does that mean there is more turkeys in Wayne co??
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- Thread starter Buzzard Breath
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tellico4x4
Well-Known Member
Last two years have been great in Wayne. We killed 16 off our place so far and still plenty of gobblers left.
TN G.O.A.T Hunter
Well-Known Member
I don't know about Wayne County but where I live, thunder chickens are running extremely low in supply
are you north of hwy 64 or south???
Everyone interested in the Turkey information needs to go listen to The Turkey Hunter Podcast with Andy and Cameron from the week before April 19.
They had the two biologists who have been studying the population decline (based in southern middle TN) for 8 years. They will answer a lot of the questions in this thread. They said, scientifically, the study couldn't have turned out better with different factors, controls, checks, etc.
They made their recommendations which TWRA committee Only partially followed….after paying them for 8 yrs for the advice.
1. Pushing the season back had absolutely no effect on nest success or population. They recommended going back to the first Saturday in April as the opener. (Commission made this the juvenile hunt instead of opener. They did state that they wanted the juveniles to have the best date)
2. Make jakes illegal except for special people like juvenile, handicap etc…. (TWRA committee did not follow the recommendation)
3. Make bearded hens illegal. (TWRA commission agreed)
4. Return the limit back to 3 adult Gobblers. Limit going from 3 to 2 hasn't affected population in any way. Only 10% of hunters kill a 3rd, which makes it by far offset with outlawing jakes. (TWRA commission ignored this recommendation)
The unquestioned sole driver of Turkey population decline is the decline in nest success caused primarily by nest predators with hen/poult predation and habitat problems contributing.
I have no idea why the commission would fund these scientists for 8 yrs to find the problem and what needs to be done to fix it, then ignore their own scientists recommendations. Members saying "I think the 2 week delay helps" when they have an 8 year study, scientifically proving that it doesn't, laying right in front of them, and allowing people to continue to shoot Jake's is ridiculous . It makes zero sense
I'll probably paste this as its own subject as well
They had the two biologists who have been studying the population decline (based in southern middle TN) for 8 years. They will answer a lot of the questions in this thread. They said, scientifically, the study couldn't have turned out better with different factors, controls, checks, etc.
They made their recommendations which TWRA committee Only partially followed….after paying them for 8 yrs for the advice.
1. Pushing the season back had absolutely no effect on nest success or population. They recommended going back to the first Saturday in April as the opener. (Commission made this the juvenile hunt instead of opener. They did state that they wanted the juveniles to have the best date)
2. Make jakes illegal except for special people like juvenile, handicap etc…. (TWRA committee did not follow the recommendation)
3. Make bearded hens illegal. (TWRA commission agreed)
4. Return the limit back to 3 adult Gobblers. Limit going from 3 to 2 hasn't affected population in any way. Only 10% of hunters kill a 3rd, which makes it by far offset with outlawing jakes. (TWRA commission ignored this recommendation)
The unquestioned sole driver of Turkey population decline is the decline in nest success caused primarily by nest predators with hen/poult predation and habitat problems contributing.
I have no idea why the commission would fund these scientists for 8 yrs to find the problem and what needs to be done to fix it, then ignore their own scientists recommendations. Members saying "I think the 2 week delay helps" when they have an 8 year study, scientifically proving that it doesn't, laying right in front of them, and allowing people to continue to shoot Jake's is ridiculous . It makes zero sense
I'll probably paste this as its own subject as well
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me and family have owned property in extreme southern middle tn for 50 yrs plus!!! i dont need to hear bullshit!!!i i need to hear a answer!! one that makes sense
Then go listen. I don't remember the numbers, but nest success used to be 25% to 30% and even up to 50%, and now it's less than 10%
TN G.O.A.T Hunter
Well-Known Member
Yeah that's why we need more predators introduced, the turkeys in my area have to fight with bear, wild hogs, coons, hawks, coyotes, bobcats just to name a few. We need something else to finish the turkeys off, since the bears and wild hogs have became so populated the turkeys and deer have left. Just what I have noticed in my area the last 20yrs
BSK
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure I get what you're saying. The study described in the podcast is your answer. And it makes sense.
I guess you are talking about disease from chicken houses?
That's in the podcast as well. They looked into that.
Pretty sure they tested hundreds of dead turkey remains from hunting, predators, road kill, and other sources. There weren't any diseases found
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MickThompson
Well-Known Member
Who is recommending predators being introduced?
The single most effective thing you can do to help your turkey population is to start trapping nest predators. (Ok the first is habitat manipulation but many can't do that) We went from one or two poults surviving until August to seeing 20+ each season making it into deer season once we started trapping coons and possums. The first year we caught 27 possums and 21 coons on 50 acres while only running 4 traps. Most had battle scars and open sores. Next year we caught about the same number but only one possum had health issues. Year 3 we doubled the number of traps, but our catch rate declined about 30% That is when our poult survival noticeably improved.
TN G.O.A.T Hunter
Well-Known Member
Government agencies brought bears to my area, now places that use to be full of deer and turkey, are now full of bear and no deer or turkey. You add in the wild hogs taking over hard for deer and turkeys to compete. I hear tell of fisher cats being introduced. May not be the issue for the whole state but just my observation in my area for 20yrs. Turkeys and Deer were doing great until the bears and hogs overrun the area. Look at LBL what the hogs have done there.
come on guys. i really wanna know??? where are the turkey experts!!! are the predators in these counties getting fat in the subdivisions or are they not there??? maybe they are getting fat at the auto plant at spring hill and leaving the nests alone!! idk!!!
What was your handle your first time through Tndeer? Same bullshyt rants as now. You are an obvious retread.
Same hereIt didn't take me long to click the magic button on that idiot. All I see is the green stripe when he post.
