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by AustinC. 05/21/24 05:01 PM
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Re: Status of turkey research?
[Re: gobbler]
#4092088
02/28/24 09:39 AM
02/28/24 09:39 AM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,171
Sylacauga, AL
poorcountrypreacher
OP
Booner
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OP
Booner
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,171
Sylacauga, AL
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Thanks for all the info, gobbler! I wondered what you thought of the idea that it's just normal to have a population decline some 20 years after restocking? That theory seemed like common sense to me the first time I heard it, and it also lined up with my own anecdotal observations.
It seems normal to think that it takes predators a while to figure out how to raid turkey nests and even catch turkeys. They don't write books or have Internet access, so all they can do is pass on to their offspring a hunting method that worked for them. That's bound to take a lot of time and many generations - 20 years sounds reasonable.
That's also what we saw at our farm. We got turkeys in huntable numbers around 1965 and the population was good for about 20 years. It was never anything like what Carter and others saw in North AL, but we always had turkeys. The population took a big dive in the mid 80s, but rebounded in the early 90s and has been stable since.
Most of us learned it in wildlife management at AU  Restocked populations rose quickly to high levels then dropped off, rose again but not as high and went up and down normally after. Gulsby and Lashly have discussed this as well and they seem to see the same - 20 years after restocking - on nearly every state. Thanks! Great info! They wouldn't let Ag teachers take those advanced wildlife classes so I only got the Farm Forestry version.  I can remember the idea being discussed here long ago, but hearing them talk about it on these podcasts makes it seem like a new idea to them. I guess they figured that telling people that it's just normal for their turkey populations to go down wasn't going to go over well. Something like DGT was sure to create more interest.
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
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Re: Status of turkey research?
[Re: poorcountrypreacher]
#4092654
02/28/24 09:23 PM
02/28/24 09:23 PM
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 19,174
colbert county
cartervj
Old Mossy Horns
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Old Mossy Horns
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 19,174
colbert county
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One other thing, Carter - I know our experience is different and we form opinions based on our own experience. I don't doubt that there are more hunters than it used to be in many places. I am just gonna have to see some hard evidence that spring hunting makes any significant effect on the population.
Anyone who was there will agree with me, but hunting on the Coosa wma in the 80s and 90s just couldn't have been more crowded. Getting to work a turkey by yourself bordered on impossible. Main roads would have a truck every few hundred yards, every side road had a truck parked at it. How many turkeys were killed is unknown, but they killed every one they possibly could. And every year the turkeys were still there and still gobbling. It doesn't take many gobblers to breed the hens.
If there's more hunters, so what in regards to turkey numbers. I don't believe that there is any place today with more pressure than the Coosa, but that pressure didn't stop reproduction.
I definitely agree with what you’re saying. I guess I’m asking out loud out of curiosity so to speak. I thought about what I’d posted and kinda LOL-ed. Speaking of ducks, watching to the X Series on waterfowl, bio named Larry for Louisiana brought up that hunter numbers were way up and hunter sentiment was way down. Kills hadn’t changed much outside the norm. But here’s the kicker, when presented with a question that if a longer season with bigger limits was at the detriment of the duck population. Would you consider having a longer season and bigger limits. A resounding yes was the answer. That bothers me The first part I mentioned I think applies to management of turkeys. The second part shows human nature How those work together 🤷♂️
“Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it and hell where they already have it.” ― Ronald Reagan
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