Other State Harvest Numbers

[Shooter77]

Has anyone ever wondered how TN compares to states around us for turkey harvest? I seen on Mississippi Hunting FB page they had just over 12K on kills this year. That really blew my mind. Growing up watching Primos and Mossy Oak hunting Mississippi and seems like they are loaded. Growing up i can remember lots of videos from Realtree and other groups from GA, AL & SC and seems to be loads of turkeys. I got me thinking what other states have done last few years. It's some what shocking to me. So how is TN pulling in almost 40K this year??

VA - 17,929 (2019)
NC - 17K+ (2019)
SC -
GA - 16K+ (2019)
AL - 16K+ (2020)
MS - 12k+ (2020)
KY - 31k (2020)
AR - 7K (2018)
MO- 41K (2020)

 

[elknturkey]

I wanna know how Wisconsin massacres them every year. This would be a normal year for them, even below average, using Tennessees record year number. Brutal winters and more predators and only opens about 10 days later

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Alabama hunters are not accustomed to reporting. They have had some real issues with trying to get hunters to report. Their Wildife Director estimates a lot higher harvest. Anyway, I don't know about GA, I have always enjoyed much better public ground there than I can find in TN for sure, no comparison.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Estimates 40 to 65% compliance with game Check. I suspect we do better than that in TN on average though I know my area is probably very low for compliance with harvest reporting. https://www.outdooralabama.com/node/2294

 

[Boll Weevil]

Heard from my friend from MO about this year's total. He is an absolute turkey slayer and his wife also hunt. With a self-imposed limit of 1 bird apiece this year he killed 1, and they simply couldn't find anymore for the wife. THEY COULDN'T FIND ANY MORE BIRDS TO HUNT. :bash:

Just insane for a state that use to kill well over 60k birds in the spring.

 

[megalomaniac]

Combo of factors for MS...

MS USED to be a top producing state. The same decreased poult production statewide that most other southern states are experiencing has really decreased numbers.

A second factor was the dramatic decline in bird numbers in the southeastern portion of the state due to habitat destruction from Katrina. South MS birds are strictly woods birds (probably like Cherokee in TN) and Katrina destroyed all the big open mature hardwoods and replaced many with privet thickets. As the woods are starting to open back up a little, bird numbers are slowly increasing.

The third factor is underreporting or refusal to report. A LARGE percentage of turkey hunters refuse to report birds since the mandatory reporting law took effect last year. Just as many will tag a bird or two, but won't report the 3rd bird killed until the last day if the season, even if they killed 5 or 6.

Birds are doing pretty well in southwest MS, and in North Central MS, however. The rest of the state is spotty with populations.

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[Andy S.]

Lots of good points made here, but you also have to take into account the minute details of the spring season for each state. For example, MO's 21 hunting days that end at 1PM compared to TN's 44 days where you can hunt all day. Also, factor in MO's staggered season bag limit with no more than one first week, and two total for the year, whereas TN has a four bird season limit and you can kill them in four straight days if the stars align. Overall acreage of the state, COVID/travel restrictions this spring, tagging requirements/compliance among other things play into the big picture. Take away message is there is a lot more than just total birds killed when you compare one state to the next.

 

[woodsman04]

Most people in Alabama aren't reporting them, they just kind of rebel on it for some reason.


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[MickThompson]

These numbers aren't apples and oranges until you break it down to kills per square mile.

 

[Andy S.]

These numbers aren't apples and oranges until you break it down to kills per square mile.

......and hours hunted, which is nearly impossible to track. Available hours afield throughout the season is more easily calculated.

 

[Coker]

TN has a longer season and can kill more birds compared to most states around us. That in itself is the main reason TN has increased kill numbers

 

[REN]

im currently working for NY on their licensing system and harvest reporting and just and FYI but they average around 16-17k harvest a year.

 

[Shooter77]

These numbers aren't apples and oranges until you break it down to kills per square mile.

