TN Non-Resident Turkey License Sales: Doubled for 2021 Season!

[Kyle_Ott]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

[Jimspur]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

Kyle - I think the question isn't if 2 birds or 1 bird is enough. The question
is going to be, how can they charge the same price they always have with
the reduced opportunity.

[Roost 1]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

.

$308 is the reason.. I live 13 miles from the TN line.

[Greg Massey]

Tennessee .. good old rocky top Tennessee ... go big orange .... 

[catman529]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

.

$308 is the reason.. I live 13 miles from the TN line.

I paid $420 to hunt Kentucky this year and only killed one bird. I can deer hunt though so that will be nice. Tourism ain't cheap, gotta pay to play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Roost 1]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

.

$308 is the reason.. I live 13 miles from the TN line.

I paid $420 to hunt Kentucky this year and only killed one bird. I can deer hunt though so that will be nice. Tourism ain't cheap, gotta pay to play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

You did not have to buy KY deer tag to turkey hunt, you chose too.  I have no choice with the type 73 TN  NR license.  I rarely deer hunt in TN.

[deerhunt1988]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

Kyle - I think the question isn't if 2 birds or 1 bird is enough. The question
is going to be, how can they charge the same price they always have with
the reduced opportunity.

We will continue to see more states charging the same price (or higher) and reducing opportunity for non-residents in order to combat the massive influx of pressure to public lands that social media and YouTubers have helped cause.

For next year public land hunters have lost 1-2 weeks of their season in Alabama and they can now only kill 1 bird the first 10 days of each season.

In Georgia, public land hunters have lost 2-3 weeks of their season for next spring! And several new WMAs were changed to draw hunts.

Basically, you will be paying the same price in these states for drastically reduced opportunity partially because of those who have a thirst for internet fame and a check from the YouTubes and merchandise sales.

So now where will these displaced hunters go? I have my suspicions and expect other states will start adjusting accordingly as well.

[Howie g]

I live on the La / ms state line . But pay my homestead in La and my business tax in La . But I also own a little ground and a home across line in ms . Being you can legally only claim one homestead I'm required to pay out of state hunting lic in ms ,  it runs me around 430 a year for the combo lic .
When I send my money yearly to ms or any other states I travel I look at it as paying for the opportunity to legally hunt ,  not how many game animals I can take for amount I spend .

[simpzenith]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

Kyle - I think the question isn't if 2 birds or 1 bird is enough. The question
is going to be, how can they charge the same price they always have with
the reduced opportunity.

We will continue to see more states charging the same price (or higher) and reducing opportunity for non-residents in order to combat the massive influx of pressure to public lands that social media and YouTubers have helped cause.

For next year public land hunters have lost 1-2 weeks of their season in Alabama and they can now only kill 1 bird the first 10 days of each season.

In Georgia, public land hunters have lost 2-3 weeks of their season for next spring! And several new WMAs were changed to draw hunts.

Basically, you will be paying the same price in these states for drastically reduced opportunity partially because of those who have a thirst for internet fame and a check from the YouTubes and merchandise sales.

So now where will these displaced hunters go? I have my suspicions and expect other states will start adjusting accordingly as well.

I'm curious as to what your experiences have been turkey hunting public in other areas/states other than your local public land spots?

[deerhunt1988]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

Kyle - I think the question isn't if 2 birds or 1 bird is enough. The question
is going to be, how can they charge the same price they always have with
the reduced opportunity.

We will continue to see more states charging the same price (or higher) and reducing opportunity for non-residents in order to combat the massive influx of pressure to public lands that social media and YouTubers have helped cause.

For next year public land hunters have lost 1-2 weeks of their season in Alabama and they can now only kill 1 bird the first 10 days of each season.

In Georgia, public land hunters have lost 2-3 weeks of their season for next spring! And several new WMAs were changed to draw hunts.

Basically, you will be paying the same price in these states for drastically reduced opportunity partially because of those who have a thirst for internet fame and a check from the YouTubes and merchandise sales.

So now where will these displaced hunters go? I have my suspicions and expect other states will start adjusting accordingly as well.

I'm curious as to what your experiences have been turkey hunting public in other areas/states other than your local public land spots?

What experiences would you like to hear about?

Historically for me, the public land hunting has often been better outside of the southeast primarily due to the lack of hunting pressure (in comparison) elsewhere and often times greater bird numbers. But the hunting pressure has significantly changed the past few years.

I've made a trip to MO for the past 14 years and this spring was the worst i've ever saw it in terms of hunting pressure + bird numbers. May ditch it for elsewhere next spring.

I normally go down to Florida every couple years but the circus its turned into makes me wonder if that's even worth it anymore.

Had a good hunt this spring along the east coast in some non-destination states. One WMA was extremely pressured but I knew that going into it and playing that card still paid off quickly. The other state I had minimal contact with any hunters in 3 days which is VERY unusual in this day and time.

Made another hunt on the eastern seaboard this year that went well. One thing that stood out was talking to the residents who were amazed at all the non-resident hunting pressure they were now receiving that started about last year. But I only saw a couple non-res and the only hunter interference I had was in one particular location and it was local hunters. Some of this area is about to pounded on now due to social media exposure.

