I agree with you turkey 24/7 as I am on the front lines of our current timber management practices. I think that most of the tracts I manage have improved wildlife habitat. In the forest industry, pesticides are primarily used at seedling nurseries, not in the woods. I have not ran into a shortage of insects in my career. What about the herbaceous layer that is released by the use of forestry herbicides ? Are they not good for wildlife, or is 10 foot tall sweetgum with no herbaceous layer better? I go above and beyond to surpass the standards of Alabama Best Management Practices by leaving wider smz's and other sensitive areas when I set up a timber sale. How about the hundreds to thousands of acres that get burned every year in normal forest management practices ? If I'm not mistaken, that helps many game and non-game species.

What happened to turkeys and deer in this state by the 1950's ? They had to be restocked as they were near extinction....but how could that be as there were thousands of acres in huge blocks that were primarily mixed pine and hardwood ? There were no chemicals used in forest management back in those days either. How did turkey populations explode in the 80's especially considering that most of today's forest management practices were being used by then ?

TDD, I know that you live in the heart of the wood basket of the southeastern U.S. Your primary hunting ground could very well be in the midst of thousands of acres of pre-merchantable plantations owned by investment companies and other industrial forest landowners. From a landscape point of view, you could be in a turkey lull from a lack of standing timber, and prescribed fire regenerating early successional habitat. On a large landscape point of view, your area is a drop in a bucket.

All wildlife populations fluctuate, and they have since the beginning of time and will as long as we are here. I am not saying that there is nothing going on with wildlife populations in Alabama, but to say that the forest industry is the number one culprit is misguided.

My opinion is that we have had several less than average nesting years in a row due to weather, and increased predator populations as a more viable culprit. A wild turkey has an amazing ability to adapt, but there are always numerous biological factors that they must deal with. I don't see suitable forest habitat, which is controlled in this state by 97% private, non-industrial forest landowners as a main biological factor limiting turkey populations.