......and hours hunted, which is nearly impossible to track. Available hours afield throughout the season is more easily calculated.

Well if it's not apples to oranges, lets make it apples to apples then, lets make it by figure kills per sq miles per Google...BTW how does GA have a 8 week season and MS has 7 week, but kill 1/2 the birds?

TN = 42,181 mi² / 38.5K and counting (2020) = 1.0956 (6 week season)
KY = 40,409 mi² / 31k+ (2020) = 1.3035 (3 week season)
MO = 69,704 mi² / 41K (2020) = 1.7000 (3 week season)
VA = 42,775 mi² / 17,929 (2019) = 2.3846 (5 week season) first 3 weeks is hunting till Noon and rifles can be used any time.
NC = 53,819 mi² / 17K+ (2019) = 3.1658 (4 week season)
AL = 52,419 mi² / 16K+ (2020) = 3.276 (5 week season)
GA = 59,425 mi² / 16K+ (2019) = 3.714 (8 week season)
MS = 48,434 mi² / 12k+ (2020) = 4.036 (7 week season)
AR = 53,179 mi² / 7K (2018) = 7.597 (2.5 week season)
SC= 32,020 mi² /
FL = 65,755 mi² /

 

[Shooter77]

I wanna know how Wisconsin massacres them every year. This would be a normal year for them, even below average, using Tennessees record year number. Brutal winters and more predators and only opens about 10 days later

Looking at 2019 data, state is 65,498 mi² and killed just over 38k. That's about 1.701 per sq mile killed. That's better than most southern states. IF they have as good a season as us, they could hit the 45-50K this year.

 

[Bone Collector]

Heard from my friend from MO about this year's total. He is an absolute turkey slayer and his wife also hunt. With a self-imposed limit of 1 bird apiece this year he killed 1, and they simply couldn't find anymore for the wife. THEY COULDN'T FIND ANY MORE BIRDS TO HUNT. :bash:

Just insane for a state that use to kill well over 60k birds in the spring.

Looks like they still killed 41K or so. That is still high. I have no idea what it used to be like there, as I have never stepped foot in the state.

 

[Andy S.]

As eluded to by others, I put zero stock in States who are JUST NOW trying to get hunters to report their harvest. For the most part, AL & MS numbers are useless in this discussion.

 

[Andy S.]

Heard from my friend from MO about this year's total. He is an absolute turkey slayer and his wife also hunt. With a self-imposed limit of 1 bird apiece this year he killed 1, and they simply couldn't find anymore for the wife. THEY COULDN'T FIND ANY MORE BIRDS TO HUNT. :bash:

Just insane for a state that use to kill well over 60k birds in the spring.

Looks like they still killed 41K or so. That is still high. I have no idea what it used to be like there, as I have never stepped foot in the state.

I cannot imagine the good old days of hearing 15-20 in MO like so many old heads I know speak of. With that said, I have hunted some pressured public land and some private land in MO over the last decade and the hunting is still pretty solid in my opinion. Yes, you may have to walk to find him, but when I hear 3-6 on the limb at daylight, I'm willing to walk and walk and walk some more. Plus you have the 1PM cutoff, so you hunt your butt off for 7 hours or until you pull the trigger, then you go to the house. I personally really like the way MDC manages their turkeys.

 

[TheLBLman]

Well if it's not apples to oranges, lets make it apples to apples then, lets make it by figure kills per sq miles per Google...BTW how does GA have a 8 week season and MS has 7 week, but kill 1/2 the birds?

TN = 42,181 mi² / 38.5K and counting (2020) = 1.0956 (6 week season)

I don't think a true "apples to apples" comparison is possible for comparing most states to TN.
But using the square miles is just one more data set making for a better comparison.

Keep in mind much of any state's total square miles in "urban" and not hunt-able turkey habitat.
The percentage of land mass that's huntable turkey habitat also varies from one state to another, even it those states had the same number of square miles.

