Turkey Bag Limit!

[Wrangler95]

Since it seems that our turkey population is going down hill in most of Tennessee,would you be in favor of the gobbler limit being lowered to maybe 2 turkey limit for the season and complete protection for the hens.Opinions welcome and needed!

 

[TDW05]

I'd be all for it!

 

[TreyB]

Yep! Don't see why it wouldn't be a priority for a 5 year plan.

 

[Shanman]

Absolutely

 

[REN]

the only thing I would hate about a 2 bird limit is it would shorten my season. My wife would love that, I on the other hand would be sad to possibly be done the 1st or 2nd week of the season

 

[bobbuck]

I would be for it.

 

[woodsman04]

Bag limit don't matter as much as when the gobblers are shot.
My theory would be to delay season 10-12 days, or make it it to where you could only shoot one turkey the first week or so, to allow more time for breeding.

Of course I'd outlaw the killing of any hen any time of the season beard or no beard.

Couple other things I think should be gone too but I ain't gonna go there.


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[REN]

Ive said it before but Ill say it again, HUNTERS need to take some responsibility as well to population management no matter what the limits are. Spend some time actually studying about turkey habits and breeding and imposing limits and guidlines on the areas you hunt. it always amazes me how little a lot of turkey hunters actually know about the biology of turkeys. If there is a single gobbler on a piece you hunt and you kill it the first week dont complain there are no turkeys where you hunt.

also stop with the "I hunt public so joe smith is gonna shoot them anyways" or the "neighbor kills them all anyways" mentality. You can only control your behavior so take some responsibility in it.

HUNTERS and HUNTING TACTICS are part of the solution/problem.

 

[catman529]

Ive said it before but Ill say it again, HUNTERS need to take some responsibility as well to population management no matter what the limits are. Spend some time actually studying about turkey habits and breeding and imposing limits and guidlines on the areas you hunt. it always amazes me how little a lot of turkey hunters actually know about the biology of turkeys. If there is a single gobbler on a piece you hunt and you kill it the first week dont complain there are no turkeys where you hunt.

also stop with the "I hunt public so joe smith is gonna shoot them anyways" or the "neighbor kills them all anyways" mentality. You can only control your behavior so take some responsibility in it.

HUNTERS and HUNTING TACTICS are part of the solution/problem.

that would be awesome but to be realistic, hunters are never going to self regulate. Always be people who will shoot as many as they can


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[scn]

That was #1 in my recent season recommendations.

The four bird limit was justifiable as the population boomed. It is a joke with the population declining like it is.

 

[Southern Sportsman]

Agree that timing of kill is as important or more important than total gobbler limit. Especially when you look at the number of people that actually kill 3 or 4 gobblers. I would still vote for a 2 or 3 bird limit, but I think it would be more "feel good" than substantive. If I were TN Turkey Czar, I would make it a 3 bird limit starting April 15th and running through May 15th. And intentionally killing any hen would come with a 1 year worldwide hunting ban.

 

[TheLBLman]

All the above are good points, especially about delaying the season opening.

But I believe the bag limit is of much greater significance than many seem to think.

Had I been TWRA's "Turkey Guy", it never would have been raised above two birds annually.

To a great extent, higher turkey bag limits mainly just cater to the more avid & accomplished turkey hunters (many of them coming to TN from out-of-state),
who ARE GOING TO LIMIT OUT ASAP, so they can then move on to some other state to pursue their limit there as well.

80% of the turkeys are killed by 20% of the hunters,
but regarding that 20%, it's 80% the same hunters, year after year.

Most hunters don't even kill one,
and that is in part (albeit only "in part") due to the higher bag limits,
which have facilitated the more avid, accomplished guys to kill a higher percentage of the available birds during the first few days of the season.

Nearly all the "young & dumb" longbeards (the 2-yr-olds) are dead within the 1st 10 days of our season?
And with less of them in the woods, the woods become much quieter, much less gobbling?
Much less opportunity for the coming weeks, much less fun when there's less gobbling?

 

[TheLBLman]

Would the future of hunting benefit more if the resource were managed with a better balance towards quality opportunities to a broader spectrum of less experienced hunters?

IMO, "2" is the best compromise to the balance of all turkey hunters.
It used to be "2", and increasing that to "4" greatly contributed to our decline in turkey populations (in the areas where turkeys had a longer history of being avidly pursued, like Wayne County).

As with deer, each county & locale has differences, including the relative amount of hunting to the availability of game,
and including all those other factors over which we have no control.
It's just that we DO have control over when the season begins and what is the bag limit.

 

[TheLBLman]

One thing many don't seem to realize:

When there are more and more longbeards NOT killed each year
there are more and more available TO KILL the next and subsequent years.

And the more gobblers in an area, the more each bird actually "gobbles".
This leads to much more exciting hunting, broader hunting success,
in large part simply by killing fewer gobblers in the prior year(s).

The "art" is in finding the best balance of all these things
to provide the best overall opportunities and management of the resources.

Think about this:

If all the 2-yr-old birds are killed in a year following a poor hatch,
there are almost no longbeards in existence the following year.
That means near zero gobbling heard, near zero hunting opportunity
for all (other than the most accomplished hunters).

But contrast, if a a lot more 2-yr-old birds survive annually,
we can more often have the opposite, i.e. a lot more gobbling
and a lot more consistently better hunting each year.

 

[RobbyW]

So how many guys that have said push the season taking the first couple weeks off?


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[tnanh]

That was #1 in my recent season recommendations.

The four bird limit was justifiable as the population boomed. It is a joke with the population declining like it is.

I agree and have for several years. If the population comes back with this limit we should leave it alone. No reason to get greedy and raise it again. And for the folks who would be sad after limiting early its no different than when they dropped the buck limit to two. I would love it if I limited quick. Just go fishing.

 

[tnanh]

Also, with the recent high water and probably more to come, this change could and shoud be applied for this season.

 

[AT Hiker]

Would the future of hunting benefit more if the resource were managed with a better balance towards quality opportunities to a broader spectrum of less experienced hunters?

..

Quality is a must for sustainability, IMO.
Let's face it, times have changed. It's not necessarily about big bucks, bulls or spurs in terms of quality either. It's a worth while experience that drives many of us. Going out in nature for a walk is basically free but to hunt requires purchasing a tag, once that tag becomes a unnecessary expense people will stop buying it.

Success rates, opportunity and access are very important. Take away any of them and things start to get tricky.




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[REN]

Ive said it before but Ill say it again, HUNTERS need to take some responsibility as well to population management no matter what the limits are. Spend some time actually studying about turkey habits and breeding and imposing limits and guidlines on the areas you hunt. it always amazes me how little a lot of turkey hunters actually know about the biology of turkeys. If there is a single gobbler on a piece you hunt and you kill it the first week dont complain there are no turkeys where you hunt.

also stop with the "I hunt public so joe smith is gonna shoot them anyways" or the "neighbor kills them all anyways" mentality. You can only control your behavior so take some responsibility in it.

HUNTERS and HUNTING TACTICS are part of the solution/problem.

that would be awesome but to be realistic, hunters are never going to self regulate. Always be people who will shoot as many as they can


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yet some of those are the first ones to voice complaints, has always been comical to me.

 

[AT Hiker]

So how many guys that have said push the season taking the first couple weeks off?


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Like creating a self imposed limit, the very few that do so barely make a dent in the problem. We lay off the turkeys on our place but our 75 acre farm is surrounded by even smaller farms that get hunted too. It gets old doing what I think is the right thing so others, that are likely ignorant of the complete situation, can benefit.


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