Is Your State a Conservation Success Story?

[HawkeyeGobbler]

Figured this would be an interesting topic, as we know in some areas wild turkey pops. have been severley diminished or even extirpated. This was the case in my home state of Iowa. Turkeys were gone for many years until the IDNR began efforts to reintroduce them and the NWTF got some chapters here. They began releasing them at first only in select state forest areas, then eventually they spread to the entire state.

In the beginning, turkeys had been gone so long, none of us grew up hunting them. If you were in a certain age bracket even your dad didn't hunt turkeys. You had to go to a seminar, and be "trained" before you could get a tag and there were very few available. I do not think there was a fall season either.

Today we are not a "destination" turkey state like KS used to be or SD or something. But our turkey population has really done well and in some parts of the state especially the NE and SE corners, they are really thick. Some real bruisers out in NW IA too. There are a lot of things I carp and moan about with the IDNR but this really has been a great accomplishment for our DNR and hunters.

[MK M GOBL]

Figured this would be an interesting topic, as we know in some areas wild turkey pops. have been severley diminished or even extirpated. This was the case in my home state of Iowa. Turkeys were gone for many years until the IDNR began efforts to reintroduce them and the NWTF got some chapters here. They began releasing them at first only in select state forest areas, then eventually they spread to the entire state.

In the beginning, turkeys had been gone so long, none of us grew up hunting them. If you were in a certain age bracket even your dad didn't hunt turkeys. You had to go to a seminar, and be "trained" before you could get a tag and there were very few available. I do not think there was a fall season either.

Today we are not a "destination" turkey state like KS used to be or SD or something. But our turkey population has really done well and in some parts of the state especially the NE and SE corners, they are really thick. Some real bruisers out in NW IA too. There are a lot of things I carp and moan about with the IDNR but this really has been a great accomplishment for our DNR and hunters.

X2!!

WI is pretty much in the same boat, I never knew anyone who ever turkey hunted... Learned it all on my own, watched some videos and took in seminars but never had a "mentor". Now Dad started me out young with hunting & fishing but when it came to turkey hunting I took my Dad out for his first hunt

MK M GOBL

[stinkpickle]

If I remember correctly, a lot of those birds released in Iowa and Wisconsin were trapped in Missouri, right?

[Bowguy]

We have a very similar situation. From none to reintroduction to really good. It's gone down some but upswinging again n some parts of the state are swamped w birds

[MK M GOBL]

If I remember correctly, a lot of those birds released in Iowa and Wisconsin were trapped in Missouri, right?

Yes, WI traded grouse and I believe IA was pheasants

Both states started out with some birds that were a cross of tame and wild but they didn't survive, once the cannon net program got started and pure Wild Turkeys were transplanted is when the success story started!!

MK M GOBL

[HawkeyeGobbler]

If I remember correctly, a lot of those birds released in Iowa and Wisconsin were trapped in Missouri, right?

Yes, WI traded grouse and I believe IA was pheasants

Both states started out with some birds that were a cross of tame and wild but they didn't survive, once the cannon net program got started and pure Wild Turkeys were transplanted is when the success story started!!

MK M GOBL

I wish we could have some of those pheasants back! 

That is very interesting about the cross turkeys, I never knew that part. Wow seems a strange idea as I would not bet on a farm bird to survive a winter here!

Turkeys must be tougher than I realize, here we have had some straight up NASTY winters and flooding springs (with the exception of this one) and the turkey numbers just seem to go up and up and up. Meanwhile we have zero pheasants anymore

[jakesdad]

I'm from Missouri. We were the beginning of the conservation success stories.   hasnt been as good as years past here but still better than most. As much as I hate to say it,the "leaner" years have sorted out the turkey hunters from the wannabes,which to me is a good thing.

[Gooserbat]

Actually Oklahoma isn't that bad.  Room for improvement but better than a lot of them.

[Cut N Run]

There's definitely more turkeys in North Carolina now than when I first started hunting them 35 years ago.  I remember seeing a flock of 16 birds along the river one day in the fall of 1984 and couldn't believe there were so many in that area.  Three years ago the guy who owns my old lease saw 27 gobblers in a flock and a flock of 40+ hens a few days later during deer season. 

The NWTF and the state wildlife management have done a great job reintroducing turkeys and improving habitat to get turkey numbers higher than previously known. 

Jim

[Bolandstrutters]

I'm from Missouri. We were the beginning of the conservation success stories.   hasnt been as good as years past here but still better than most. As much as I hate to say it,the "leaner" years have sorted out the turkey hunters from the wannabes,which to me is a good thing.

Couldn't have said it better!  I was lucky enough to start hunting turkeys in Missouri in the early 2000's.  Hearing 30 birds on a 400 acre tract of land wasn't uncommon.  It got tough for a few years, but has steadily gotten better the last 5 years. I had no idea what I was doing when the birds numbers were huge.  The slightly lower numbers have really taught me to slow down and learn how to hunt them versus chasing every bird I heard gobbling into the next county.  I just wish Missouri was as smart with deer as they are turkey!

[HFultzjr]

I would have to say PA has done it about right.
Always seems to be plenty of birds. Some places more, some less. Changes year to year.
Lots of birds to hunt, but there is much more pressure and they are not as easy as many years ago.
A lot of people want the season to start early, like when they 1st hear them carrying on, but I look at it this way. With the later opener (about last weekend April), if you bag a bird, chances are he has already got some breeding done for next year's population. I can't think of much to fix about how PA handles it.

[Neill_Prater]

A Missourian here. I didn't see a wild turkey until somewhere around 1974, and, now, well, they aren't as plentiful as say 10 years ago, but definitely plenty of birds to hunt.

I don't agree with every regulation in place, such as the "1 bird the first week", and honestly, don't see why we haven't gone to all day hunting, but, one can't argue with success. I do think the Conservation Department has done a lot of things right, like mandatory tagging and check-in. No doubt there are cheaters here, but tagging and checking has become so ingrained in most people who have grown up having to do so, that I feel the harvest statistics are pretty accurate, and therefore quite valuable as a management tool.

I have hunted for years in the South, and it is obvious in many cases that hunters tend to "lose count" when tagging and checking-in are not required. 

[spaightlabs]

There would be very few birds or opportunities to hunt them if not for the NWTF and DOW in CO.

We have gone from no hunting to great hunting in many areas in a very short period and are now seeing birds occasionally in urban and metro areas as well.