Hunted up on your stomping grounds recently. Several hunters, but no interference and no problem getting on birds. The 1-bird limit states really help curtail non-resident pressure. Plus they got a lot more turkey than many other states!

Almost even hate to admit it, but I hunted Wisconsin last spring due to running out of states I could hunt in (COVID closures, filled tags). My oh my, I've saw a lot of stuff during my travels. But that pressure was just silly! And birds were responding to the pressure accordingly. But there were still a few birds to be killed amongst the crowd.

I have a pretty good network of traveling turkey hunters and am saddened to hear what was happened to some of my favorite western haunts over the past two springs. I know they aren't lying, but I haven't been back yet to see it for myself.



Don't want to derail the thread too much. If you'd like to continue to hear about my experiences or chat some more, send me a PM.

[FL-Boss]

For the past year, it seems half the post on this forum always ends up with everyone complaining public land is too pressured,  blaming YouTubers, Hunt apps, forums, the list goes on.  Blame who you want.. but I think everyone can agree the problem is only going to get worse each year. At least as long as Turkey hunting is the new "in" thing. 

With that being said, if you are truly passionate about avoiding other people when you hunt, spend more time networking and doing WHATEVER IT TAKES to get private land access. Maybe you need to work a few side jobs to save a little $$ to join a club, barter labor with a local farmer,  or trade... but I can tell you it's easy if you are motivated. And this is coming from someone that lives in Florida... the hardest place to make this happen. 

Believe me, there are many traveling hunters on this forum that network constantly with each other behind the scenes to do whatever it takes to avoid the public land $hit show ...

[Prohunter3509]

Follow the $.  TN total harvest of 2021 right at 33,000 birds, down from 40,000 in 2020.  4 bird limit (ridiculous) in 2020 dropped to 3 birds (still too high) in 2021.  TN will harvest itself to dismal numbers before long.  6 week season is ridiculous too.  I don't know what the TWRA is thinking.  Oh, follow the $.

Just like Mississippi,  season too lo long ,bag limit too liberal

[arkrem870]

deerhunt1988 - your 100% correct.

[Kyle_Ott]

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

Kyle - I think the question isn't if 2 birds or 1 bird is enough. The question
is going to be, how can they charge the same price they always have with
the reduced opportunity.

If some of these guys truly consider themselves conservationists they should recognize that the resource is rapidly depleting and the ability to sustain such egregiously high bag limits no longer exists in this environment.

Reduced opportunity is a function of habitat loss, increased precipitation and excessive harvest by hunters.  We all have a hand in this and I will happily pay increased license fees to shoot 1 turkey in each state if it means more funding goes directly into habitat management and I'll have a higher quality experience(translation: I see more turkeys and/or hear more turkeys while I'm visiting there).

With the exception of Arkansas and Nevada, almost every state with a 1 bird limit that I visit is a refreshing experience.

If a person is not willing to pay for a quality experience but they're willing to pay to kill in quantity, I've got some colorful words for those types of individuals that can't be typed in this thread. They're just a selfish parasite on the resource; they're no conservationist.

[Roost 1]

 

I've bought a NR Res TN license for prolly 25yrs but if they lower the turkey limit to 2, I'm done.
There's the answer to that problem.

What makes you feel so entitled to shoot 3 turkeys that you would discontinue visiting a state if they decreased the limit to 2?

Why isn't 2 enough?  Why isn't 1 enough?

Kyle - I think the question isn't if 2 birds or 1 bird is enough. The question
is going to be, how can they charge the same price they always have with
the reduced opportunity.

If some of these guys truly consider themselves conservationists they should recognize that the resource is rapidly depleting and the ability to sustain such egregiously high bag limits no longer exists in this environment.

Reduced opportunity is a function of habitat loss, increased precipitation and excessive harvest by hunters.  We all have a hand in this and I will happily pay increased license fees to shoot 1 turkey in each state if it means more funding goes directly into habitat management and I'll have a higher quality experience(translation: I see more turkeys and/or hear more turkeys while I'm visiting there).

With the exception of Arkansas and Nevada, almost every state with a 1 bird limit that I visit is a refreshing experience.

If a person is not willing to pay for a quality experience but they're willing to pay to kill in quantity, I've got some colorful words for those types of individuals that can't be typed in this thread. They're just a selfish parasite on the resource; they're no conservationist.

Since you have quoted me twice let me clear things up a bit for you.  I am all for any and all restrictions that may include reducing the limits, shortening the season, outlawing strutting decoys/fanning etc. because I see the decline most everywhere I hunt especially in TN. I've hunted TN for at least 25yrs and prolly longer, I've seen the turkey pop go from fair to great and back to fair.  It's been several yrs now since I've killed more than 1 bird on any one of my places there.
My comment was meant to imply that with further reductions in limits and shortening of the season, I'll prolly not continue to hunt TN since it's the most expensive license I buy.  I'm not being entitled or however you put it, I'm just being honest. I'm all for any changes that help the turkeys.
The facts of the matter is that there are many more hunters that feel the same way and just this in itself could be a way the TWRA plans to use to reduce NR hunting pressure. Once again I'll repeat I'm all for it, has nothing to do with feeling entitled.