http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=514629&page=all

Here's a forum I read often, with members from around the world. I think it gives those of us who live in AL a different perspective on how other places view turkeys. Many of the posters in this thread hate turkeys and want nothing to do with them.

Why such a drastic difference from the way we view turkeys in AL? My theory has always been that low limits and short seasons keep most states from ever developing good turkey hunters and a turkey hunting culture. I have always thought the AL system was far more beneficial to the resource. When people consider their turkeys a treasure, they will do everything they can to help them thrive. I hate to see us moving in the direction of being like other states. Instead of copying them, we should be preaching to them and helping them understand that AL has the best system for the resource.

Also, is it possible that turkeys are eating grouse eggs? I can't imagine them being a significant predator of another bird, but I have no experience with grouse.

PCP I hunt in a state where there are several species of grouse and tons of turkeys. The grouse are hunted and prized for the good flavor and I see plenty of people hunting them. The turkeys (merriams rio’s and easterns) are looked at as a nusance bird and not many people there hunt them.

Dang from the sound of it a man could find plenty of turkey hunting on that forum.

Mind telling us the state? I suspect it's got a low spring limit in spite of having a lot of turkeys. KY allows you just 2, and I once had a farmer beg me to shoot hens and help him wipe them out. If you could kill 5, people would look at them differently.

To me, it has nothing to do with their limits or their "turkey hunting culture."

So what does it have to do with then?

It is a fact that there are some people in different states that hate turkeys. I recently heard them called flying rats, among other things that aren't appropriate for a public forum.

I had a guy pull up on us out of state, and he proceeded to tell us to kill them all. He was saying to shoot em from the truck in the tree or whatever it takes.

So what do you think it is? I am just expressing my opinion and could be wrong, but I think it's a fact that the places where they hate turkeys do have low limits and they don't seem to have any sort of culture regarding turkey hunting. A culture like we have in AL takes decades to develop, and I don't think it can happen in places where you can only take one or two a year.

But maybe it's some other issue; what are you thinking?

Mr. Steve I believe you are correct on your line of thinking in this matter. The folks I have meet that hate turkeys have zero interest in them other than all of them dying. I was a bit taken back by this attitude when I first experienced it. When you are raised in Alabama around the culture we have for hunting turkeys it instills a different view and appreciation. Most of the locals think we are crazy for traveling out of state to hunt a turkey. I had one fella ask me and Stony if we were on crack.....lol. He could not believe we were from Alabama and there to hunt turkeys!!

I get the vibe from folks that I've talked to, it is the fact that they aren't hard to kill out there and they're everywhere.

Folks in WY think people are crazy for driving from Alabama to hunt antelope. There again, they're not hard to kill and everywhere.

Heck, I've met folks all over this State that feel that way about deer.

I'm just expressing my opinion, as well. I think a lot of different things are overlapping, so you could probably pick and choose any one of them to support one's point.

I know for a fact that low limits and high turkey population leads to people disinterested in hunting them because there too easy to kill. I’ve talked to a lot of guys that say the just that

Where we hunt in Kansas it is very easy to get landowner permission to hunt turkeys, and they always seem surprised that anyone in their right mind would drive all the way from Alabama to shoot one. The limit is 2 turkeys and you can shoot them both on the same day which most of the locals that do bother to hunt them shoot their 2 on the first day or two.
It is definitely not viewed the same as it is in the south and the farmers can't stand them. Now deer on the other hand !

When I deer/pronghorn hunted Gillette Wy there were prolly a hundred birds that stayed at the ranchers barn. I asked why he had so many turkeys? He said they were wild birds the state stocked. Asked if I wanted to kill a few(or more). They would let you walk up to within 20 yards in the barnyard!!!

I have a cousin that has a family ranch around San Antonio. He has invited me to turkey hunt out there. He says hardly anyone cares about them out there.

It seems a lot of folks have observed the same thing I have - that people in many states just aren't interested in turkey hunting. I don't think there is any doubt about that; trying to explain it will get different ideas.

There is no question that turkeys are easier to kill in many of those places too. Unpressured turkeys anywhere will come to decent calling, but I have found pressured Rios that were as sharp as any AL turkey. All it takes is getting hunted hard and they wise up in a hurry.

My thinking is that if KS had a 5 bird limit, the hunters there would get a lot more interested in turkey hunting. And the turkeys would become a lot harder to kill. Eventually, the landowners would get a different attitude towards them once they were able to monetize them. It's taken about 60 years for AL to get to where we are, so it wouldn't happen overnight, but I think it would happen.

The only other explanation that I can think of for such different attitudes is that all of us in AL are just rednecks, and the rest of the country is totally different from us. There might be something to that idea too.

I have often wondered just how many turkeys are in some of these other states to support local hunters and all the people who travel out there to hunt. Now I know, locals don't hunt, it's just out of staters. Maybe one day I'll get to one of these turkey hunting Mecca's.

This is a very interesting discussion.

Well and then there's some on the other hand who take it way too serious. Like waaaaay too serious

Then you have those that claim they don't hunt them at all.