Water levels and the rest of the season?

[BigGameGuy]

BGG, when was the last time TWRA did reopen the big game proclamation after seasons were set and made changes, due to a major event or such problems.
Just curious as I cant ever remember in my life something changing on the fly, although I dont always pay attention either.

Last year as a matter fact. The Commission passed a longer bear dog training season on the Cherokee and I don't believe the Forest Service was aware of it until after it passed. The Forest Service wasn't too happy about it so it had to be opened back up the following month to make amendments.

As far as a change in the bag limits due to population concerns, I do not recall any time within the last six years (my tenure).

 

[mathews338]

Jeez, they're turkeys, last time I checked they were available at any grocery store.

that is NOT the point if you dont care about turkeys or turkey hunting then why are you posting in this forum not trying to be hateful i'm just wondering where you are coming from

 

[megalomaniac]

Gray Anderson is the TWRA turkey biologist.... That's credentials enough for me.

Here is his take on the situation:

"Hens will renest. We are at our peak "start of incubation" period right now - usually about May 1 the majority of nesting hens have just begun the 28-30 days of incubation...."

If May 1 were the start of incubation (fortunately it is a week to 10 days earlier on my farms in middle TN), that would mean peak of breeding would be occuring around April 10 statewide or so...

Which means we have no business opening the season around April 1. Most state biologists want the season to open AFTER the majority of hens have been bred from a biological standpoint.

 

[MRUTVOL]

Well since some are so worried about the turkey hatch lets also go ahead and ban farmers from cutting hay during the nesting season! Heck this rain was a freak of nature and may never happen again in our lifetimes but hay cutting goes on every year during the nest time. There are countless nest destroyed by this process but nobody is suggesting ajusting the season or limits due to hay cutting! The turkeys will be just fine, people just need to quit worrying. Just enjoy the experience of hunting and leave the management to the people who know what they are doing. Thank goodness they do not make their decisions by what is said on this site and others!

 

[baller_9]

Well since some are so worried about the turkey hatch lets also go ahead and ban farmers from cutting hay during the nesting season! Heck this rain was a freak of nature and may never happen again in our lifetimes but hay cutting goes on every year during the nest time. There are countless nest destroyed by this process but nobody is suggesting ajusting the season or limits due to hay cutting! The turkeys will be just fine, people just need to quit worrying. Just enjoy the experience of hunting and leave the management to the people who know what they are doing. Thank goodness they do not make their decisions by what is said on this site and others!

I hope the water levels don't affect the hatch too much but more than likely it will. You make a great point bringing up cutting hay. Your exactly right, I'm sure most of you have done hay before but it makes me sick everytime I help cut fields. It's not unusal to bust up 4-5 nests with 10-15+ eggs in a 50 acre field.

 

[Setterman]

Well since some are so worried about the turkey hatch lets also go ahead and ban farmers from cutting hay during the nesting season! Heck this rain was a freak of nature and may never happen again in our lifetimes but hay cutting goes on every year during the nest time. There are countless nest destroyed by this process but nobody is suggesting ajusting the season or limits due to hay cutting! The turkeys will be just fine, people just need to quit worrying. Just enjoy the experience of hunting and leave the management to the people who know what they are doing. Thank goodness they do not make their decisions by what is said on this site and others!

Good point, the hay cutting not only destroys lots of nests but also many hens decide they will just hide from the mowers, and get minced as well.

It would be great if there was a way to postpone the first cut a week or two, so this wasn't an issue, and some farmers do that. How that would be done, escapes me, but it is a nice thought.

Freak weather events happen, the freeze from a few years ago, massive hail storms here last year, etc etc etc. All can have big impacts on poult production. As long as poult counts don't totally tank, then the population should sustain itself.

 

[BigGameGuy]

The hay cutting was an excellent point. Just an opinion here but I think the only ones that may see a significant decline in poult production would be the far western counties, however, we won't truly know until August when the brood surveys come in.

 

[megalomaniac]

It's impossible for the majority of TN farmers to delay cutting of hay... it's mostly fescue, which must be cut right at maturity (3rd to 4th week of May for first cutting depending on temps and rainfall). Waiting until June for the first cutting would result in poor quality hay AND more difficulty conditioning the hay prior to baling.

The solution is native warm season grasses... they aren't cut until end of June/July, well after nesting. Yield/acre is less than fescue, especially when considering you only get one cutting most years. But the %protein/ bale is significantly improved over fescue.

To help the turkeys, I'm in the process of converting some of our fescue fields into NWSG fields, while also delaying bushhogging of non hay fields until end of July/August to provide safe nesting habitat.

 

[MRUTVOL]

It's impossible for the majority of TN farmers to delay cutting of hay... it's mostly fescue, which must be cut right at maturity (3rd to 4th week of May for first cutting depending on temps and rainfall). Waiting until June for the first cutting would result in poor quality hay AND more difficulty conditioning the hay prior to baling.

The solution is native warm season grasses... they aren't cut until end of June/July, well after nesting. Yield/acre is less than fescue, especially when considering you only get one cutting most years. But the %protein/ bale is significantly improved over fescue.

To help the turkeys, I'm in the process of converting some of our fescue fields into NWSG fields, while also delaying bushhogging of non hay fields until end of July/August to provide safe nesting habitat.

Good idea but most farmers especially the oldtimers ,one of which I hunt on, could care less about the turkeys. I mentioned one time to him about holding off and he just laughed me off and said the turkeys are just going to have to adjust their nesting habits cause he had cattle to feed and could care less. He said he regularly destroys numerous nest every year. As a matter of fact he said he had about 13 he took out last year he knew of in 3 fields he works. Funny thing is though is there were more turkeys this year than I have seen in a long time down there. Go figure! :crazy:

 

[Winchester]

Thats just part of it, Nests and Fawns have been getting killed by Farmers making a living since the beginning. I was just curious if there was a major weather catatrophy after the seasons/limits had been set, if they would be changed if necessary, and it sounds like they could be if needed. I dont think this single flood will have a huge effect statewide, we have had worst in years past.