Regulation hypo (poll)

[bobbuck]

I would just lower limit back to 2. It's not rocket science. Hunting was amazing then buy higher limits sold more license which was the reason of raising limits. Greed.

I voted this way also. Pretty simple to me if you cut limit in half not as many birds will be killed. Not rocket surgery!

 

[Boll Weevil]

Hunting was amazing then buy higher limits sold more license which was the reason of raising limits.

Do you think license sales would decline if the limit was reduced to 2?

 

[Setterman]

LOL, you misread it; it's the people whose feelings get hurt as a result of the way others hunt.

Hahahahaha that's well played by you

 

[TheLBLman]

Hunting was amazing then buy higher limits sold more license which was the reason of raising limits.

Do you think license sales would decline if the limit was reduced to 2?

Near zero effect on resident license sales.
It would mainly be the non-resident license sales,
and particularly from those who live in states with a later opening.

I know some KY residents who are very accomplished turkey hunters as are most who come to TN from other states,
they come here, limit out in TN, before KY season opens. Like clockwork. They are turkey-killing machines.

There are quite a few very avid & accomplished turkey hunters in every state.
Many will go to Florida or Alabama for a week, limit out.
Then go to Tennessee for a week, limit out (that's 4 birds currently).
Then commonly hunt their home state (limit out).
Then go to some other state (limit out).
End their vacation time in some northern state with a later season, limiting out there as well.

Of course, they don't always limit out in each state,
but they do nearly always kill a ton of turkeys every spring.
Just how they choose to spend their vacation time.
That's fine, different strokes for different folks.

But go to a 2-bird limit in TN, they come less, and kill less.
Make the season open a week later, they come a lot less, and kill a lot less.

 

[megalomaniac]

If I were the turkey coordinator....

My train of thought would be along these lines....

If I felt the overall population was in serious decline, I'd immediately delay season opening until April 15th, reduce limit to 2 birds, only one of which can be taken before April 21st.

If I felt the population was in moderate decline, I'd leave the limit at 4 and push season opener back to April 15th.

If I felt the population was in minimal decline, I'd do nothing, and just explain away gradual decline in harvest numbers as a temporary trend and nothing to worry about. I'd claim turkey numbers naturally fluctuate, and that we are just in a down cycle, and everything will be fine in a few more years.

Of course the 3rd option is what we've been doing for the past decade despite declining populations. Failure to recognize the decline, or even flat out denying the decline has been the mantra of the turkey coordinators... until last year... that was their 'oh $hit' moment. I bet they are praying like their jobs depend on it we kill more than 30,000 this year. (but of course, their jobs don't depend on it... govt job that pays no matter the outcome or results you produce)

Of the three options above, which would you choose?

At this point in time, turkeys are in freefall in many parts of the state... for that reason, I'd go with the most effective measure to improve poult recruitment.... number 1.

That being said, I think we'd be fine with a 6 week long season, 4 bird limit if we just delayed opening till Apr 15th.

But I had the ultimate authority of season setting, I'd eliminate jake killing by adults, limit all to 2 birds, eliminate all hen killing (bearded or not), AND push season opener back to April 15. Not popular, but at this point, drastic measures must be implemented for 3-4 years until the population rebounds.

Heck while I'm at it, I might also eliminate decoys to make Setterman happy, but we'd also have to eliminate optics on shotguns and go back to beads just to make it more interesting

 

[Newt]

I voted decoys!!! I feel every one voting on this thread are pretty pasonite about turkey hunting and could get around the woods just fine without them. What blows my mind is the R/C struters, mojo struters, struters on a string, fans, umbrella fans, gun attachments for fans crowd, and probably left some more out. Those tactics in my OPINION should be removed ASAP. You take a gobbler with a dozen hens that used to be pretty well untouchable now is the most vulnerable to getting his neck cracked opening day. I just pray it doesn't take someone getting hurt before it changes!

