Meateater podcast #214

[Dtrkyman]

Check it out, great info from a turkey hunter turned biologist.

Michael Chamberlain I believe is his name.

[Kylongspur88]

Great pod cast. His take on state agency decisions vs non affiliated biologists recommendations was very interesting. I plan on upping my coon killing game now.

[Dtrkyman]

I remember when I first scouted deer in central Illinois in the early 90s, I did not see a coon track anywhere, where I normally hunted they were thick.

Asked some locals and the coons got distemper and wiped em out!  Turkey population went through the roof!
Steady decline for the most part in recent years but seems to be a slight trend towards the better.

We have guys trapping a couple of our properties!

The owls picking off toms in the trees was surprising to say the least.

[camotoe]

I've passed on coons while bow hunting , not any more. To bad there isn't a market for the hides or maybe China would like some coonskin caps.


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[WV Ridge Reaper]

One of the best podcast I have heard today!!! Crazy about the owls


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[Paulmyr]

That was excellent. Should be a required listen to anyone buying a turkey hunting license. I as a sneak/run and gun hunter I try to move about the areas I'm hunting and plan to hunt in the future causing as little disturbance as possible.I  will be thinking a little more about holding tight more often and try to be even sneakier when moving around in the turkey woods. Not just because of the Tom returning hours later but for the disturbance factor and how it effects breeding and nest success.

[Loyalist84]

Great episode, definitely going to be trying to find my local peak incubation date from the Ministry and frame my hunting around it since I definitely noticed a lot of hens with young broods pretty late into the summer this past year.

[Paulmyr]

It would be nice if the moderator could pin a link to this podcast it in this forum.

[Spurs Up]

Interesting to read what stuck with other listeners. I heard a lot of the same plus concern about the timing of seasons in heavily hunted states that open comparatively early. Something about it disrupting leks, messing up breeding, and maybe being the cause of declines in numbers of turkeys.  He said turkeys are the only bird we hunt during their mating season (except blue grouse in Alaska). I'm not sure I'm ready to wish for my state to move it's opener later, but the podcast almost made me feel guilty...

[Paulmyr]

Interesting to read what stuck with other listeners. I heard a lot of the same plus concern about the timing of seasons in heavily hunted states that open comparatively early. Something about it disrupting leks, messing up breeding, and maybe being the cause of declines in numbers of turkeys.  He said turkeys are the only bird we hunt during their mating season (except blue grouse in Alaska). I'm not sure I'm ready to wish for my state to move it's opener later, but the podcast almost made me feel guilty...

I agree. Another thing I gleened from setting season dates. The guy seemed to think hunter success ratios during the early season compared to the population had a big role to played in recruitment into the population. I think he stated 30 to 40 percent of the gobblers were taken early in the breeding cycle in a number of southern states and that may have a dramatic effect on the breading cycle. Where as states that only took a small percent of gobblers early in the breeding season had better recruitment. Funny because I just found myself wondering why Missouri season opened later than here in MN. Makes total sense now. Apparently the Missouri conservation Dept was listening. This podcast goes a long ways towards explaining why all the southern boys where posting last year wondering what happened to all the turkeys.

[Dtrkyman]

Really interesting how killing the dominant bird could throw off the hens breeding so much. Makes sense though if you think about it.

I wonder though if there are some loose hens around?  haha

Hearing the odds of a gobbler making it to an adult also makes me feel slightly guilty killing one, I knew they had a hard time making it the first 28 days or so, but did not realize how tough it was even after that! 

[Mossberg90MN]

Listened to this podcast today, such great info. Been following this guy for a while now.


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[WisTurk]

Listened to this one over the weekend as well and was absolutely fascinated.  I'm sure he could have still talked for hours on end, and I definitely would have listened for sure.  One of the most interesting parts for me was the structure of the pecking order.  I, like most people, assumed that if the boss gobbler got shot/killed then the #2 would just take his place, but that's not what happens.  Really riveting info from him.

[Bearcat1997]

An owl killing a mature tom is something I would have never guessed. Very fascinating listen!

[Paulmyr]

For you guys interested in listening they don't start intereveiwing the biologist until the 15:45 mark. It's a little slow up until this point talking about turnequets and weasels. After the 15:45 it's about turkeys.