Anybody Seeing Birds?

[Ranger]

Far as I can tell there are no birds in northeast Ga. LOL. Harvest record was up a bit on some of our WMAs last year. Maybe that's a good sign it's getting better. I know some private property where they have corn all year never had a drop in population. Coyotes everywhere so I don't buy the bit about yotes being the problem.

Yeah right, buy it or not but coyotes are changing things in Georgia. Corn everywhere and never had a drop in population can't go together, you've only consolidated the predator's hunting grounds.  That won't make a flourishing population

[WNY Bowhunter]

A buddy of mine counted a flock of around 80 at my #1 spot yesterday morning. Didn't really have time to stop and look at them through binos as I drove by but there were 8-10 longbeards strutting. My buddy who was at the barn and said that they were gobbling too. I know several will stick around for our May 1st opener. Can't wait!!!

[longspur]

Far as I can tell there are no birds in northeast Ga. LOL. Harvest record was up a bit on some of our WMAs last year. Maybe that's a good sign it's getting better. I know some private property where they have corn all year never had a drop in population. Coyotes everywhere so I don't buy the bit about yotes being the problem.

Yeah right, buy it or not but coyotes are changing things in Georgia. Corn everywhere and never had a drop in population can't go together, you've only consolidated the predator's hunting grounds.  That won't make a flourishing population

I won't take what people say over my decades of observation. My friend has been sending me pictures of these turkeys for many years. Multiple hens with 8 or 10 baby chicks, 3 or 4 months later they are all still there. I get to watch them grow with regular pictures and wonder why the coyotes don't eat them. They don't live off corn in a tiny area, they have couple hundred acres with some food plots. He just makes sure they don't starve in winter, and have no hunting pressure.
I remember 15 years or so back I would see well over 100 turkeys in a field and wonder what in the heck would 100 turkeys eat with 2 or 3 years of no acorns.
After they started declining hard I would see what the ones I shot had been eating, (still do). Sticks, rocks, rotten acorns from years past, nothing I could see as good for them. At their peak they didn't even act like wild turkeys any more. Everywhere you go they would be up in peoples yard looking for food.
There was a road washed out on a local WMA that limited access to a large track to foot travel only for several years.  It would take several hours to walk from one end of road to the other. You could walk an hour or so before daylight and hear gobblers in every direction. They fixed the road and 2 years later guess what, no turkeys. Did the coyotes eat them up in two years?
I am no friend of the coyotes, I'm sure they eat turkeys and eggs. So do Coon's, opossums,skunks, dogs, snakes, hawks etc. I could be very wrong and I'm fine with that. It's just that I have seen no evidence that they played a major role in the decline. Just a bunch of people with titles and opinions. My mind is not closed to this theory I just want to see some evidence.

[turkey_slayer]

Yeah I've never believed a dog was responsible for the decline. They're just not made for it. Not saying they don't get some, cause they do, just not to the extent people believe. If you look at poult reproduction rates the last several years the majority of states have seen a decline. I think it's just a bunch of variables such as weather, predators, habitat, disease and the explosion of turkey hunters and the tactics that are used today make it so much easier to kill. Not to long ago henned up Tom's we're pretty unkillable by the majority of hunters. Now they're easily killable

[1iagobblergetter]

Yesterday i seen 5 or 6 different groups. Couple of the group's were made up of 5 to 8 longbeards. Looks like a whole lot of fun this spring..

[Drycreek]

Watched four toms and a jake harass a few hens last week.

[Muzzy61]

The last couple of weeks been seeing a ton of birds in the fields driving to and from work.  ( North Florida)