Posted By: Jstocks
Management of Turkey - 07/29/20 12:46 AM
I didn’t want to hijack the limit thread, but did want to make a response that is somewhat related.
I would like to establish a couple of points. The first being that I think we can all agree that the hatch success of our turkey populations have a lot going against them. Any successful management proposal would have to clearly take this into consideration.
The other point is that flexibility is not common among state governments.
That being established, I will proceed.
I will not debate scientific or experimental data. However, I want to let you fellas know about factual events that I participated in in various stages of development of the experiments themselves. These experiments took place in several different regions in a well known southern state that has a high population of those pursuing our beloved wild turkeys.
The first experiment was on a lease that had close to 5k acres. The land was broken up into several different tracks, and it all bordered a well known wma that sees a lot of pressure. This is probably one of the most pressured wma’s in the state it resides. The experiment was several of us fellas that turkey hunted that had the two things you need to help any wildlife situation: (1) time and (2) means to which improve the land. Pressure was tightly controlled on this property. Potential members were screened and anyone who was a prospective turkey hunter was usually discarded from joining the lease. The mature pines on this timberland were burned annually. Multiple stages of timber were generally within 1/3 mile or so from any direction, and the blocks of any stage timber were not large, but usually at least several hundred acres. All habitat was connected by stream, road, or both. Food plots consisted of winter mix, with several larger plots being solely in clover. Multiple chufa patches were planted every year. Supplemental feeding with wheat grain and milo was done every year in the chufa patches. Any hunter caught hunting on a chufa patch was to be immediately expelled from the club. If you saw a man’s truck at a gate, by no means were you to park next to him or near him. No rules were made on harvest, but state law was expected to be followed. We always adjusted hunting as a group to leave at least one gobbling turkey per flock on the club. Without exception, this club always had turkeys in a county that is not known for its turkey populations. I have stood on a hill in this club and heard as many as 13 turkeys in all directions, all of which were huntavle to some degree from the property. As time went on, it became too difficult to manage the burns. Control from hunter numbers and pressure could not be held as leadership of the lease changed hands, this causing pressure to increase. The chufa planters and supplemental feeders resigned their membership. It only took about 2 seasons for this club to resume normal (piss poor hunting) status as far as turkey population was concerned.
The other 2 clubs/leases that I have knowledge of their management practices that were very successful employed the same tactics as above, but with an additional emphasis on predator control. This predator control was unrelenting and more of mass control than strategic. The results were no less than outstanding, and the members of these leases had some highly coveted properties to hunt.
Given the fact that most of us do not have the luxury to control large acreages, we have to adjust our management practices to managing ourselves. I encourage each one of you to consciously think about why you love to hunt turkeys. Give some deeper consideration for tomorrow as you hunt. We are at a point in time now where our hunter numbers are high, and our turkey populations are declining. Many factors assist in the decline.
I will only say this to the limit debate:
As hunters we have a responsibility to do all that we can to avoid state interference. Be mindful of your kills. Be thoughtful of our game. There are places in the state of Alabama that could use a little break. You know if you are hunting one of those places. Sometimes we can manage ourself a little better to keep the state from having to manage us all. You can do this and still chase your limit by moving along to a different area in the state if you know your area’s population had a bad hatch two years ago or is suffering from hard times brought on by disease or some other reason. Overarching statewide or regional changes are much less effective than us hunters controlling the situation ourselves to preserve the resource we have been blessed with.
I would like to establish a couple of points. The first being that I think we can all agree that the hatch success of our turkey populations have a lot going against them. Any successful management proposal would have to clearly take this into consideration.
The other point is that flexibility is not common among state governments.
That being established, I will proceed.
I will not debate scientific or experimental data. However, I want to let you fellas know about factual events that I participated in in various stages of development of the experiments themselves. These experiments took place in several different regions in a well known southern state that has a high population of those pursuing our beloved wild turkeys.
The first experiment was on a lease that had close to 5k acres. The land was broken up into several different tracks, and it all bordered a well known wma that sees a lot of pressure. This is probably one of the most pressured wma’s in the state it resides. The experiment was several of us fellas that turkey hunted that had the two things you need to help any wildlife situation: (1) time and (2) means to which improve the land. Pressure was tightly controlled on this property. Potential members were screened and anyone who was a prospective turkey hunter was usually discarded from joining the lease. The mature pines on this timberland were burned annually. Multiple stages of timber were generally within 1/3 mile or so from any direction, and the blocks of any stage timber were not large, but usually at least several hundred acres. All habitat was connected by stream, road, or both. Food plots consisted of winter mix, with several larger plots being solely in clover. Multiple chufa patches were planted every year. Supplemental feeding with wheat grain and milo was done every year in the chufa patches. Any hunter caught hunting on a chufa patch was to be immediately expelled from the club. If you saw a man’s truck at a gate, by no means were you to park next to him or near him. No rules were made on harvest, but state law was expected to be followed. We always adjusted hunting as a group to leave at least one gobbling turkey per flock on the club. Without exception, this club always had turkeys in a county that is not known for its turkey populations. I have stood on a hill in this club and heard as many as 13 turkeys in all directions, all of which were huntavle to some degree from the property. As time went on, it became too difficult to manage the burns. Control from hunter numbers and pressure could not be held as leadership of the lease changed hands, this causing pressure to increase. The chufa planters and supplemental feeders resigned their membership. It only took about 2 seasons for this club to resume normal (piss poor hunting) status as far as turkey population was concerned.
The other 2 clubs/leases that I have knowledge of their management practices that were very successful employed the same tactics as above, but with an additional emphasis on predator control. This predator control was unrelenting and more of mass control than strategic. The results were no less than outstanding, and the members of these leases had some highly coveted properties to hunt.
Given the fact that most of us do not have the luxury to control large acreages, we have to adjust our management practices to managing ourselves. I encourage each one of you to consciously think about why you love to hunt turkeys. Give some deeper consideration for tomorrow as you hunt. We are at a point in time now where our hunter numbers are high, and our turkey populations are declining. Many factors assist in the decline.
I will only say this to the limit debate:
As hunters we have a responsibility to do all that we can to avoid state interference. Be mindful of your kills. Be thoughtful of our game. There are places in the state of Alabama that could use a little break. You know if you are hunting one of those places. Sometimes we can manage ourself a little better to keep the state from having to manage us all. You can do this and still chase your limit by moving along to a different area in the state if you know your area’s population had a bad hatch two years ago or is suffering from hard times brought on by disease or some other reason. Overarching statewide or regional changes are much less effective than us hunters controlling the situation ourselves to preserve the resource we have been blessed with.