One square mile is 640 acres.
So TN is reporting kills of about 1 bird per 640 acres.
If we look at hunt-able turkey habitat, that might be more like 1 bird per 320 acres?

Going back several years (over a decade) on a good block of hunted turkey habitat (thousands of acres),
I've seen less than 1 bird reported killed per 300 acres annually, which is questionably sustainable ongoing.
So far this year, it has been less than 1 bird per 500 acres (this monitor area is over 3,000 acres).

On LBL as a whole (TN portion), this year's reported turkey kill was less than 1 bird per 1,000 acres.

Note I'm saying "reported" kills.
I don't know how many are killed illegally, not reported.
But if the illegal kill is double the legal,
it's discouraging to see how few turkeys we should be expecting to kill over large areas of good habitat.

It's even more disturbing to see a guy & his son kill 8 turkeys over a corn feeder, on their 5 acres behind their house, which may be more than are legally killed on the adjoining thousands of acres. We do have major baiting/poaching problems in TN.

Sometimes, they get caught, more often a case cannot be quickly made, and/or the judge doesn't see the harm in it. Some of the TWRA guys are working hard to make solid cases that will heavily penalize the poachers, but it's much more time-consumptive and challenging than most turkey hunters probably think, especially when they're poaching right behind their homes, and no vehicle is involved. Put it this way, the longer some of these poachers think they're getting away with it, the more they're going to lose when they get prosecuted.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I have no idea what it used to be like there, as I have never stepped foot in the state.

I've hunted 8 states and just one opinion, but MO used to be what I'd call an absolutely premier turkey hunting destination. If you look at the numbers below, even though they were still killing 44-48k birds from 2007-17, the overall population was in decline as year after year of poor poult recruitment took hold. In other words they were killing a larger and larger % of the available adult toms each spring. Also saw jake harvest increase as maybe hunters just didn't want to eat a tag(s). In a sense the kill numbers were masking the reality as hunters just kept bangin'away...and then the bottom fell out.

I remember folks in utter disbelief when that 35k total came in for 2018. Unfortunately TN could be in for a few upcoming years of utter disbelief.

2019 – 38,776 (2nd Lowest Harvest in 17 years)
2018 – 35,787 (Lowest Harvest in 16 years)
2017 – 43,356
2016 – 48,374
2015 – 48,432
2014 – 47,601
2013 – 46,141
2012 – 44,766
2011 – 42,220
2010 – 46,194
2009 – 44,713
2008 – 46,134
2007 – 48,472
2006 – 54,712
2005 – 57,743
2004 – 60,744 (Record harvest)
2003 – 58,421

 

[Rockhound]

I have no idea what it used to be like there, as I have never stepped foot in the state.

I've hunted 8 states and just one opinion, but MO used to be what I'd call an absolutely premier turkey hunting destination. If you look at the numbers below, even though they were still killing 44-48k birds from 2007-17, the overall population was in decline as year after year of poor poult recruitment took hold. In other words they were killing a larger and larger % of the available adult toms each spring. Also saw jake harvest increase as maybe hunters just didn't want to eat a tag(s). In a sense the kill numbers were masking the reality as hunters just kept bangin'away...and then the bottom fell out.

I remember folks in utter disbelief when that 35k total came in for 2018. Unfortunately TN could be in for a few upcoming years of utter disbelief

I'd say you are 100% correct, what's humorous is the state guys just keep screaming ebb and flow, ebb and flow. That's fine until theres no ebb and all flow.

I seen Tennessees former big game director on Facebook, trying to tell Michael Chamberlain he was wrong when Chamberlain said that covid 19 was gonna directly affect turkeys populations for years to come.

Yall can whine all you want, it wont get better, they should have shut seasons down in my county 10 years ago but they refused to do so. All we got out of it was "nothing's wrong" and now " let's do a 5 year study to see what happened to the turkeys 12 years ago.