As NH stated, we have a turkey technical committee, of which I am the northwest AL representative. We held a stakeholder meeting with the public at the Tanner office a few months ago and I presented our current and future plans to address the many turkey population management issues of my area of the state. There was at least two forum members at that meeting. Not only did I give a presentation, but I also received feedback from every participant. Turkey decline was at the forefront of the discussions, considering several counties in north AL have experienced declines.

We collect poult production and population estimates every year. We also encourage the public to participate, and I have discussed this with numerous landowners. I conduct site visits to properties in your area and provide the best technical advice and management recommendations I can to help people reach their goals. NH and his biologists do this exclusively, and we know what we are doing.

North AL doesn't need a mass restocking effort. It needs quality habitat. Right now it's not there, and won't be as long as current land use practices continue. There's nothing I, NH, or any other government or private biologist can do about that.

Saying we don't care is simply not true.

We also send all suspected diseased turkeys to SCWDS for necropsies.

I just read this whole thread and wanted to point out that the turkeys in SE AL are doing just fine! No drop in population around my places, and I feed all year except for that month and a half of season. I have seen more grown poults this summer than I ever have, Period. We kill the absolute piss out of the turkeys on most of my leases and they just seem to regenerate every year. This is nothing but timber company land too, tons of clear cuts, hardly any hardwoods and its thick. No AG Fields anywhere close and chicken houses galor. it's not uncommon to kill a bird within 100 yards of a chicken house. I also have so many coons I can't even plant chufa patches any longer because they dig them up to fast. Not to mention the number of good turkey hunters that have killed way more than their limits of turkeys since they were teenagers and have been doing so for the last 30 years. If being over hunted, having more coons, yotes, bobcats, feeding etc... is what's causing a so called "decline" in our birds then why aren't mine being affected. I know some areas have higher populations and such and that's understandable, but I feel like if hunters go and don't hear turkeys gobble during season then they just say they aren't there when in reality there are far more than you think. I've been on my places and not heard a single turkey gobble for days and then one day its like a light switch turns on and I'll hear 10+ birds in one morning on 500 acres. for instance, if I have a club member show up to hunt a weekend and he doesn't hear, see or kill a turkey then there aren't any left or the neighbor killed them all, or the dang yotes have caught them all or the coons have busted all of our nest for the last few years. to be honest if you don't have a ton of turkeys on your lease, or favorite WMA or private property there may not be enough desirable habitat to hold, feed and breed the number of turkeys you want then they aren't going to be there. If you go to a WMA that has a chat ton of turkey hunters, great habitat and you don't see, kill or hear a turkey it's probably because they don't want to gobble due to traffic, being called to a ton, etc.... if you want the numbers to hunt acquire the places that have them. now that my rant is over, 2 states that feed the crap out of corn and have a chat ton of turkeys FL, and TX. Corn ain't to blame.

I appreciate the feedback nighthunter and matt. I do know in northern limestone and Lauderdale counties is good turkey habitat. I am well aware of the insufficient habitat in Morgan and Lawrence counties, and certain parts of Colbert.

Turkeys for some reason do not thrive in big ag areas in this part of the country.

Again, thanks for the feedback. And sorry if yall post it already, but if somebody would post about these meetings I would gladly attend, good Lord willing.

And if you can answer this one question you'll be a hero in my book. You take very similar habitat in the Midwest and you can't beat turkeys off of it. They do not, and I repeat, DO NOT, thrive in agricultural lands in north AL.

Nor in MS. The MS Delta basically has no turkeys with the exception of the clubs between the levees

Sure wish I'd known about the meeting at Harris station. I'd liked to throw some ideas around. The main reason they're not thriving in N Bama Ag country is too many small tract landowners vs S bama. Too many cleared back hedgerows and too many "folks" tromping around bothering farms. In N bama there's no gates to keep joyriders and poachers out of places. I see turkeys on large tracts in Lawrence Colbert and limestone plenty. Now Morgan Co is a lost cause. I live in the worse Co in the state for wildlife. Morgan

257, my theory has always been too much disturbance in north AL. It's certainly more developed, with smaller farms than what you see in central and south Al.

And a house on every parcel. Turkeys can't do well with atvs and dogs running on every inch of land.

That's right Matt. It's too crowded here. But then again look at Franklin Tn. I guess there's always exceptions.

I agree. Everyone from North of Birmingham needs to stop turkey hunting at home and go get in clubs down in South Alabama. They are slap eat up with turkeys and PCP will help you find a good club to get it. Stop wasting your time up here. Ain't no turkeys.


Go South Gentlemen!!!!

Hey, the club that surrounds me is looking for members right now. You guys come on down.

I thought this thread had no more useful life, but it keeps surprising me. I learn more and more about north AL and wonder how they ever had any turkeys. Again, I think it was just the fact that turkeys do well when they are first restocked in an area, then the population drops back to what the land can actually produce long term. It seems to happen that way everywhere.

I think Turkeymaster makes a really great point - all the things being blamed for the decline in north AL are present in south AL too, and there is no decline there. I hope that common sense will prevail and a system that has produced great results in south AL for over 60 years won't be changed because of problems somewhere else that have nothing to do with us. My fear is that common sense will be ignored and the "solution " will do more harm than good for our area of the state. Sure hope I am wrong.

The "North AL ag situation" is very interesting. It contradicts a lot of publications / studies about "ideal" turkey habitat.

It is enough proof to at least question the traditional beliefs of what ideal habitat really is.

My thoughts as well PCP. There cannot be a "one size fits all" approach when it comes to setting season and bag limits for turkeys in our state. I know Matt and most others know this, but politics and pressure can often be deciding factors in the end. I fear, just as you, that we will see stricter limits and shorter seasons in the future in areas of the state that don't need it, all under the pretense of conservation for the greater good.

Interesting comment!

I well remember going to a turkey seminar at Comer Hall in 1975 when I was a student at Auburn. One of the wildlife professors led it, and he talked mostly about how to hunt turkeys. I remember that he told us he had killed 44 in his life and I was impressed.

But the seminar ended on a down note. He thought some places in north AL that were just getting huntable populations might be better in the future, but south AL was doomed. Clearcutting by the paper companies was sure to wipe out the wild turkey in the south. Turkeys require vast hardwood forests to survive, and we were in the last days of good turkey hunting in south AL.

Turkeys proved him wrong, but everyone thought like him back then.

I would state again that the only effective way to control the harvest is the length of the season. It's what they are already using, have used for over 60 years, and is proven to work. If north AL needs a shorter season in places, by all means, give it to them. Anything else will just be politics.

But those who argue with facts will be accused of having no regard for the resource.

PCP, the area of Hale Co I hunted in the early 80s suffered tens of thousands of acres clear cut. It had an immediate downward effect on turkey populations locally, and for years afterward.

But it didn't wipe them out, and Hale county still has plenty of turkeys. I agree clear cutting hurts the specific area for several years, but turkeys have proved they can survive quite well in pine plantations, and nobody thought they could in the 70s.

PCP, when I lived and worked in the woods, and turkey hunted, Greene, Hale, Sumpter Cos I, and a LOT of other turkey hunters felt that the turkey populations were down 30-40% overall in those areas in the mid/late 80's.

I imagine if the places in those counties you hunted were majority clear cuts with no roosting spots then there would have been a decrease in the number of turkeys that were hanging out in the area. It doesn't mean the population decreased in the entire county