spring 2019 total harvest numbers

[Winchester]

24, 160 statewide as of today! That includes WMA

Yes its pretty obvious TN isnt in any kind of Trouble with Turkey numbers overall! Its so common for hunters who go through a period of bad luck or a period where the properties they hunt on doesnt have numbers like the best year ever there, to panic and cry wolf when really overall their is no problems statewide. I live and hunt mostly in East Tn and for sure our population has declined from its peak several years back but that said we still have plenty of birds.

 

[AT Hiker]

24, 160 statewide as of today! That includes WMA

hopefully its 24,161 in the morning with an addition to Smith County

I added one to the pool this morning from Dickson.

The check in process was super easy(I didn't use the app just the browser on my iPhone) so I'm not sure why they are showing up mostly as public?



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[TheLBLman]

I don't see how we can put much faith in any these harvest numbers
regardless whether "public wma" or "county".

 

[AT Hiker]

I really, really want to have faith in them. But the fact that public land is being reported as an abnormally high number has me concerned.

But what do I know. I'm just a knee jerk reacting wanna be turkey hunter that can't see or hear.


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[poorhunter]

I really, really want to have faith in them. But the fact that public land is being reported as an abnormally high number has me concerned.

But what do I know. I'm just a knee jerk reacting wanna be turkey hunter that can't see or hear.


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Yeah, me too...

 

[Andy S.]

I don't see how we can put much faith in any these harvest numbers
regardless whether "public wma" or "county".

I really, really want to have faith in them. But the fact that public land is being reported as an abnormally high number has me concerned.

Agreed on both accounts.

 

[Coker]

I wonder how many turkeys are not even checked in because of forgetfulness, no cell signal, to busy.....etc. I bet it's a lot more than we think.

 

[PalsPal]

I wonder how many turkeys are not even checked in because of forgetfulness, no cell signal, to busy.....etc. I bet it's a lot more than we think.

Quite a few. But, whatever that percentage might be, it should be relatively the same from year to year. So, while the total number of kills can never be certain, that can't be an explanation in fluctuation in reported kills from year to year.

 

[deerfever]

27,046 as of today is what it's showing! I think we may go over 30,000! Lots of guys quit hunting this time of year so who knows!

 

[AT Hiker]

Does anyone have the time to look up and post the total Spring harvest from the last 10 years?

I cannot remember what the bag limits were either, have they changed any?


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[bloodtrailing]

24, 160 statewide as of today! That includes WMA

Yes its pretty obvious TN isnt in any kind of Trouble with Turkey numbers overall! Its so common for hunters who go through a period of bad luck or a period where the properties they hunt on doesnt have numbers like the best year ever there, to panic and cry wolf when really overall their is no problems statewide. I live and hunt mostly in East Tn and for sure our population has declined from its peak several years back but that said we still have plenty of birds.

I think harvest numbers alone are misleading. When they increased the bag limit harvest numbers went up. That did not indicate a spike in population, quite the opposite. Observations are a better gauge.


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[tn24]

Per Hunters Toolbox. 2009-32,093. 2010-37,111. 2011-32,507. 2012-34,022. 2013-32,929. 2014-32,634. 2015-31,501. 2016-32,306. 2017-34,651. 2018-28,316. I make no guarantee these numbers are right. The Hunters Toolbox doesn't work worth a crap.

 

[megalomaniac]

Actually, the best indicator of standing population dynamics is the August brood survey. Number of hens observed as well as number of hens who successfully reared poults to sub adulthood will let you know where you are headed for the next year.

For some reason, more and more hens are not raising poults. Overpopulation and subsequent decline to normalcy? Nest predators increasing? Poult predators increasing? Adult predators increasing in efficiency in their hunting methods? Disease? Hunting season interfering with breeding and fertilizing hens? Overharvesting of males prior to breeding? Hens not even initiating a nest? Weather killing poults after they hatch? Something is going on keeping us from hitting the 4 poults per hen magic number for population to expand. Heck, we can't even scratch the 2.2 pph average to maintain current population numbers.

We as hunters are naturally conservationists, in that we want to ensure turkeys stay a renewable resource to enjoy year after year. The gradual (and sometimes rapid) decline in many areas of the state is more than alarming for those of us who have experienced the decline. For those who have not, your day is coming.

So... what can we do? Probably nothing. At least not until we figure out why hens are not rearing poults. It makes us feel better to declare war on nest predators, adult predators, and spread out our kills over a large area and defer those we do kill to a later date in the season. Maybe even kill fewer of the standing males in the population. And those things may make a tad of a difference, they will certainly slow the decline, but I'm not sure they will make a difference 25 years from now.

Sorry to sound so dismal, but our lack of understanding why so many hens simply are not rearing poults does not give me much hope for the future of turkeys. A spring without gobbles would be even more sad than a spring or early summer without hearing the bobwhite. And that has happened already. And the grouse... and those 2 species are incredibly similar to turkeys.



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[poorhunter]

Actually, the best indicator of standing population dynamics is the August brood survey. Number of hens observed as well as number of hens who successfully reared poults to sub adulthood will let you know where you are headed for the next year.

