Although irreversible damage has already been done thanks to the YouTube, one the main arguments against could be somewhat mitigated by one simple action:
QUIT NAMING STATES.

If you are in it to save the culture of turkey hunting, the decision should be easy. Why does it matter what state you are in?

Although increased public land pressure doesn't fall "solely" on YouTube, it falls majorly on it. OnX maps and COVID doesn't cause people to hop in their vehicle and drive directly to the region or even national forest or WMA that their favorite YouTubers hunt. YouTube causes that. Your own former sidekick admits it in a podcast. What is even more ironic is when these same turkey hunters who are following their YouTubers dress like them, wear the branded hats, and even have the stickers on their back glass. No, you can't blame OnX and COVID for that. When specific WMA applications see 40%+ rises in a single year due to YouTubers hunting there the year before and other WMAs in the state didn't see near that much of an increase, that ain't OnX and COVID.

When south zone Florida non-resident WMA quota applications see a 230% increase from 2018 to 2021, and WMAs in particular that you hunt on see the largest non-resident application increases (750%+), that ain't happenstance.

More hunters is more money for the state. But when the majority of those turkey hunters are now hunting on public land, we run into issues that can cause reduction in opportunity. Verbatim from a Georgia DNR biologist "Because hunting pressure is greater on public lands, we opted to make that opening date closer to peak incubation, which occurs around the second week of April in Georgia". I spoke with an Alabama DNR biologist who basically said the same for Bama's new statewide regs and 1:00PM closure.

So the Georgia public land hunter just lost at least a week off his season. Possibly more since new draw hunts have been established on popular WMAs for 2022. Why are draw hunts established? We all know the answer. If a Georgia or Bama hunter relies solely on public land to hunt, does statewide poult recruitment or brood rearing habitat really mean much to them? They can't manage the habitat on their public lands. Sure, they can trap a little, but that ain't really gonna change much. One thing that has changed though is major reduction in their hunting opportunity due to overexploitation of our public lands at dimes on the dollar.

You will "possibly" lose some opportunity? You already have, bud. Your south zone Florida WMA quota hunt days are nearing an end. You will now have to be drawn to hunt early season in Mississippi. Bama, 1-2 weeks lost on public lands. Georgia, already covered. The only difference between you and everyone else is that you can just hop in your truck and drive on to next state when it opens. What about the average working man who has a family and can only hunt on weekends and can't afford to travel? He would have been a hell of a lot better off without YouTubers screwing with his hunting, even with less turkey hunting revenue coming to his state DNR.


With that out of the way, we agree on 90% of issues:

You have in fact inspired some people to show a lot more respect for the wild turkey. On the other hand, you've inspired just as many to make it a numbers game.

You have helped spread light on the current issues facing wild turkey. On the contrary, many of your and THP's die-hard followers haven't been hunting very long and are part of this "The sky is following!" crowd because they came on board when turkey were doing better and they haven't hunted long enough to see the natural fluctuations in populations. This is also the same demographic that is very vocal on social media and actually aiding in reducing our turkey hunting opportunity. These new hunters got their public land bird(s) when times were better, but a bad hatch or two makes it difficult for them to #taggedout.The fact of the matter is, Mother Nature has always played a major role in turkey populations and we aren't going to change that.

There are a ton of research questions that need to be addressed before we go to slashing away opportunities. There are other avenues to save as many (if not more) gobblers from death other than season/bag limit reductions. This is easily agreed upon, but much more difficult to get action. And for all of our sake, I sincerely hope you, TFT, or ANYONE can get movement on it.




So to wrap this all up, why can't ya'll spare future reductions in public land opportunity by just quitting naming states? It'd be a valid compromise for all.


Ultimately, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if this combination of perfect storms causes us to lose turkey hunters. When folks get tired of overcrowded public lands, rising lease prices (due to turkey hunters having to have access to private to hunt their state's entire season), opportunity reductions and more restrictions.....Some will in fact gave it up! And I hate to say this, but I'm already looking forward to that day. I'd rather have less turkeys and a lot less turkey hunters than the crap show public lands/traveling turkey hunting has turned into since the YouTube/social media "hunting influencer" era came about.