Harvest numbers don't reflect the season

[Roost 1]

If making a call that resembles a hen turkey and having a gobbler thunder back at you isn't enough excitement for someone to stay with the sport whether they kill or not,then they don't belong in this sport.

If strategizing on the go about how to move, set up, and position yourself to call a bird in isn't exciting whether you kill or not isn't exciting. Then turkey hunting isn't the place for that person

If having a bird hang up just out of range strutting, gobbling etc and watching him walk away after you've pondered over how to get him to break and come those final steps isn't exciting then turkey hunting isn't for you.

If planning and wondering for days after a close call isn't enough motivation to get back in the game. Then turkey hunting isn't for you.

Bottom line, turkey hunting is the most exhilarating, exciting, nerve wrecking, frustrating, and intuitive form of hunting we have and most of the hunts I remember are the ones where I walked out bird less. If other hunters can't handle bird less days, there are plenty of golf courses out there and plenty of game farms where success is guaranteed.

Why must new hunters kill in order to be hooked? They shouldn't is the answer, if they have to draw blood to get hooked I don't want them in the sport,period. It's a dam shame that what we as Americans have become, that in order to be satisfied we have to be successful from the start.

As far as kids, mine will learn to sit still if they want to be successful, no better lesson then learning the hard way and becoming better for it. If they get discouraged from lack of success, they can either listen and learn or take up another sport. Sounds harsh I know, but that's how I was raised and how my kids will be raised and how I am when I take kids each season.

Not taking shots at you Shooter, just stating my views and where I derive them from.

Preach it brother....you are on a roll, another great post...There is lots of truth in this post not just Setterman's personal opinion...All things in life were never meant to be easy....All this instant gratification is one reason their as so many failures today...People cant or don't want to learn to work hard to get where they want to be...It took me 3yrs to kill a bird and then several more after that to be able to kill them consistently but I can assure I learned those tough lessons well just like so many others in life....So when guys I know say I am fanatical about turkey hunting I don't pay them any attention because I know they have not spent the time or made the sacrifices I have to be where I am at......I also know I don't have to ask those same guys twice if they want to hunt with me.........

 

[Levee Jumper]

There are definitely areas where the population is down (i.e. Extreme Southern Middle) but I don't think the population as a whole is significantly down. I personally had the best turkey season I've ever had without the use of Blinds or Decoys, solely due to hunting better ground in middle Tennessee. I was in on 8 longbeards in 6 Saturdays in 4 different counties, 5 of which were on WMA's. I struck out on the two Sundays I hunted (more reason to go to Church).

I grew up in a part of the state with very low numbers and high pressured turkeys. It was normal to hear 0 gobbles at daylight and a treat to hear two birds at daylight. The best private farm in a river bottom in West Tennessee is equivalent to a highly pressured WMA in Middle Tennessee. Thats a Fact! I think most don't realize how green the grass really is where they hunt.

 

[TheLBLman]

Give a guy a fish, you feed him for a day, and he now expects you to give him more fish.
Teach a guy to fish, he's fed for life.

 

[stik]

i see decoying turkeys as no different than decoys for ducks or doves or predators or any other kind of hunting. sometimes i use them, sometimes i don't. they have cost me more birds than they have gotten killed.

 

[TN Larry]

There may be no better way to collapse time frames and learn basic hunting skills than by fall squirrel hunting (without dogs). Note: Hunting squirrels with dogs is exciting, but probably not the best way for a novice to personally learn general basic hunting skills.

I agree with this 100%. The lessons and what I call woodsmanship that I learned while squirrel hunting by myself when I was a teenager is worth its weight in gold. I feel like it has made me a much better deer hunter and turkey hunter and have said it for years.

 

[letsgohunting]

Yes a lot of hunters have increased there success rate by using decoys and fans. For me I had no one to teach me about turkey hunting. So before doing internet research my turkey kill rate was 0 For many years. Now I have success every year. So maybe many are like me and that maybe 1 of the factors with population decrease and Tennessee just can't sustain a 4 bird limit and fall season anymore. Let's just hope something is done before it's to late

 

[Setterman]

Yes a lot of hunters have increased there success rate by using decoys and fans. For me I had no one to teach me about turkey hunting. So before doing internet research my turkey kill rate was 0 For many years. Now I have success every year. So maybe many are like me and that maybe 1 of the factors with population decrease and Tennessee just can't sustain a 4 bird limit and fall season anymore. Let's just hope something is done before it's to late

I like a bunch of others had no one to teach me either, there wasn't many folks hunting turkeys to start with. I learned by myself, suffered many defeats and learned how to kill them when populations were a fraction of what they are now. I didn't need decoys, and since they were illegal couldn't have used them anyway. My story isn't just mine, I'd say there's a ton just like me

 

[callemquacktn]

There are definitely areas where the population is down (i.e. Extreme Southern Middle) but I don't think the population as a whole is significantly down. I personally had the best turkey season I've ever had without the use of Blinds or Decoys, solely due to hunting better ground in middle Tennessee. I was in on 8 longbeards in 6 Saturdays in 4 different counties, 5 of which were on WMA's. I struck out on the two Sundays I hunted (more reason to go to Church).

