Numbers droping ?

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Funny thing about Tn IS the liberal bag limits
I remember when I first moved here from Mo. I was like
YOU CAN KILL 11 BUCKS IN ONE SEASON

Another thing about our turkeys here in Tn
is we sell a ton of Out of State tags
because of our early dates and liberal limit
hunters from MO, KY, OH, IL, flock here to get a start
before their seasons start
 
I will NEVER understand why any turkey hunter would be so helll bent on killing hens. Cat, you bring up the same points every discussion. Do yourself a favor and read some of Dr. Lovett Williams' work. Until you educate yourself you can't understand. You CANNOT compare turkey biology to deer or anything else! There are NO SIMILARITIES in the two!
 
Lawrence said:
Funny thing about Tn IS the liberal bag limits
I remember when I first moved here from Mo. I was like
YOU CAN KILL 11 BUCKS IN ONE SEASON

Another thing about our turkeys here in Tn
is we sell a ton of Out of State tags
because of our early dates and liberal limit
hunters from MO, KY, OH, IL, flock here to get a start
before their seasons start
Click to expand...

I dont think it is so much the early season and liberal bag limits. Alabama starts earlier and has more liberal limits.
But I have hunted both states alot. And I would have to say that Alabama people hunt Tennessee because it is simply better hunting, especially better than North AL. Tennessee should be one of the top turkey hunting states in the nation. It is, or was, unbelievable.
 
Spurhunter said:
I will NEVER understand why any turkey hunter would be so helll bent on killing hens. Cat, you bring up the same points every discussion. Do yourself a favor and read some of Dr. Lovett Williams' work. Until you educate yourself you can't understand. You CANNOT compare turkey biology to deer or anything else! There are NO SIMILARITIES in the two!
Click to expand...

Exactly right. Turkeys and Deer are different animals, therefore we cannot treat them the same. Hopefully not, but One day Maury county will probably be down like its southern neighbors. Too much hen killing, but more importantly, too much positive press on the internet. I have never hunted Maury or Marshall, but after reading how good it is I am thinking about going up there next year, and so does everybody else around here.
 
woodsman87 said:
Lawrence said:
Funny thing about Tn IS the liberal bag limits
I remember when I first moved here from Mo. I was like
YOU CAN KILL 11 BUCKS IN ONE SEASON

Another thing about our turkeys here in Tn
is we sell a ton of Out of State tags
because of our early dates and liberal limit
hunters from MO, KY, OH, IL, flock here to get a start
before their seasons start
Click to expand...

I dont think it is so much the early season and liberal bag limits. Alabama starts earlier and has more liberal limits.
But I have hunted both states alot. And I would have to say that Alabama people hunt Tennessee because it is simply better hunting, especially better than North AL. Tennessee should be one of the top turkey hunting states in the nation. It is, or was, unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Yea but Im not talking about AL
I am talking about our northern states
Try driving around any WMA during the first week of season and
look at the license plates of the people hunting. Talk to the hunters and they will tell you why they choose to hunt here. Cheap over the counter liceses and LIBERAL limits
No state north of TN have 4 bird limits.
TN needs to get out of this liberal state of mind IMO
 
Lawrence said:
woodsman87 said:
Lawrence said:
Funny thing about Tn IS the liberal bag limits
I remember when I first moved here from Mo. I was like
YOU CAN KILL 11 BUCKS IN ONE SEASON

Another thing about our turkeys here in Tn
is we sell a ton of Out of State tags
because of our early dates and liberal limit
hunters from MO, KY, OH, IL, flock here to get a start
before their seasons start
Click to expand...

I dont think it is so much the early season and liberal bag limits. Alabama starts earlier and has more liberal limits.
But I have hunted both states alot. And I would have to say that Alabama people hunt Tennessee because it is simply better hunting, especially better than North AL. Tennessee should be one of the top turkey hunting states in the nation. It is, or was, unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Yea but Im not talking about AL
I am talking about our northern states
Try driving around any WMA during the first week of season and
look at the license plates of the people hunting. Talk to the hunters and they will tell you why they choose to hunt here. Cheap over the counter liceses and LIBERAL limits
No state north of TN have 4 bird limits.
TN needs to get out of this liberal state of mind IMO
Click to expand...

Agreed. I have no knowledge of the northern states except Kentucky.
 
http://tn.gov/twra/procs/biggameredline.pdf

Pretty good stuff I believe. I still stand by my arguement that lowering spring gobbler bag limit would not help much, but I would still be okay with lowering it some.
I am all for the suggestions of lowering the fall limts. But I still think that if Maury and them keep killing 6 hens that it will go down too. I think hens should be protected year round. Gobblers only during fall.
 
If you don't want to kill hens then don't kill them. I think only a small handful if people kill hens in the fall and most don't kill the 6 bird limit. Look up the harvest reports for fall season in Maury county. I'd be more worried about too many people coming to hunt because they heard its good than people killing a few hens. I pretty much have the place to myself when I fall hunt public land.
 
171 turkeys were reported last fall season in Maury County, more than some counties spring seasons. 103 of those were hens. That doesn't sound like alot, but in the big scheme it is. That doesn't count the ones that will get bushogged or turned into hay either. And the ones shot illegally when misteaken for gobblers. And all the bearded hens that will be killed just because they had a beard. And all the ones that will get run over by a car. Then the few coyotes and bobcats that catch them. Then after all of that, the ones that do survive have to raise a brood. Right now studies show that only two poults per hen survive. That isn't very many young birds.