Last year a guy I know keep showing me some awesome videos that he filmed off his cell phone of gobblers on the roost strutting, gobbling the whole nine yards on public land. I said how in the world you keep getting so close without blowing them out his answer was I just hold this full strut decoy in front of my face and walk right to him...... I said on public land...yea he said I ain't ever seen nobody over there.. like I said I don't feel anyone here is this way or would ever do this but they are out there and just gaining ground

 

[Setterman]

I voted decoys!!! I feel every one voting on this thread are pretty pasonite about turkey hunting and could get around the woods just fine without them. What blows my mind is the R/C struters, mojo struters, struters on a string, fans, umbrella fans, gun attachments for fans crowd, and probably left some more out. Those tactics in my OPINION should be removed ASAP. You take a gobbler with a dozen hens that used to be pretty well untouchable now is the most vulnerable to getting his neck cracked opening day. I just pray it doesn't take someone getting hurt before it changes!

Last year a guy I know keep showing me some awesome videos that he filmed off his cell phone of gobblers on the roost strutting, gobbling the whole nine yards on public land. I said how in the world you keep getting so close without blowing them out his answer was I just hold this full strut decoy in front of my face and walk right to him...... I said on public land...yea he said I ain't ever seen nobody over there.. like I said I don't feel anyone here is this way or would ever do this but they are out there and just gaining ground

This times 1000!

Opening weekend and opening week there are thousands upon thousands of birds killed that most certainly would survive if decoys were outlawed. Like many I've hunted these things for a very long time and killed a ton of them over the years. However, these dominant field birds with sometimes 20 hens are as brutally hard to kill early as any animal we hunt. They stay with those hens from fly down to fly up and rarely break strut. The hens usually turn and leave when called to or simply ignore it. These birds are now being killed by hunters who would never stand a chance because of decoys. These birds are visible as they hit fields and strut allowing easy scouting etc, all a hunter has to do is stake a decoy out and shoot, that's it.

Remove decoys and even the most seasoned turkey killers aren't tagging those birds. However, instead those birds and thousands of them are dead right off the bat.

Them surviving even a week or two makes it far more likely they survive the season.

How many birds that are killed today, would survive if decoys were gone? 10,000? 15,000? That's a ton of birds removed which could survive making subsequent years better and better,

Melt the plastic!

 

[Andy S.]

Remove decoys and even the most seasoned turkey killers aren't tagging those birds. However, instead those birds and thousands of them are dead right off the bat.

That's a ton of birds removed which could survive making subsequent years better and better.

This. If you care about the resource for next year and out years, you WANT these dominant male birds around until the majority of your hens are bred, period.

 

[Andy S.]

I voted.

My thoughts:

1. April 15th is good for some (northern half of the state and northeast corner), but not so good for those on the MS line and the SW corner of the state. The dynamics of the turkey population and when exactly they breed across the state are too complex too paint with that broad of a brush.

2. The one I voted for. It will be easy to enforce and it will send the message to the majority of the hunters. It will also reduce out of state license sales, freeing up some leases and public land spots for the resident hunters.

3. The hardest to enforce in my opinion, but I would be just fine with it if it were ever made a law.

 

[Hawk]

I think all three options should be laws.
Given one choice the # 1 option would in my opinion be the best.
I would like to add an option/choice to reduce shooting hours to sunrise to 12:00 PM EST/ 1;00 DST.

 

[Andy S.]

^^^^^ Hawk for State Turkey Coordinator.

I'd be fine if they set season up like Missouri. Bag limits, per week, or something to that affect. I'd also be fine with no decoys first two weeks of season, and then allow them. I know a lot of these options would be hard to enforce, but the resource will benefit from ANY and ALL relief it gets during the mating season. As hunters/conservationists, we have to look further down the road than here and now.

 

[Boll Weevil]

dominant toms less susceptible to strutter dekes and reaping with a later opening date;

Morning PalsPal,
Can you (or anyone else for that matter) explain this? How is a dominant tom any less susceptible to strutter dekes and reaping with a later opening date?

