Just out of curiosity what percentage of nests are lost due to coons..?
Do y'all really believe there are now thousands of more coons now then there were when trapping was profitable...? Every forum I visit its the same story. Coons, Coons, Coons. What about crows...?
What about some of the real reasons populations are down across this country...?
In the eighties when I believe most would agree was the hay day for the wild turkey, but then again most probably weren't even born. Were there pop up blinds..? Were there corn feeders there to help spread disease and make predators more successful...? Were there gobbler decoys...? Did we have cell cameras to let you know what food plot to sit on and when...?
Turkey hunting/ killing is now the cool thing to do. It's to the point that any yahoo that " Ive always wanted to try turkey hunting" can walk smooth out of Academy with a place that holds turkeys and be a instant Facebook/ Social media turkey killing Profesional.
Just my thoughts over what I've seen the last 38 years in the spring woods.
The great state of Alabama was the last southern state to allow the use of decoys and now one of the first to regulate its use. I'm not a resident of Alabama but I'm proud of their decision to do so.
KP, I agree with your general sentiments, but the 80s were not the "hay day" for me at all. We didn't kill a single turkey on our place from 84 to 89. There weren't any left because of so much timber being cut in the area. They started coming back in 90 and we haven't had a year without turkeys since then. Those turkeys started using the pine plantation when it was 11 years old; I seldom see that these days.
I seldom see it mentioned, but the big difference in habitat between now and then is that today the site prep work is done with herbicides; back then it was done with dozers. The dozers made a habitat that was very attractive to both quail and turkeys, and I think the loss of that method has had a more detrimental effect on both birds than any other factor.