I grew up in a part of the state with very low numbers and high pressured turkeys. It was normal to hear 0 gobbles at daylight and a treat to hear two birds at daylight. The best private farm in a river bottom in West Tennessee is equivalent to a highly pressured WMA in Middle Tennessee. Thats a Fact! I think most don't realize how green the grass really is where they hunt.

Great post!
I too grew up hunting turkeys in Shelby County and you are spot on. Season of 98 I only heard 1 single gobble about 10am in the morning as a goose flew over and honked. The only gobble for the whole season. I never even seen a male bird that season.

 

[callemquacktn]

Yes a lot of hunters have increased there success rate by using decoys and fans. For me I had no one to teach me about turkey hunting. So before doing internet research my turkey kill rate was 0 For many years. Now I have success every year. So maybe many are like me and that maybe 1 of the factors with population decrease and Tennessee just can't sustain a 4 bird limit and fall season anymore. Let's just hope something is done before it's to late

I like a bunch of others had no one to teach me either, there wasn't many folks hunting turkeys to start with. I learned by myself, suffered many defeats and learned how to kill them when populations were a fraction of what they are now. I didn't need decoys, and since they were illegal couldn't have used them anyway. My story isn't just mine, I'd say there's a ton just like me

Same as me. I was 12 when I went on my first turkey hunt.
None of my family turkey hunted and I didn't even know a turkey hunter. There was no such thing as hunting videos or shows to watch. Just learn from your mistakes.

 

[arkwaterfowler]

I started hunting turkeys in 1995 and remember the season of 1998 - I only heard one bird gobble that year hunting in Humphreys County which always had birds in my area. I learned a lot from a guy 10 years older than me but most of my best turkey hunting lessons are from the school of hard knocks. I can honestly say that it does not bother me if I do not kill four toms a year in Tennessee. I have outsmarted enough good toms and killed a bunch of dumb two year olds that I don't have to whack them every year. I will say that I still get as frustrated with errors as I ever have but I shake it off a lot quicker. By the same token, calling in a mid day strutter to the gun still gives me the same thrill.

I think the problem is a societal problem - hard work and learning a craft whether it is turkey hunting or a career are becoming a lost art. Maybe the internet has brought out the worst in folks. It seems life is now all about the show and me me me...

 

[woodsman87]

I agree with everything you said arkwaterfowler.
I too, do not have to limit out or even kill one to gave a successful season. I just complain and get frustrated when there are not any birds around to play with.

Say I got to hunt 15 mornings and never killed a bird. If I heard a turkey gobble about 11-12 of those mornings, and got to play the game with one 5-6 times, I would consider that a successful season.
By play, I mean call to and maneuver on a gobbler, with a close encounter or two. No shots have to be fired. Having a fun hunt and close encounters is what got me addicted. Killing one was just a tangible reward for after several lost battles.
This is something you can't experience sitting in front of a full strut decoy everyday hoping one comes to flog it.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Tapatalk

 

[Roost 1]

I agree with everything you said arkwaterfowler.
I too, do not have to limit out or even kill one to gave a successful season. I just complain and get frustrated when there are not any birds around to play with.

Say I got to hunt 15 mornings and never killed a bird. If I heard a turkey gobble about 11-12 of those mornings, and got to play the game with one 5-6 times, I would consider that a successful season.
By play, I mean call to and maneuver on a gobbler, with a close encounter or two. No shots have to be fired. Having a fun hunt and close encounters is what got me addicted. Killing one was just a tangible reward for after several lost battles.
This is something you can't experience sitting in front of a full strut decoy everyday hoping one comes to flog it.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Tapatalk

Unfortunately there are lots of people that have killed a bunch of turkeys that have NEVER played the game....sitting in the blind with ol pretty boy is all they know. I know a bunch of them and they seldom ever killed any birds before the strutting decoys became popular...And seasons like this past one when the birds are mainly in the woods, they wonder why they cant kill one...Next thing you know its because their aren't any or the population is in decline.........

 

[Setterman]

If I've given the impression. I have to fill every tag to be happy that's certainly not the case. I want to play the game, and am perfectly content not touching the trigger as long as I can do battle with them more times then not.

The silence is what's got me stirred up not the unfilled tag

 

[Gravey]

If making a call that resembles a hen turkey and having a gobbler thunder back at you isn't enough excitement for someone to stay with the sport whether they kill or not,then they don't belong in this sport.

