of years, which
Is good to see, but I have my own theories
Just wondering y'all's.

to me, I believe that it is a product of many things.  Starting with, very few of the big deer "leases" actually try to manage for turkeys.  Some had gotten on board and they have a good population now that is getting healthier by the day.  Next, I believe like you said is the predator issue(which is probably the number 1 culprit). With a booming population of coyotes, bobcats, foxes, coons, possums, and hogs, it amazes me that a turkey can even hatch.   The third though I have is the loss in habitat in several thousand acres.  Where once a 200 acre oak flat or ridge with valleys stood, now sits a clear cut pine plantation(yes I know cutovers are good, but there loosing lots of there habitat). All of this combined with poor nesting seasons(wet spring etc,) , lack of management, lack of predator control, leaves for a tough life on the Arkansas turkey population.  I agree with you


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[Gumby]

Predators, several massive/historic floods only a few years apart, poor nesting habitat

[Triple Gobble]

All very good points, I know that I could
Do a much better part myself on the predator
Control.  The floods I believe had a huge
Part in it , but it is looking up which is great. 
I'm ready for the times when I can just take
Off walking down an old logging road and
Strike up numerous birds and take my pick
On which one I want to go after, like I use to
Be able to do 10 years ago around hear.  It wasn't
If you were going to hear one, it was how
Many you would hear, at least for me for a
Number of years.

[Full strut]

talked to the green jeans about this a while back and they said we agreed to trade turkeys for elk with a western state (can not recall which state). that is how they attempted to build our elk population in the ozarks...  this could be a load of crap but it is straight from a high ranking official in the AGFC.

[Marc]

I cannot speak for your area, but every game bird population I hunt is dependent on habitat...

Rural encroachment, more efficient farming practices (leaving less uncultivated land for nesting), weather, etc...

Rural encroachment and farming practices will not create better habitat in future years...

I believe that hunting and even predation fall far behind habitat as far as importance for game populations in most areas.

[Gooserbat]

Poultry industry.  To many airborne disease for which wild fowl have no immunity. 

[darron]

I do a lot of turkey hunting on my own farm in se ohio as well as a few close by properties where I have access to hunt. The turkey hunting was great from early to late 90's. Then from about 2002-2008 it dropped off to where I hadn't taken a spring bird off my farm in several years. Now, things are booming again. Last muzzy season I watched a flock of 21 long beard walk right in front of my blind. I had never seen so many in my life in that area. Today I have a flock of about 9-10 gobblers using my ground on a daily basis.

I had an nwtf biologist come out and assess my property 3 years ago. The first thing he said that was missing was adequate nesting cover. When asked how to do this he told me a couple ways. One of which is to thin the timber with logging, but another, more simpler way, is hinge cutting.

I started hinge cutting in my deer sanctuary (20 acres in the middle of my property) mostly of non mast producing trees like maple, poplar, hickory etc. Anything that was not an oak and would not be a likely roost tree (smaller 8-20' high trees) for turkey I hinge cut. I spread my hinge work across 3-4 years and now I am probably 90% done in my sanctuary. He told me the tops of trees are great nest locations and even against the base of the tree since there is over head cover.

In addition to what I have done there has been a lot of clear cutting going on in surrounding properties which is now forcing the birds to roost on my property since I have plenty of mature timber. Yet the clear cuts are great for nesting too.

I also plant several smaller food plots and my go to seed blend is a mix of winter rye and clover. He said to let the winter rye head out and fall over on its own. This would be great brood habitat. I also have one field I do not plant and basically just let be for cover since it is not too far from property line.

[Tony Harris]

I live in central AR and hunt Winona WMA which is probably the most used WMA in AR simple because of where it is located. We had a good hatch a couple years ago but that was the bright star of the last decade in our area. I would have to agree habitat is what has hurt us most but the wet springs can't be overlooked. All of the above mentioned things; predators, nesting habitat, wet springs and poaching all have contributed to our decline. Maybe not one thing by itself is to blame but you add them together and the birds have a hard time raising a good brood. I have noticed some cutting of underbrush in areas of Winona and hope this leads to more.

I know it isn't popular to say and have been scolded before but I wish we would go to a one bird limit till things improve. Maybe not on private lands or leases but at least on our WMA's. I know, gobblers don't have poults but with our late season I have to wonder if we are bumping too many hens off the nest. One and done would get most hunters out of the woods in my opinion.

[Hooksfan]

I was wondering on everyone's thoughts
That hunt or have hunted Arkansas over the last
8 or 9 years, what they think about why
Our turkey population declined? It is back
On the rise the last couple of years, which
Is good to see, but I have my own theories
Just wondering y'all's.

Just interested to know which part of Arkansas you are from.  I have hunted all around Arkansas, but never in Arkansas.  My ex-inlaws owned land down south around El Dorado and the birds were just coming on strong on their property in the late 90's.  I frequently drive across Arkansas from north to south--I live in SW Missouri and visit family in Louisiana.  I very rarely see turkeys on my drive in Northern Areas of the state.  It seems as soon as I cross the Missouri Line, the turkeys magically appear.  Kind of weird.  My impression is the southern areas have remained more stable.  I did run into some Arkansas boys in Kansas last year, and they seemed to be some bona fide turkey killers, and they were complaining about no turkeys in Arkansas.
I do have a good friend that wanted me to come hunt down in the Buffalo River Area, but it seems Kansas always gets my attention that time of year.

[Gumby]

Poultry industry.  To many airborne disease for which wild fowl have no immunity.

This is true as well...I started to post this but it is just a theory that only a few people think is valid.

[Dr Juice]

Since you don't have to tend to harsh winters, I bet it is predators or poachers ... I'm just saying ...