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KPH

KPH

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i wonder how many turkey are killed that are never checked in. could be killed any time of the year and with any method. how does that figure into the statistics if at all.
 
KPH said:
i wonder how many turkey are killed that are never checked in. could be killed any time of the year and with any method. how does that figure into the statistics if at all.
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They attempted to estimate that in the recent Wild Turkey Status Report (page 4).


I don't know how they estimate it or how accurate it is, but they estimate actual kill numbers to be about 30% higher than reported kill numbers. (57,633 vs. 40,105).
 
Per my talks this morning with TWRA Turkey Program Coordinator, he says about 70% of spring season killed turkeys are checked in, or 7 out of 10, as reflected in the report at the link above. Some are deliberate acts of non-compliance and some are innocent brain farts with the hectic lifestyle many of us live. He went on to say the 70% mark for reported turkey harvest versus actual turkey harvest is shared with other neighboring states in the southeast.
 
Andy S. said:
Per my talks this morning with TWRA Turkey Program Coordinator, he says about 70% of spring season killed turkeys are checked in, or 7 out of 10, as reflected in the report at the link above. southeast.
Click to expand...
That SOUNDS like a very good estimate. Certainly congruent with any wild guesses I have made.

Another way of stating same above, if only 7 of 10 spring kills are checked-in, that means the spring human hunter kill (harvest) is 43% more than what's actually legally reported.

As I understand, these numbers do not include turkeys poached outside the season.
 
What's really scary is to consider how many birds are killed year-round by NON-human hunters.

Coyotes, bobcats, dogs, hawks, owls, eagle ---- I suspect they collectively kill more turkeys annually than we human hunters kill each spring. Worse, these predators kill a lot of hens, where we humans mainly kill male birds. But they also kill a lot of strutting longbeards during the spring as well.

If we had no spring turkey season whatsoever, not only would the non-human turkey kills still be there, but they would actually increase.
 

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