If strategizing on the go about how to move, set up, and position yourself to call a bird in isn't exciting whether you kill or not isn't exciting. Then turkey hunting isn't the place for that person

If having a bird hang up just out of range strutting, gobbling etc and watching him walk away after you've pondered over how to get him to break and come those final steps isn't exciting then turkey hunting isn't for you.

If planning and wondering for days after a close call isn't enough motivation to get back in the game. Then turkey hunting isn't for you.

Bottom line, turkey hunting is the most exhilarating, exciting, nerve wrecking, frustrating, and intuitive form of hunting we have and most of the hunts I remember are the ones where I walked out bird less. If other hunters can't handle bird less days, there are plenty of golf courses out there and plenty of game farms where success is guaranteed.

Why must new hunters kill in order to be hooked? They shouldn't is the answer, if they have to draw blood to get hooked I don't want them in the sport,period. It's a dam shame that what we as Americans have become, that in order to be satisfied we have to be successful from the start.

As far as kids, mine will learn to sit still if they want to be successful, no better lesson then learning the hard way and becoming better for it. If they get discouraged from lack of success, they can either listen and learn or take up another sport. Sounds harsh I know, but that's how I was raised and how my kids will be raised and how I am when I take kids each season.

Not taking shots at you Shooter, just stating my views and where I derive them from.

Bingo!!! My son and I walked out empty handed this weekend after battling a bird both days. He's 12 and I said to him "that was more fun than sitting in front of a video game wasn't it?". He just grinned and believe me he likes to play video games online with his buddies. We worked our butts off, came home empty handed, and had a blast.

 

[SKFOOTER]

I also experienced one of, if not the worst, turkey season in years this spring. I thought last year took the cake but I heard less gobbling and saw fewer longbeards this season than I have in the 30 plus years I've been turkey hunting. Hardeman County's harvest figures of 419 for this spring are the lowest in at least the last 10 years. And I noticed that Henry County's harvest figures this year came in at 479, down from 886 in 2010. That is a drastic decrease. Even Maury County's harvest figures have started to decrease over the last 3 years. From personal observations as well as reading threads such as this one, it is evident that Tennessee definitely has a problem with it's wild turkey population. But it is not a statewide problem----YET. The problem seems to be in different areas across the state. So, not only am I in favor of a shorter season and lower bag limits with a no jake rule in effect except for the youth hunters, I think it's time TWRA strongly considered different bag limits and season lengths by establishing Units across the state like they did years ago during deer season. These units should be established based on criteria such as declining turkey harvest numbers, population densities, hen to poult ratios which should be made a priority again by TWRA in each county and public comments from these areas. In my opinion these changes should have been made several years ago.

 

[woodsman87]

I know it has only been 2-1/2 years, but I haven't seen a fall brood survey done since 2012.

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[TheRealSpurhunter]

I agree harvest numbers don't neccessarily equate to the state of our population, and in some regards neither do what we as hunters see/hear. However, there's no doubt things are declining where I hunt.

This has been the toughest I've ever seen TN, and there's nothing even remotely close. It's a struggle to find a gobbling bird on the virtually unlimited acreage I hunt.

I can and did travel just 5 miles away into KY quite a bit, and in basically the same habitat and terrain gobbling birds were plentiful throughout their season. I could leave KY with birds hammering drive a few miles back to TN and was always greeted with silence.

We've exploited our resource to much and are suffering because of it. Sure nature played a part, but TWRA got over zealous with their limits.

Harvests will remain fairly high though because most hunters now sit camped in fields with decoys, any bird that is the least bit dominant will get killed whether he gobbles or not. Therefore kills will continue because the direction the sport has headed. Rather than leaving a few birds to insulate the population now even the toughest to kill are being killed, many times by hunters who would never stand a chance.

It's a really bad trend, and I for one appreciate your willingness to speak out.

Oh my goodness, the atrocity of hunter killing the birds they are after!! :bash: :bash: :bash: What will we do?!?! ray: ray:
I just cant understand why you do this to so many of your posts. I was agreeing with everything you were saying here, then you go off again on what YOU consider un-fair chase methods. I keep being told to ignore all your posts, but keep reading them. I think I need to take the advice I was given. :roll:

 

[Setterman]

cry much?

 

[letsgohunting]

If I've given the impression. I have to fill every tag to be happy that's certainly not the case. I want to play the game, and am perfectly content not touching the trigger as long as I can do battle with them more times then not.

The silence is what's got me stirred up not the unfilled tag

Agree

 

[Levee Jumper]

Lowering the Harvest to two birds per hunter will only reduce the number of birds checked in, not necessarily the number killed. Better hunting means the outlaw killing 12-15 opposed to 6-8.....similar to Kentucky's situation, but with a longer season. The Tele-Check method, although very convent, was a step in the wrong direction.