Places like OK have always had a direct relationship between spring rain and turkey population. When they get lots of rain, the cover grows tall and the hens and poults are able to hide from the predators. When it's drought, there is little cover and they become easy pickings. I don't know what is going on in TN to get results like that.

Predators have always gotten most of the eggs, and then most of the poults that do manage to hatch. Anything we can do to improve their chances of survival can impact the population, whether it is providing better habitat to let them hide from predators, or just removing the predators. A combination of both is ideal.

The thing about nesting habitat is that it's different from the habitat that will attract turkeys during the spring hunting season. With all the new restrictions on hunting, my concern has been that there will be even fewer people willing to spend the money to produce poults.