Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
A single season of anecdotal observation does not = irrefutable factual evidence. That being said my answer to your musing above is yes.
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I try and trap my little 32 acres. I used to have tons of turkey, but they are gone. That is due to habitat loss though. the cow farm that was two properties over (about 200 yds) is a brewery now.
I wouldn't know where to begin on turkey habitat improvement. I just started learning and trying to implement deer habitat improvements. I think some will benefit both if I can make it happen.
Southern Sportsman
Well-Known Member
I agree and this alone may well justify the delay. Disclaimer: This IS NOT directed at anyone specific. There are some skillful and accomplished turkey hunters who are against the delay, and I understand and respect their opinions. But I think a LOT of the vocal opponents of the delay are baiters and/or devoted decoy enthusiasts. If the only way I knew how to kill a turkey was sitting on a field edge with a strutter or jake decoy, I would HATE losing early April. But if you prefer to call them in gobbling, I think the biggest drawback is simply having to wait two extra weeks to do it.
From discussions with Roger Shields and a few commissioners, I fully expect regulations to be set by "zones" within the next year or two. However, as a West Tennesseean, I have not seen any decline in the quality of hunting with the delay, nor have I heard complaints from any of the knowledgable hunters I know. And a few people I know in the MAV counties have noticed an uptick in turkey numbers since the season delay went into effect there a couple years ago. But admittedly, there are many factors that could be at play, and I haven't hunted those counties enough to have my own opinion on how the delay may or may not be affecting populations there.
Stlbaseball1
Well-Known Member
Interesting to think about zones for turkeys. I assume the limit would remain a statewide limit and basically just the dates would be different per zone?
My gripe with the two week delay is most definitely just selfishly not wanting to wait two more weeks to get after em
i would have loved to seen zones for turkeys just like deer twenty years ago but was always shot down and told what a stupid idea it was ,we have plenty of birds, let the professionals worry about it
It's like we're watching a clock tick backwards, season set by zones then counties then parts of counties then counties closed.
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
The notion of zones is interesting. Numerous states I've hunted over the years have both their seasons and limits set by zones. It seemed to work well but admittedly, this was before many of the same states experienced population declines.
woodsman04
Well-Known Member
More restrictions is somewhat like government over reach. I think the delay needed to happen, the limit reduction not at all.
It is showing us if we can't manage the resource then government will step in and ruin it for everyone.
It's a hunter mindset, or people mindset. The mind set changed with the addition of decoys and social media. There is no doubt in my mind that these people really hunt to get attention. They may enjoy hunting and turkey hunting, but they get off to putting a picture on Facebook, with a mouth call or cigarette stuck in his beak, wearing gator chaps and s leafy suit with costas on and a a Yeti cooler on his back.
It's a mindset. A culture issue. Until the fad hunters quit, I think we will struggle. The wrong sort of person has been recruited into hunting, not just turkey hunting. But all of it.
Sorry for the rant. Maybe people's mindsets and understanding will change.
Same goes for just the country in general. The world in general. So many people are entitled
It is showing us if we can't manage the resource then government will step in and ruin it for everyone.
It's a hunter mindset, or people mindset. The mind set changed with the addition of decoys and social media. There is no doubt in my mind that these people really hunt to get attention. They may enjoy hunting and turkey hunting, but they get off to putting a picture on Facebook, with a mouth call or cigarette stuck in his beak, wearing gator chaps and s leafy suit with costas on and a a Yeti cooler on his back.
It's a mindset. A culture issue. Until the fad hunters quit, I think we will struggle. The wrong sort of person has been recruited into hunting, not just turkey hunting. But all of it.
Sorry for the rant. Maybe people's mindsets and understanding will change.
Same goes for just the country in general. The world in general. So many people are entitled
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Huh??? Illogical reasoning....
If the limit were 3 or 4, you could add another 3000 dead birds to this year's total easily. Maybe even more than that when you factor in folks like me who would rather keep hunting than punch my 2nd tag and end the season early.
Southern Sportsman
Well-Known Member
Great. Then it hasn't cost hunters much in terms of opportunity or success, and we gave turkeys two more weeks of unimpeded breeding. Win-Win.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Poult recruitment was the highest its been in a decade in the 2 wk delay MAV counties past 2 years. CLEAR benefit was shown in those counties.
In the counties with the 2w delay last year in far southern middle TN, there was not a separation in poult recruitment (which was the best in a decade regardless) compared to neighboring counties... in other words, poilt recruitment was better throughout middle TN last year in all counties, but not even higher in the 2w delay counties comparatively speaking... but only 1 year of data from the 2w delay
woodsman04
Well-Known Member
I'm just passionate about wild turkeys. I've hunted them for a long time. I feel like I've done my parts to help conserve them. I get upset when someone kills one that they don't appreciate. It happens a lot.
I've seen it go from having one or two birds on 20,000+ acres, to average numbers, to booming numbers of late 90s through 2007 and everything in between.
I'm still from the school where I don't talk about turkeys. I tell no one where I hunt, what I hear, what I saw. Never. My dad is gone and he is the only one I shared with. I learned from the days of few birds that if you tell people then you doom yourself.
I've seen it go from having one or two birds on 20,000+ acres, to average numbers, to booming numbers of late 90s through 2007 and everything in between.
I'm still from the school where I don't talk about turkeys. I tell no one where I hunt, what I hear, what I saw. Never. My dad is gone and he is the only one I shared with. I learned from the days of few birds that if you tell people then you doom yourself.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Agreed... asking a typical turkey hunter to self limit is like setting a rock of meth in front of an addict and asking him to only use half of it
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
The folks I grew up with hunting and mentors who taught me were absolutely stewards of wildlife resources. Yeah there were some slobs of course, but most folks hunted and fished for food and the love of the outdoors and wanted to be a part of taking care of the resource. Hunting "celebrities" and social media have most certainly had a hand in recruitment and you might just be right.
You're not wrong if i had six tags i would fill em all, over 8 different farms of course
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
I think most of us are that way.... which is why I almost never tag out... typically I kill until 1 less than the limit, then keep hunting the rest of the entire season passing up everything and punch my last tag on the last day of season.if I get a chance. More times than not, I end up eating the last tag, which is fine by me. I'm way more addicted to the hunt than the kill, so no way I'm ever going to tag out early unless it's a really special bird.You're not wrong if i had six tags i would fill em all, over 8 different farms of course
Great post! Many folks do not have the self-control to leave any "to seed" and have the kill at any costs mentality. I have seen people decimate a flock of gobblers in one setting and I am sure it happens all over the state. I hope the reduced bag limit will spare some toms that would be killed if the bag limit were still 3.
prstide
Well-Known Member
I suggested a zonal approach in my emails to the commission multiple years during the open comment period. I was basing my suggestions solely on the population differences in the different parts of the state which are primarily dictated by suitable habitat.
I do believe it's the best way to manage the population properly when all the chips fall.
I would venture to guess that no county in West TN could have sustained a huntable population of turkeys much longer if a 4 bird limit had continued.
