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Fewer turkeys every year

Sam Davis said:
Another issue that affects turkey population. They nest in hayfields and unfortunately there nest's get broken up when hay is cut. I have broke up several over the years and it can't be helped. If you see them in time and go around them predators get them that night.
They suffer the same fate in other agriculture fields.
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Cutting hay didn't affect population in the late 90s/ early 2000s. Not sure why it would now
 
poorhunter said:
I live in south western Hickman, and have experienced the same. 10-15 gobblers on the roost was norm. Two or three winter flocks of 30+ gobblers was the norm. Winter flocks of over 100 hens. One winter they practically all died. Boom, gone. I have 12 different farms ranging from 45-250 acres that I have basically sole hunting rights to spread out over a 10 square mile radius. In between the farms I hunt are similar sized farms where they are either leased or hunted by the owners and they kill at will both deer and turkey all they can. Things are looking up this year compared to the last 5 so we'll see. I've only killed one bird in the last 5 years total, knowing they need all the help they can get.
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Exact same thing, again in SW Hickman. Seeing a slight improvement from the last several years
 
megalomaniac said:
Cutting hay didn't affect population in the late 90s/ early 2000s. Not sure why it would now
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I said ( another thing ) . Meaning they are other issues. I have seen up to 18 + eggs broken in a field. That's turkey's that want hatch. Here in the plateau we had plenty of turkeys late 90s early 2000s.
 
scn said:
The season is too long and the bag limit is too high. Unfortunately, our agency and Commission are more concerned with license $$$ than they are the resource. It is circling the bowl. We haven't had a turkey biologist that truly cared about the birds since Jack Murrey retired. Glad I am at the end of my hunting career.

In a very few years, particularly with what is getting ready to happen, I won't be surprised to see them at a quail level.
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I agree season is too long and I wish limit was 2. Scn what is getting ready to happen?
 
Unless/until the bs court ruling from last week is reversed, I anticipate a wholesale slaughter. There are too many so-called "hunters" that have zero regard for bag limit s or regs for me to have ANY confidence that the turkey population will survive.

They have been overshot the past two seasons due to the "covid" extra pressure, and I fully expect it to continue down the bowl this season.

But, hey, we are having record license sales. May be time to spend another $10,000 to get some more turkey hunters out there……… x

Just unbelievable bs.
 
People have been whining about populations for a good 10 years now. I was one of them. Twra could cut the season to 2 weeks and 1 bird and people would be up in arms. I don't pretend to know the reason why or how to fix it and I honestly doubt anyone will ever figure out. Even the so called guru chamberlain. But I do know one thing, it's happened across a fairly large portion of the country.

You can't change a farmers mind on how to use his land and guys don't have time to trap or predator hunt on a scale that would matter in this busy world. You can't improve habitat on national forest thanks to the tree huggers. Short of limiting the amount of hunters, seasons and bag limits there's not a dang thing anyone can do and then everyone would whine about opportunities. I would like to see decoys/fanning banned for one year just to see the impact. That being said, TN kills 30k+ birds every year so there must be quite a few somewhere. Some of us have been spoiled experiencing the apex of turkey numbers. Hearing 10+ was awesome but it'll never be that way again. No point in whining about it.
 
I'm on the south end of the plateau. When I started hunting you were lucky to see a track or scratchings . 1988 through the early 2000's it was the good old days as far as population in this area. It wasn't hard for me to hear 10 to 15 birds in a morning in some of the gulfs I used hunt. I didn't have much hunting competition either. I didn't start seeing a tremendous amount of coyotes or hunting pressure till early 2000. It's been down hill ever since.
I personally think the season needs to be shortened and the limit needs to be no more than 2 birds. Maybe have a split season 1 bird per season/ week. Maybe that would deter a lot of the ones that don't truly love and respect the sport and the birds themselves.
This will be my 38th season. I would rather Turkey hunt than anything. I'm all about doing whatever it takes to make those days come back. It's a sad situation.
 
Cut the bag limit to 2. I hunt the side of the mountain mainly and if I tagged out every year my population would deplete. Very few birds in the particular area I hunt. Predators are the biggest issue we deal with on the property I hunt.
 
There are solutions. Cutting the limit and shortening the season will only delay the inevitable. At the same time taking away opportunities from those areas where population is thriving.

A reasonable solution would be to issue 1 turkey tag per 5 or 10 predator pelts turned in. Don't want to spend the time trapping or hunt public or are a travelling nonresident charge $100 extra per turkey tag/ permit, with a max of (1, 2, 3... whatever). Use these funds to pay trappers to remove predators off public. Issue transferable landowner tags to those who improve habitat, which can be sold or donated.
 
