There's other states to fit the youths and your time frame. Apply for LBL or the other early quota hunt. I'd rather carry my son in 80 degrees than the 30 degrees we had last year. Let the kids skip a game and hunt if it means that much to em. You can't please everybody
Things changed when they came out with full strut decoys and pop up blinds. Anybody could limit out early then.
Thats exactly why i loved it, it made it a challenge. Mid April through may gobblers are not a challenge
Thats where youd be wrong, but moving season dates is not doing something about it, it was a knee jerk reaction with not one piece of data to back it up! Dominant gobbler theory my a$$! Killing to many for to long, decoys,fans, plastic tents, and disease killed the birds, not the season dates!
I agree on what kulled our birds was disease, but we've been without birds since 2007, and what few around always get killed the first weekend of season. At least now they have a couple more weeks to do their deed. There's a huge difference in having 100 birds on let's say 10,000 acres vs 15 birds on 10,000 acres. Every little thing you can do makes an impact then.
Is there data to show that the early start didn't help get us to where we are now?
i was wondering that as well. did the season not open early during the years the population was booming ? if it was the early opening day that caused/exacerbated this problem, what effect did it have prior to the collapse? but i agree, cutting the limit back should have been done the instant the population showed stress. Alabama did not even require you to check birds in until a few years ago. i asked one of their wardens about that and he said they just take it for granted nobody would shoot more than the limit (5). i thought that sounded pretty pie in the sky, even then.
You and I are likely to agree on 90% of turkey hunting subjects, including deks, fan crawlers, habitat, trapping, etc. But it's just not true to say that there was "no biological reason" for the change in season dates. There is no biological reason to prohibit the killing of albino deer. That was done through legislation because "they're so pretty." But regulating season dates to better align hunting pressure with the onset of nest initiation for a population of ground nesting birds with slow but steadily declining reproduction numbers is absolutely, 100%, by definition, a biological reason. Recommended by multiple, thoroughly qualified biologist aside from Chamberlain. You may not agree with it and you may not think it helps, but that's a different conversation entirely.
I'm in favor of the change, but I would ABSOLUTELY make this trade. I can't prove it, but I suspect that if strutter decoys had never become a thing, delaying seasons would have never become a conversation.
It was definitely disease here from the end of turkey season 22 to spring of 23. We left 31 adult gobblers and over 40 jakes that we knowingly counted the week after season of 22 on 4 different farms. Come spring of 23 nothing and i mean for miles and miles, nothing, not a hen, jake, gobbler, these birds didnt disperse they died! It wasnt coyotes,coons, bobcats, or people, it was disease and twra will not hear of it, we are just crazy there hasnt been any disease
. We do have a few jakes and hens coming back in those areas and those farms are of limit until a good sustainable population is back, im very lucky and thankful to have picked up a couple places in other areas that still have some birds.I mean has anybody ever found significant evidence of a disease? I've honestly never found a turkey carcass and I've definitely never seen one just fall over deadIt was definitely disease here from the end of turkey season 22 to spring of 23. We left 31 adult gobblers and over 40 jakes that we knowingly counted the week after season of 22 on 4 different farms. Come spring of 23 nothing and i mean for miles and miles, nothing, not a hen, jake, gobbler, these birds didnt disperse they died! It wasnt coyotes,coons, bobcats, or people, it was disease and twra will not hear of it, we are just crazy there hasnt been any disease
Yeah, it's very weird that state agencies want to make the word "disease" off limits when it comes to turkeys, but with deer it's a normal talking point. A very similar situation happened here in my area of South MS during the mid 2010's. We went from having a decent amount of turkeys (gobbler, hens, and jakes) to almost nothing in a few years. Yes, dead turkeys were found and turned in here. The drop off was very noticeable to anyone who spent any time in the woods. I was told by someone with the state that it was definitely disease. That was pretty much the end of it and hasn't been brought up since. Around 10 years later and the rebound is much slower than any of us hoped it would be. I feel your pain for sure!It was definitely disease here from the end of turkey season 22 to spring of 23. We left 31 adult gobblers and over 40 jakes that we knowingly counted the week after season of 22 on 4 different farms. Come spring of 23 nothing and i mean for miles and miles, nothing, not a hen, jake, gobbler, these birds didnt disperse they died! It wasnt coyotes,coons, bobcats, or people, it was disease and twra will not hear of it, we are just crazy there hasnt been any disease
but they're only doing it to protect our hunting for the future doncha kno.....Dogwoods blooming, under story greening up, turkeys gobbling and we still cant hunt them
