No changes allowed for 2.5 years, when southern middle TN turkey research project wraps up. :roll:
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Turkey Bag Limit!
- Thread starter Wrangler95
- Start date
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
I FEEL your pain, AT Hiker --- Totally Agree with You.AT Hiker":wdvvxxw7 said:
And how often do we hear someone say,
"Hey, you do what you want on your land, and I'll do what I want on mine."
And this guy owns or hunts a lot less than 75 acres, and kills "his" limit of 4 birds every year?
"Our" turkeys typically range over not just hundreds, but often thousands of acres,
in just a single week of April.
Two square miles is 1,280 acres.
This is much of why the wildlife is considered to belong to all of us,
not just the individual who owns a few acres the wildlife periodically uses.
To get a better idea of what's available annually for killing by all the hunters in a large area,
just look at the annual kill in most any WMA and divide that by the acreage.
In most areas, there is typically only a sustainable "hunter kill" availability of 1 longbeard per several hundred acres.
Similar is the case on private lands if you look at the annual kill over several thousand contiguous acres.
I've only been killing one bird a year for years. I like to fish, so when (if) I get a bird, the shotgun goes back in the safe.
Southern Sportsman
Well-Known Member
RobbyW":r6iykp9s said:
Just to prove a point that no one will know or care about? A few people doing it will have no measurable impact, especially on ground others are hunting. An actual change in regulations would make an impact.
I won't martyr the first two weeks to "prove" that I'm serious, but I will continue to ask the Commission to take reasonable steps to help turkey populations, happily accepting that those changes would affect me, too. And I am very conscious about how and where I kill turkeys, especially early in the year. I have places I won't hunt early, I rarely kill more than one off any farm - in fact, I didn't kill more than one per county last year - and I certainly wont trick any dominant field turkeys with 15 hens using a fan or decoy. If everybody did that, the early opening date wouldn't matter much.
I've always thought 2 makes much more sense than 4 but what do I know.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
x 2Southern Sportsman":2a8lhivz said:
Kinda like one of us suggesting that a speed limit of 70 mph on a hilly, winding 2-lane state route
is too much,
and then some guy who thinks it's ok says,
"Hey, then you (and you only) should cut back to 45 mph if you don't want to go 70."
Never mind I don't want to get rear-ended by the guying going 70,
nor watch him kill all the birds around before I start hunting.
Some things only work well when they apply to everyone, like the speed limit, the bag limit, the opening day of a season.
With our current turkey populations trending lower statewide,
our season is opening too early, our bag limit is too high.
Ditto!!Southern Sportsman":1tyx5ase said:
I would love to see the bag limit reduced. I never kill more than 3. After 2 I like to call for friends and family.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Ridiculous statement. 2/3 of all turkeys killed in the six week season are killed in the first 9 days. Saving 100 birds by a few sitting out the first two weeks while the rest of the state kills 20,000 during that time frame wont make a bit of a differenceRobbyW":128msyhx said:
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
I dont really care what the limit is within reason.... 1, 2, 3, or 4. But I strongly feel Jake's should be off limits to ensure mature birds are available to breed hens the following season. I also feel all hens included bearded hens should be off limits. And pushing season opener back to April 15th would make the biggest difference and make for even better hunting as hens start to initiate nests and leave more lonely gobblers.
That being said, keeping the limit of 4 birds sends the wrong image to the general public by TWRA that everything is fine with our turkeys. That is the biggest problem with the 4 bird limit.
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That being said, keeping the limit of 4 birds sends the wrong image to the general public by TWRA that everything is fine with our turkeys. That is the biggest problem with the 4 bird limit.
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Levee Jumper
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I personally would like to see the bag limit at 2, start season two weeks later and a minimum 6 in beard restriction.
Wouldn't mind seeing a 1 bird limit per WMA either. Like they are doing in West TN.
Wouldn't mind seeing a 1 bird limit per WMA either. Like they are doing in West TN.
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
Absolute protection for all hens...jakes too for that matter. Perfectly ok with a later start date too.
I'd go along with a reduced limit for the greater good but my area has birds out the ying yang (and I know I'm the anomaly).
I'd go along with a reduced limit for the greater good but my area has birds out the ying yang (and I know I'm the anomaly).
I think it should be two, but also agree that pushing the season off till April 15 would help a lot. The thing with a four bird limit is like it is with 3 does/day...the limit tells everyone to kill what they want and then invite friends and call one in for them too. Take an experienced hunter that calls in and kills only 3 but calls one in for three or four buddies too. That experienced hunter just killed 6 birds. This may not make up for all that many killed turkeys, but the attitude behind it does. The current season it too long and too liberal now. I was shocked when I moved here going on 7 years ago at the limit and length AND the number of birds. I killed 4 two years and then limited my own kills to one and called for kids. The population fell off the end of the table three springs ago and I've only killed one in two years now...it's like hunting public land in Indiana now with so few birds.
megalomaniac":ekzcqt0h said:
That's a question not a statement. It goes along with what Ren said above about hunters needing to take action.
Also from NWTF:
Here are four facts that researchers find may be the cause for decline:
1.Production, not predation, drives turkey populations
2. With high population densities, a significant number of hens won't access quality nesting habitat and may not successful hatch or raise a brood
3.Carrying capacity becomes an issue, productivity is declining because hens are nesting in suboptimal habitat
4. Vegetation measurements contribute to the success or failure of nesting sites… little vegetation means little chance at poult survival
It seems that in some areas birds have reached carrying capacity and have declined as the capacity of the habitat to support a certain number of birds has declined. If the habitat conditions decline across multiple counties and states, then birds have no choice but to decline with it.
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bloodtrailing
Well-Known Member
Three bird limit only two from the same county.
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SKFOOTER
Well-Known Member
At the very least TWRA should impose lower bag limits for the counties where harvest numbers have steadily dropped for the last few years. They're so wrapped up with the CWD money pit that they won't take action until it's too late where turkeys are concerned. And until the legislature starts appointing blue collar workers to the TWRA commission that don't have selfish motives instead of the good ole boy silver spooners nothing will change!
Setterman
Well-Known Member
It should never have been raised to 4, period. Several of us burned this place up when they made the change, but no one listened
Yes I'd be fine with a 2 bird limit.
But we can't stop there. No more hens killed for any reason even the bearded ones some googans view as trophies. No jakes, period end of story. Outlaw the dam decoys and reaping. Do those things and watch how quickly this cam rebound.
Keep the status quo and watch things get worse, which is what TWRA will do because the googans can't handle learning how to hunt or being restricted on the number of Facebook posts
Yes I'd be fine with a 2 bird limit.
But we can't stop there. No more hens killed for any reason even the bearded ones some googans view as trophies. No jakes, period end of story. Outlaw the dam decoys and reaping. Do those things and watch how quickly this cam rebound.
Keep the status quo and watch things get worse, which is what TWRA will do because the googans can't handle learning how to hunt or being restricted on the number of Facebook posts
Southern Sportsman
Well-Known Member
RobbyW":2qx1wr6a said:
If you think or suggest that the NWTF doesn't agree that the limit needs to be lowered and the start date pushed back, you're wrong. Good production requires that hens be bred so they can nest, lay eggs, and raise poults. Killing too many gobblers too early impedes that. Especially when the most common tactic for killing them disproportionately targets dominant birds with lots of hens that would otherwise handle a big percentage of the breeding. That's not to suggest that habitat doesn't play a role - it obviously does - but populations are declining in areas with great habitat, too.
Uncle Jesse
Well-Known Member
A few years ago I killed 2 then quit. Past 2 seasons I've been 1 and done. Them crappie ain't gonna catch their self
