Because he bought into Chamberlain’s “theory”, which has basically been thrown out after a couple of conclusive studies. The most recent one in TN. They were looking for excuses to lower the limit and push the season back before Chamberlain’s theory because of some modeling baloney that suggested it would increase turkey numbers. They set up a flawed study in AL that never produced an ounce of actual conclusive data because it was a bad design to begin with. It showed absolutely nothing. They couldn’t even hit the target number of birds to sample in the study due to inadequate capture techniques. But they plowed ahead anyway due to pressure. The amount of predators wild turkeys face today is hundreds of times more than the late 1900s and early 2000s. Avian predator populations have increased, nest predator populations have increased. Large predator populations have increased. All at the same time this has occurred land use patterns have changed and active management has decreased. Now add the instant gratification crowd that thinks it’s cool to turkey hunt, not because they love the wild turkey or the game, but because social media has made it the thing to do and popularized it. They should’ve placed more focus on educating the public on predator control and habitat management workshops instead of forcing bag limit and season changes. Wildlife populations flourish when landowners buy in to what they need to thrive.