Coon hunting on your turkey tracts

[sugarray]

What do you guys think of having coon hunters running coons at night with dogs on your turkey hunting land?

Do you think it would run the turkeys off, or just spook them for a day or 2?

I think it would be a good thing to reduce the egg eaters.

[tomstopper]

I wouldn't risk it IMO. Maybe just have some trappers come out and take them that way. Also in doing this you can eliminate some foxes, opossums, and maybe even some coyotes (all of which will diminish turkey populations).

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

Not a chance in hell.

Hunting is all about minimizing the impact of your presence on your quarry to ensure quality experiences and normal behavior from your prey.

Running dogs through your turkey property at any time prior or during the season seems counterintuitive.

[jblackburn]

I used to coon hunt all over our farms in Missouri growing up and alway had plenty of birds to hunt in the spring.

[Gooserbat]

I've seen it done both here in OK and when I lived in MO and it never seemed to have any long term effects.  That said I wouldn't want to dump my dogs on top of where I was Turkey hunting all the time.

[drenalinld]

Zero impact on turkeys in my opinion. It is ALWAYS a good idea to eliminate predators. Coons are definitely egg predators. Coyotes chase all kinds of game and raise commotions every night. This does not run off turkeys.

[jblackburn]

Zero impact on turkeys in my opinion. It is ALWAYS a good idea to eliminate predators. Coons are definitely egg predators. Coyotes chase all kinds of game and raise commotions every night. This does not run off turkeys.

I agree.  I think I read somewhere that raccoons are the #1 nest predator of turkeys and other ground nesting birds. Even if you did flush a flock at night while coon hunting, they are not going to leave forever, especially if the habitat is good for them.

To clarify my above post, I would not run the dogs near turkey season where I hunted, but during the coon season (Nov - Feb 15 in MO) I would.

[bigbird]

I trap my properties, and try to road kill every skunk,coon, and opossum I can. Good for nothing critters, bout got the same opinion of on coon hunters that like to use the "my dog can't read" line!

[catdaddy]

It will not affect the turkey population or their location one bit--zero--nada. If anything, it will help by killing some of the coons that would have robbed a nest--although in reality, that is probably negligible.

I have noticed over the years that many people have misconceptions about coon hunting and the affect it has on other wildlife. It seems to be most prevalent within the deer hunting community. I heard over and over--"We can't let the coon hunters hunt till deer season is over--they will run off our deer."  Please---you couldn't run the deer off with a pack of deer dogs if you tried, much less coon dogs.

I have a copy of a thesis at home that a wildlife biologist did for his doctorate. He radio collared several deer on a tract of land and had many trail cams set up as well. His research was to document the affect that coon hunting had on deer. Over a 30 day period, he had coon hunters hunt every night--which is pretty aggressive.They got lucky one night when a young untrained dog jumped and ran one of the collared deer at 7:30 PM.  By 3:00 AM, the deer was back in the same spot as when the dog jumped him. The over all results---it wasn't just that the coon hunters had minimal affect--they had no affect.

[sugarray]

Thanks guys! 

I was thinking of trying to get some buddies to take as many as they can off during our season here in WV.  I have a 400 acre tract I hunt that I think would be great to take some egg eaters off of.  I have seen 1 coyote and 1 fox this fall.  I have been unsuccessful in coyote calling, but night season is back in.  When the weather warms a bit, I'm going to get back after them.

[owlhoot]

COON SEASON is over way before turkey hunting. At least in Missouri.
Yes we flushed birds sometimes but they were always back later.
Enjoy the music, then the gobbles later in the spring.
Predators need to be thinned.  Yes them coons love turkey nests and are dang good at finding them.
Way to many coons , coyotes now, hides are not worth much anymore .= not hunted much.
Heard it from the deer hunting leases, your gonna run my big buck off the place, but he 4wheeler under the deer shooting house wont bother them at all.   

[budtripp]

Considering when coon season is open the turkeys are in their fall/winter ranges and will disperse anyway come spring, plus that fact that turkeys don't exactly have a good memory I say coon hunt away.

[Deputy 14]

I don't see where it would be a problem at all, hell if a turkey can remember what happened 4 months prior they're too smart for me to hunt anyway. I bump birds off the roost every morning I deer hunt a certain piece of property. If this was an issue they'd be gone after the first or second time, but every year I kill turkeys there.

[lonnie sneed jr.]

Dogs in the woods at night will not be no big deal on turkey. Most coon seasons are over by the end of Feb anyway. I use to coon hunt all the time in places were I turkey hunt and could never tell were it bothered the turkey.
Coon dogs in the woods during deer season at night is a differant story. It can and will hurt your deer hunting, but turkey no. I don't dog hunt any more but I do trap my turkey woods.

[wvcurlytop]

I coon hunt more than I turkey hunt, and usually I'm out three or four nights a week.  I don't have any problems.  If a turkey would leave the country over a dog out at night, we wouldn't have a turkey left as coyotes, bears, foxes, coons, etc are out there 24-7, and they're actually trying to eat them.   People do more harm spooking hens off their nests either when they're hunting, mushroom hunting or ramp digging than coon hunters do, in my opinion.  Each to their own though, it is America.