We're already talking about what we'll do when they are gone, squirrel hunt mostly because that's all that will be left but I'm sure a Squirrel Unlimited Federation will be created. Then the hunting industry marketing departments trade association will come up with a scoring system for squirrels with a record book , specialized camo, guns,ammo, and other indispensable paraphernalia. Girl hunters will have pink squirrel logos for their TV shows and it will be all the rage with game departments. Then the pleasant ,simple pastime of squirrel hunting will be ruined like the rest.
 
megalomaniac said:
There are solutions. Cutting the limit and shortening the season will only delay the inevitable. At the same time taking away opportunities from those areas where population is thriving.

A reasonable solution would be to issue 1 turkey tag per 5 or 10 predator pelts turned in. Don't want to spend the time trapping or hunt public or are a travelling nonresident charge $100 extra per turkey tag/ permit, with a max of (1, 2, 3... whatever). Use these funds to pay trappers to remove predators off public. Issue transferable landowner tags to those who improve habitat, which can be sold or donated.
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Make it fun, start a new hunting tradition and open up night time predator hunting! Predators are easier to kill at night!
 
scn said:
Unless/until the bs court ruling from last week is reversed, I anticipate a wholesale slaughter. There are too many so-called "hunters" that have zero regard for bag limit s or regs for me to have ANY confidence that the turkey population will survive.

They have been overshot the past two seasons due to the "covid" extra pressure, and I fully expect it to continue down the bowl this season.

But, hey, we are having record license sales. May be time to spend another $10,000 to get some more turkey hunters out there……… x

Just unbelievable bs.
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I missed something I guess. What is the court ruling you are referring to.

I certainly agree with your post. It's all about the license sales unfortunately
 
elknturkey said:
People have been whining about populations for a good 10 years now. I was one of them. Twra could cut the season to 2 weeks and 1 bird and people would be up in arms. I don't pretend to know the reason why or how to fix it and I honestly doubt anyone will ever figure out. Even the so called guru chamberlain. But I do know one thing, it's happened across a fairly large portion of the country.

You can't change a farmers mind on how to use his land and guys don't have time to trap or predator hunt on a scale that would matter in this busy world. You can't improve habitat on national forest thanks to the tree huggers. Short of limiting the amount of hunters, seasons and bag limits there's not a dang thing anyone can do and then everyone would whine about opportunities. I would like to see decoys/fanning banned for one year just to see the impact. That being said, TN kills 30k+ birds every year so there must be quite a few somewhere. Some of us have been spoiled experiencing the apex of turkey numbers. Hearing 10+ was awesome but it'll never be that way again. No point in whining about it.
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Im not whining just concerned how it can go from turkeys galore to hardly even seeing any or hearing some. Im sorry but I don't think hunting them hard is the reason , more like some disease/parasite or something. All this fanning /decoying use is not the problem either imo. A true turkey hunter needs neither but you do need turkeys.
 
gobbler32 said:
I mainly hunt Hickman County but do stray into Dickson co some too. I was fortunate for many years to have some excellent ground to hunt that was full of birds. I can attest the last 3-5 yrs in Hickman County have shown a complete flip flop of hearing and seeing birds. I do have 2 places that have a few turkeys but not even close to what it once was and I am pretty much the only one hunting turkey at both places. One farm I've hunted for over 20yr used to be loaded and could hear 10 to 15 birds in a morning ,now you're lucky to hear one. Dickson co is absolutely loaded with turkeys though.
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I live in Hickman County and have noticed the population steadily decline
 
I have some spots in Hickman where the population is steady and others are down.. I wouldn't quite say declining just not as good as they used to be. Ironically the property that's steady is absolutely overrun with predators including eagles. I haven't seen a poult in 5 years though? I guess they are finding suitable habitat close by?
 
gobbler32 said:
I mainly hunt Hickman County but do stray into Dickson co some too. I was fortunate for many years to have some excellent ground to hunt that was full of birds. I can attest the last 3-5 yrs in Hickman County have shown a complete flip flop of hearing and seeing birds. I do have 2 places that have a few turkeys but not even close to what it once was and I am pretty much the only one hunting turkey at both places. One farm I've hunted for over 20yr used to be loaded and could hear 10 to 15 birds in a morning ,now you're lucky to hear one. Dickson co is absolutely loaded with turkeys though.
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I will say this if people keep bragging on an open forum about areas being loaded with game we that live and hunt these areas will have no game to hunt. What i mean by that is everything will be leased out and the ones who tried to keep their mouth shut to be able to keep what very few farms there are to hunt available.
I know i cant afford it. So unless you have deep pockets i would suggest not sayin a word. Loose lips sinks ships. Just my opinion
 
People already know Dickson is loaded, if you drive any of the roads there and are not blind you can tell. I drive them every day and see tons , im sorry if that bothers you but the truth is the truth
 
Bgoodman30 said:
I have some spots in Hickman where the population is steady and others are down.. I wouldn't quite say declining just not as good as they used to be. Ironically the property that's steady is absolutely overrun with predators including eagles. I haven't seen a poult in 5 years though? I guess they are finding suitable habitat close by?
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I have to disagree because if 1000s and 1000s of acres that used to be filled with birds and in the last few years have simply disappeared I call that decline
 

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