What do you all think about the turkey population throughout the state? What do yall think has led to the decline? Do you think it is one main thing or multiple things. I know in the southwest part of the state is getting pretty bad.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/progress/2015/02/05/state-study-wild-turkey-population/22923641/
The golden days are over.
I agree!
Burn,burn, burn and then burn some more! We are starting to see improvement in our area because some landowners are doing this again. Privet hedge is the devil!!!! Around the Bienvielle nf there has always been turkeys because they burn like they should.
How can the turkey population drop from zero? ???
Guesswho! You got some 'splainin' to do!!!! :TooFunny:
In the Homochitto NF they burn during and after hunting season. how ya like your eggs?
I thought there weren't any turkeys in AL. What the natives around here keep tellin' us. ;D
Gman
Quote from: Blong on February 08, 2015, 10:56:53 PM
Burn,burn, burn and then burn some more! We are starting to see improvement in our area because some landowners are doing this again. Privet hedge is the devil!!!! Around the Bienvielle nf there has always been turkeys because they burn like they should.
Privet Hedge, I have Privet Trees. Wished I owned stock in round up 25 years ago. Cut one limb and get 10 in return. They are on about 2500 feet of fence line and can't do much about it .
:thanks:
Quote from: silvestris on February 09, 2015, 02:01:38 AM
In the Homochitto NF they burn during and after hunting season. how ya like your eggs?
That is insane! Surely Adam has told them not to burn after mid March. HNF is a beautiful place for sure. Hunted sandy creek last year, only time I have ever been on it.
They did they same thing on Upper Sardis while I was in school over there. We had a wet February and March, so they just burned in April and May. I couldn't believe it.
I can't tell any difference in the population now than any other time. A bad hatch two years in a row makes it hard for some folks to kill'em. Just like a couple good hatches in a row creates a lot of expert turkey hunters.
I haven't seen a turkey in this state since 1994.
Eric is right, things are not good in the Southwest part of the state. Too much thick woods is definitely some of the problem and then lack of burning hasn't helped. In fact, they go hand in hand.
I have turkey hunted here for over thirty years and the last ten have not been anywhere close to the twenty before that. Hurricanes have also contributed to the thick woods and loss of big timber.
I'm not convinced that it won't get better one day but it may take reducing the limit or taking a couple of weeks off the season, at least for a few years. Arkansas did that and tings are getting better there now. A mandatory checking system would help but people here would have to be forced to accept it.
I have a farm in the southwest part of the state and our turkey numbers are stronger than ever. We do a lot of timber management and supplemental feeding for them throughout the year and it really has paid off
I agree with controlled burns but come on. Be smart about it. Don't burn the woods off while everything is dropping babies and nesting. The management area I hunt stayed on fire in some area or another March till May. And if it wasn't burning it seemed like it was being logged. I'm no biologists but if you destroy habitat and prevent reproduction you'll see a decrease in just about everything. It's ridiculous!
You are dead on.
Quote from: guesswho on February 09, 2015, 08:11:36 AM
I haven't seen a turkey in this state since 1994.
That's because you killed them all!!! :lol: ;D :TooFunny:
It's been the norm the last several years for the National Forest Service to burn in April and May in Arkansas too. Large acreage at times. As ground nesting birds go, I can not see how the positives outweigh the negatives.
I hunted AL every year for 10+ years in a row (Mid March) and always hunted around fires on the NF.
USFS in SC has been burning in April and May pretty hard the last couple years on Francis Marion forest. Large blocks at a time, burning with a helicopter. Many people disagree with it, including myself. They used to start as early as December and be pretty well done by first of March.
That actually is not surprising that gov't agencies, particularly the Feds, who are under the control of treehuggers appointed by Obama would do that.
If a certain piece of land is low on count, I would try to see if there is any other pressures from predators. I have been seeing more and more coyote sign. That is why we are putting the extra time to kill some before they do any real damage.