It is not about not wanting or wanting to shoot hens. It is about getting everybody on the same page. I will not shoot six hens, because I think it is wrong. That doesn't stop anybody else from shooting six hens. Some people do it because it is legal and it is simply something to kill and brag about. Six hens or poults in fall are easy to kill, especially flock shooting into a flock of small 5 month old poults. Turkeys are not like deer, they cannot opt to move at night because of pressure. If anybody wants to kill six turkeys one day, find a hardwood acorn ridge that they use alot, or find a spot they like to roost, and wait until they come by and shoot six of them in one shot.

Let me say this, I do not think shooting hens in the fall is the sole purpose that caused the decline. I am saying it is hurting some, and that is a factor that we as conservationist can control. We cannot control the weather at all. There is only so much we can do to get rid of varmints and predators. We can control by creating better nesting habitat. We can also not bushog until all eggs are hatched. If you cut hay, then that is just part of it, I understand hay must be cut this time of year.

The whole country aint like Maury county, and I believe most places will never be like what we are seeing there now. I have hunted alot of places around here, and there are places in the southeast U.S. that are experiencing declining numbers, as well as places that seem to be going up, Maury county TN is one of those. Some of the places I have been do not have fall hen hunting, that is why I think that isn't the only reason. We need to control what we can, and hen killing is one of those things.

Until you turkey hunters experience not having many birds to hunt, you may not understand this and my passion to keep the wild turkey.
 
Woodsman87, you can share my campfire anytime. It is refreshing to hear someone that actually researches facts and truths before spouting off opinions. Everything you have said here is spot on and agrees with the research of the best turkey biologists on the planet. Some people either know more than those biologists, or are so bloodthirsty they choose to ignore facts.

Seriously, poults? Who in their right mind would shoot a poult? Everyday I read something else that amazes me.
 
woodsman87 said:
Hopefully not, but One day Maury county will probably be down like its southern neighbors. Too much hen killing, but more importantly, too much positive press on the internet. I have never hunted Maury or Marshall, but after reading how good it is I am thinking about going up there next year, and so does everybody else around here.
Click to expand...

Here too. My bunch is already planning a trip for early spring season as well as many other guys I know. Kamikaze longbeards seemingly behind every tree will make a man drive 3 hours!
 
Shoot hens in the fall if you want. I just wish TWRA, if possible, could regulate more about what areas can withstand a little hen shooting. If possible to research, every year and every county or unit should be different. Right now I believe my spots should have zero hen killing. Maybe ten years from now it will look like Maury Co. and be able to take some hen hunting. Maury then might be like the southern most counties and have about 1 gobbler and 7 hens per 2,000 acres like it is around here.
 
Spurhunter said:
Woodsman87, you can share my campfire anytime. It is refreshing to hear someone that actually researches facts and truths before spouting off opinions. Everything you have said here is spot on and agrees with the research of the best turkey biologists on the planet. Some people either know more than those biologists, or are so bloodthirsty they choose to ignore facts.

Seriously, poults? Who in their right mind would shoot a poult? Everyday I read something else that amazes me.
Click to expand...
I am just passionate about the wild turkey. I may sound contradicting, but I like to kill gobblers as much as I like to see them live! and that is why I like them to thrive, because I like to hunt them. I think you would agree with me, you had some on the ball post as well.

About poult shooting, I may have exagerated there, not sure when they are quit being called poults, but I know during the fall shotgun season most of the so called "hens" people kill are nothing more than poults. They are inbetween 4-6 months old, and look like a wild turkey, but then again still have some of the poult characteristics. You can hardly tell jakes from hens. And these turkeys weigh like 8-10 lbs. Not hardly worth shooting and eating when you can kill a 20 lb longbeard in the fall too, and it is much much much more challenging.

Fall turkey hunting for hens poults is about as easy as squirrel hunting.
Hunting Longbeards during the fall is a little more tough.
 
Another thing, I aint got one negative thing to say about fall turkey hunting except that you can shoot hens and poults. Maybe if we would quit shooting the hens and poults, some turkey hunters may have more longbeards to hunt during the spring, or if ones desire like myself, to hunt longbeards during the fall.

I am a turkey conservationist and a turkey hunter. I hunt longbearded gobblers during the spring and fall. I do not shoot hens. I deer hunt so that I can watch turkeys.
 
Anyone have contact information for the appropriate person (Wild Turkey Program Coordinator) to connect with in West TN?
 
Catman,
That is all the info anybody needs. The population is declining in most areas, so why would we want to keep shooting hens? Even in the population increase areas? You know that it aint going to increase for eternity?
Let me say this again, hen shooting aint the sole purpose in it. But it is a factor that we can control, why not fix it? Why not make it illegal since hen turkeys and poults already have a hard enough time living anyways?
I suggest hunters slack off on the hen shooting while the getting is still good and before it gets bad. Doesn't everyone enjoy hunting longbeards in the spring?
Since there are only 2 poults per hen, wouldn't we need every hen to live and raise her two poults?
 
Just a few thoughts to ponder.

catman529 said:
If you don't want to kill hens then don't kill them.
Click to expand...
How do you distinguish male from female turkeys during the fall?

If you had the choice, would you rather call up a gobbling, strutting longbeard, or simply shoot one walking by or feeding (one that is not gobbling or strutting)?

woodsman87 said:
171 turkeys were reported last fall season in Maury County, more than some counties spring seasons. 103 of those were hens.
Click to expand...
Killing mostly hens during the fall turkey season is not isolated to just Maury County. STATEWIDE, (TWRA data 09/01/2012 thru 12/31/2012) there were 935 male turkeys "checked in" and 1,676 hens "checked in".

It would appear that "fall turkey" hunters kill MOSTLY HENS.
 
Its hard to tell them 5 month old birds apart. Sometimes the jakes will already be a little bigger, and their breast feathers will be darker, and hed a little more red.
I also like shooting them when they gobble and strut, not walking by eating acorns or clovers. So much easier to ambush them during the fall.
 
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