 

[Andy S.]

dominant toms less susceptible to strutter dekes and reaping with a later opening date;

Morning PalsPal,
Can you (or anyone else for that matter) explain this? How is a dominant tom any less susceptible to strutter dekes and reaping with a later opening date?

All I care about is that the majority of dominant (virtually untouchable when hens are around him with traditional methods) boss gobblers make it until his harem of hens are bred, which can be anywhere from opening day until mid April for most of the areas I hunt. Strutter decoys and fans are almost 100% effective on that same dominant gobbler the first two weeks while he is strutting for, and breeding his harem.

 

[Stlbaseball1]

My vote is for #2 because it would be the one I would most prefer of the three. However, I question how much of a difference it would actually make. As we know, there are a lot of 1 and done hunters in this sport so this wouldn't matter to them. Also, there would be a lot and I mean a lot of hunters that would kill their 2 birds fairly quickly and then take other hunters to help them kill birds, therefore not necessarily reducing the number of turkeys killed. Am I the only one who questions these things?

 

[Boll Weevil]

Also, there would be a lot and I mean a lot of hunters that would kill their 2 birds fairly quickly and then take other hunters to help them kill birds, therefore not necessarily reducing the number of turkeys killed.

You're probably right about this. ^

 

[Southern Sportsman]

My vote is for #2 because it would be the one I would most prefer of the three. However, I question how much of a difference it would actually make. As we know, there are a lot of 1 and done hunters in this sport so this wouldn't matter to them. Also, there would be a lot and I mean a lot of hunters that would kill their 2 birds fairly quickly and then take other hunters to help them kill birds, therefore not necessarily reducing the number of turkeys killed. Am I the only one who questions these things?

You're definitely not the only one who questions how effective these types of changes would be.
They are just among the ideas that often come up, so I was curious which people would prefer all else being equal. Opening the season later would absolutely 100% allow more hens to be bred before gobblers start getting killed. And eliminating decoys - or even just strutter decoys - would absolutely save the lives of many, many dominate turkeys. Those turkeys do a lot of the breeding, so more hens would get bred earlier. But in reality, outlawing decoys is the least likely option. Simply reducing the limit leaves the most room for debate.

 

[Andy S.]

Also, there would be a lot and I mean a lot of hunters that would kill their 2 birds fairly quickly and then take other hunters to help them kill birds, therefore not necessarily reducing the number of turkeys killed.

You're probably right about this. ^

I'm not so sure about this. I will take leave from work (vacation time) to hunt for myself, but I will not take that vacation to take/guide others. I'd rather save it for my family, thus the only time I would POSSIBLY take others would be on the weekends, and that is if the weather was good, our schedules aligned, and my wife/daughters did not have something going on, etc. I just do not see that many people being absent from work and their family to take others, more so than a few times over the course of a month, likely on the weekends. As many of you know, the TN spring season turkey kill is extremely front loaded, like 50% or more being killed the first 10 days, UNLESS weather is a factor. My .02

 

[PalsPal]

Morning PalsPal,
Can you (or anyone else for that matter) explain this? How is a dominant tom any less susceptible to strutter dekes and reaping with a later opening date?

Just a personal belief. I don't use them, so I can't vouch with first-hand knowledge.

I believe that once full-fledged breeding commences, then that is all on his mind and he isn't too worried about competition as there is plenty to go around. Earlier, while he is gathering his harem, little breeding may be actually occurring and all he is doing is looking pretty for his girls until one is ready. That is when I think he is most susceptible because he has all of that pent-up frustration !

Now, it probably still does work on 2-3 subs running together later on, and might on the dominant, but I believe it is less effective.

 

[rbreedi1]

The one that will be more accepted by the general hunting public will be #2.. I'd start there, then proceed further if needed.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I don't use them, so I can't vouch with first-hand knowledge.

10-4...fair enough. Like you I have no basis for my assertion but just can't imagine a dominant bird being any less susceptible on April 15 or 20 than he would be on March 30 or April 5. While breeding is underway whether it's March, April, or on into May, a dominant bird simply doesn't like the idea of a perceived interloper.