mwbenelli1996
New Member
There was a million dollar study done by Dr Craig Harper that says the delayed opening matters none
Turkey Season Dates Matter?
- Thread starter Apostolic Outdoors
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There was a million dollar study done by Dr Craig Harper that says the delayed opening matters none
Nor has it in the last 30 years!!
Bgoodman30
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That's weird. I was talking to a guy I know in Hickman last week that also found a dead one on his property with no signs of anything wrong. He also watched 2 buzzards fall from the sky and lay dead. Riddle me that
Got me worried for sure. Especially since there are less gobblers around this year than last year but that was expected since there was no jakes last season. This year seeing some Jakes but God forbid some disease hitting them... Again...
Gobble4me757
Well-Known Member
It's amazing at the overwhelming amount of proof supporting the fact that season dates don't affect turkey numbers that people still side on the dominant gobbler theory side. Look at Mississippi for not delaying and the improvement across multiple properties despite heavy hunting early. Look at all the studies pointing and showing no significant linkage to season timing in regards to populations. It's obvious enough that it's likely the same people that don't believe there is money laundering and fraud going on with the government that share the same beliefs 
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
I saw about a dozen on our property Saturday, but couldn't tell what they were. Usually we have quite a few right now. I'm going to get my cell cams out in a few weeks, so I'll find out then.
do you have chicken houses in giles co???? id bet you do
Yeah, it sounds like you live on the left side of the fence if you are believing the government "studies" concerning the issue. Just remember, those were the same dumbazzes that told us for years that the population was fine and not declining.It's amazing at the overwhelming amount of proof supporting the fact that season dates don't affect turkey numbers that people still side on the dominant gobbler theory side. Look at Mississippi for not delaying and the improvement across multiple properties despite heavy hunting early. Look at all the studies pointing and showing no significant linkage to season timing in regards to populations. It's obvious enough that it's likely the same people that don't believe there is money laundering and fraud going on with the government that share the same beliefs
Guilty as charged. Love ya'll's delayed opener!!!
Rainbowtrout1
Active Member
I personally don't know anyone who is hunting that far into May. Most people I know have limited out by the time May gets here and if they have not then chances are good that they won't. So what I'm seeing is the season has basically been shortened by 2 weeks (despite the fact you can hunt 2 weeks longer than you could before season was moved back) because nobody in my neck of the woods is taking advantage of it. I don't know a single person who is going to go fight the heat and ticks. What this DOES do is allow turkeys and extra 2 weeks to do turkey things before they get interrupted. Turkeys are going to get killed regardless of season dates. Atleast the delayed start allows them an extra 2 weeks to do turkey things.
You have a better understanding of turkey population dynamics than some state biologists.
That the turkey messiah will throw in the ditch
Absolutely not. The season dates and bag limits were out of whack for a long time and contributed to our population going down the toilet. That is what happens when you have agency personnel and commissioners that put $$$ before the resource. Changes should have happened a long time ago.
WilcoKen
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Just wondering what happened with Kentucky Missouri and Arkansas population? They all declined at the same time as every other state but had delayed openers and two bird limit?Mississippi who has changed zero , went down but has rebounded and actually had record hatches the last few years . 22 was a record hatch just like it was in TN with neither having delay. Just like 22 was a great hatch in states that start later in the South. Every article I have read and biologist that commented attributes the weather throughout the south for the excellent hatch for all these states. The TN study that involved hundreds of hens and just looking and comparing delay versus non delayed states, make me believe the turkey population is a cycle of ups and downs based on weather, predators and habitat. If anyone can explain why the delayed two bird limit states also had declines at the same time as the others , I am more than willing to have my mind changed.
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
MO was killing the same average number of birds annually but it was a greater percentage of the overall flock. 30k birds out of 300k total is 10%. 30k birds out of 250k total is 12%. 30k birds out of 200k total is 15% and so on and so forth. If the flock isn't replacing what hunters and natural mortality is removing, doesn't take a statistical genius to know where the flock is headed in the absence of intervention.
Having hunted 8 states I'll offer just one opinion (for the sake of comparison); MO used to be what I'd call an absolutely premier turkey hunting destination. If you look at the numbers below, even though they were still killing 44-48k birds from 2007-17, the overall population was in decline as year after year of poor poult recruitment took hold. In other words hunters were killing a larger and larger % of the available adult toms each spring that were not being replaced due to crappy hatches. Also saw jake harvest increase as maybe hunters just didn't want to eat a tag(s). In a sense the kill numbers were masking the reality as hunters just kept bangin'away...and then the bottom fell out.
I remember folks in utter disbelief when that 35k total came in for 2018.
2019 – 38,776 (2nd Lowest Harvest in 17 years)
2018 – 35,787 (Lowest Harvest in 16 years)
2017 – 43,356
2016 – 48,374
2015 – 48,432
2014 – 47,601
2013 – 46,141
2012 – 44,766
2011 – 42,220
2010 – 46,194
2009 – 44,713
2008 – 46,134
2007 – 48,472
2006 – 54,712
2005 – 57,743
2004 – 60,744 (Record harvest)
2003 – 58,421
Exactly! Missouri has had delayed seasons with a two bird limit for years and population still went down like other states. As a matter of fact as long as I can remember they only allow one bird in the first week of the season. However they suffered the same results as everyone else in the South . I will put some quotes below from the man over the turkey flock in Missouri from an article in 2019 Game and fish magazine as he elaborates on the cause of the decline. Weather , predators and the natural cycle of turkey populations. Lots of good articles from 16, 17 , 18 where the same gentleman explained what was going on and how the population explodes, levels out then goes up and down naturally.