For some reason, more and more hens are not raising poults. Overpopulation and subsequent decline to normalcy? Nest predators increasing? Poult predators increasing? Adult predators increasing in efficiency in their hunting methods? Disease? Hunting season interfering with breeding and fertilizing hens? Overharvesting of males prior to breeding? Hens not even initiating a nest? Weather killing poults after they hatch? Something is going on keeping us from hitting the 4 poults per hen magic number for population to expand. Heck, we can't even scratch the 2.2 pph average to maintain current population numbers.

We as hunters are naturally conservationists, in that we want to ensure turkeys stay a renewable resource to enjoy year after year. The gradual (and sometimes rapid) decline in many areas of the state is more than alarming for those of us who have experienced the decline. For those who have not, your day is coming.

So... what can we do? Probably nothing. At least not until we figure out why hens are not rearing poults. It makes us feel better to declare war on nest predators, adult predators, and spread out our kills over a large area and defer those we do kill to a later date in the season. Maybe even kill fewer of the standing males in the population. And those things may make a tad of a difference, they will certainly slow the decline, but I'm not sure they will make a difference 25 years from now.

Sorry to sound so dismal, but our lack of understanding why so many hens simply are not rearing poults does not give me much hope for the future of turkeys. A spring without gobbles would be even more sad than a spring or early summer without hearing the bobwhite. And that has happened already. And the grouse... and those 2 species are incredibly similar to turkeys.



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Very well said! We should be out controlling nest raiders and other predators, but we just can't control enough of them to make much of a difference. What you said about few hens actually raising poults is what I have seen since moving to Tennessee...maybe 1 in five or six hens having any poults in the summer. I'm glad for those who haven't experienced the decline.

 

[Setterman]

Not sure on overall numbers but the areas I hunt are virtually quiet. This is the most atrocious turkey season I've ever experienced. I literally can't find a bird to play with and am hunting less and less with each passing week. It's just not worth the effort to get up at 3 am, drive 1.5 hours, hike 6-8 miles and hear zero. Really thankful for all the seasons where I could find a bird almost any day. This one is a disgusting example of mismanagement of our resource

 

[John3]

24, 160 statewide as of today! That includes WMA

Yes its pretty obvious TN isnt in any kind of Trouble with Turkey numbers overall! Its so common for hunters who go through a period of bad luck or a period where the properties they hunt on doesnt have numbers like the best year ever there, to panic and cry wolf when really overall their is no problems statewide. I live and hunt mostly in East Tn and for sure our population has declined from its peak several years back but that said we still have plenty of birds.

It's actually just a conspiracy. Every single hunter west of the Tn river got together and decided we would try to get the turkey limit reduced so we could manage for "trophy turkeys". We figured the best way to do this was by pretending their weren't any turkeys where we hunt and to start only reporting about 1/2 the kill numbers.
It seems like you are saying there can't be a drought in Arizona because it's rained a lot here in Tennessee.

 

[AT Hiker]

Per Hunters Toolbox. 2009-32,093. 2010-37,111. 2011-32,507. 2012-34,022. 2013-32,929. 2014-32,634. 2015-31,501. 2016-32,306. 2017-34,651. 2018-28,316. I make no guarantee these numbers are right. The Hunters Toolbox doesn't work worth a crap.

Thank you!
I knew 30,000k was the magic number just couldn't remember if it went back 10yrs or not.

Once again, thank you for battling through the hunters tool box.

What would really be cool to see would be a timeline of turkey killing technologies that became available and map it over the harvest data.
I had to stop by a big box sporting goods store the other day and was amazed at all the trinkets. Never in my life would I have imagined a giant reaping turkey fan be center stage of a display. It looked like something a kindergarten kid would wear for his schools Thanksgiving program.


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[AT Hiker]

For some reason, more and more hens are not raising poults....

I've been noticing this on quality ground I have access too for quite some time now and it's been gradual for the most part.
What's not been gradual is the all of sudden loss of hens, it's like aliens swept down and stole about 50% of them over the last two years. This is in Dickson county, historically known as a good county. I also have gave up hunting around 900 acres in Stewart county because they all disappeared as well.


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[ZachMarkus]

We seem to have had a good hatch last year in middle Tn. I have seen more jakes this year than in the past 3 years combined. I saw a group of 16 jakes on a property I have in Williamson county and a group of 21 jakes on a friend of mines place in Williamson county. I have a group of 8 hanging around on my place in Lawrence county which is very encouraging because the last few years I haven't seen more than 2 or 3. I am getting the same reports from others in southern Lawrence county.


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[Levee Jumper]

We seem to have had a good hatch last year in middle Tn. I have seen more jakes this year than in the past 3 years combined. I saw a group of 16 jakes on a property I have in Williamson county and a group of 21 jakes on a friend of mines place in Williamson county. I have a group of 8 hanging around on my place in Lawrence county which is very encouraging because the last few years I haven't seen more than 2 or 3. I am getting the same reports from others in southern Lawrence county.


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You have officially seen more Jakes on ground you can hunt this year than I have seen on ground I can hunt in the last 10 years. Should be unreal hunting the next couple years for you.