Season Dates - I’m Jusf Gonna Say It

I dislike this May portion of the season. Just move the damn dates back to what they were for years and years. March 20-April 30!

Yessir...agreed

Wish Southern zone = 3/12 to 4/22 never happen - I would conseed several days to get it in earlier

Think we likely see some management changes from what hear from very close source - we see what else happens w rules

Yes Sir Anthony. This is a mess. We have morons in charge of the Dept now.

Absolutely garbage and I’ve been very vocal about it. What’s even more frustrating is Sykes is from Washington co and knows how bad it is at end of april down there yet still was all for it. I wish everyone of em would lose their jobs

Sykes grew up in Chocktaw county - but that not a ton of difference that Washington county

Sykes is from Choctaw county. The rest of your post I won't argue with.

I say let’s drag Sykes out of his office and revoke his hunting privileges for life. Screw him and screw the CAB. I should have started hunting on March 15 when they were actually gobbling.

Yeah that’s right…my bad! I knew he did some huntin in Washington co around my cousin…got it mixed up. Either way, he knows how bad it is. Carry on.

Yep he knows how bad it is late that is why he probably started hunting on 3/15 like most in those counties🤣

He certainly hunted opening day, and also the even earlier youth hunt for years after he had started saying that the season and limits needed to be changed. And he used to write a column that often sounded like bragging as he told about the double digit number of kills he had been in on that season. He didn't pull the trigger on many of them, but all the turkeys were still dead.

Why would he participate in hunting on March 8, and then be in on killing a dozen or more mature gobblers if he really believes that is harming the resource? My guess is that he wouldn't; he likely knows that all this dominant gobbler stuff is nonsense. I noticed he has quit writing that monthly column. I guess even he could see the hypocrisy involved in his actions.

If I had ever believed I was harming the turkey flock by hunting 3/15, I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't have needed the state to make the decision for me. And if I really believed that the season should start 4/1 as he has publicly said, then I wouldn't start hunting until then. Either he doesn't really believe what he is saying, or he doesn't mind harming the resource if it benefits him. I think either one of those are bad. With the position he has, he shouldn't start hunting until 4/1 and he should make that decision public.

I just fired this letter off to as many people in Wildlife Section as I could find emails for.

Dear Sir:
I am writing to express my extreme displeasure with the 2022 turkey season dates. The May portion of the season is a complete waste and ought not to be.
I was drawn for a hunt at Portland Landing this year, something I’d been looking forward to for years. The April 29-May 1 hunt on one of the premier pieces of property in the state was a complete dud because the turkeys were finished gobbling.
Fast forward to this weekend at my regular hunting spot near Grant in Marshall County. The hunting was a dud because the turkeys were finished gobbling.
For most of my adult life - for most of the time Alabama has had a season for that matter — it ran from March 20-April 30.
Please, please change the dates back to that. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It doesn’t have to open earlier or close later. Just give us back the traditional Alabama dates. I don’t care if the limit is 5, 4 or 3.
I just want to hunt turkeys when they’re vocal and doing their thing.
Thank you,
Anthony Campbell
Guntersville
256-302-1353

Let them eat cake

This

I saw a pic of Sykes & someone on their FB page today showing a fella who killed a bird... no doubt as a way to subtly day, "look, we killed a bird on last Sat of May". Too much politics involved to see through to the truth at this point.

Yep…..turkey hunting in May in Central AL blows. Sykes can lick my taint

Damn I didn't realize they changed the date . I see no reason to change it . When I hunted I killed 5 most years and never less than 3 .

It's bad that ever time they change some thing my first thought is , ,,,,,, OK what big money is behind it

Just my opinion but it seems they are trying to make hunting too hunter friendly and I don't think that's a good thing .

I don't mean to make people mad but making hunters happy over what's best for the wildlife aint what we'll need

I don’t think y’all are getting the big picture. The season change was not designed for hunter satisfaction. It was designed to allow less turkeys to be killed early with no loss to overall revenue. I haven’t checked the numbers in fake check but I’d say it probably accomplished what it was designed to do.

Which is easier to kill , a henned up Tom or a lonely one ?

Yeah but we know all of that dominant gobbler stuff that Sykes and Chamberlain try to shove down our throats is complete bullchit. Poor habitat management, increasing numbers of predators, and the timber industry do more damage to turkey numbers than hunters ever will.

A gobbling one. There’s no one size fits all in this. By the end of April turkeys around Montgomery are about done. Up in north Alabama I’m sure theres benefit to the may season. Season could probably start first of March around here.

A Jake can be hard to call in if he with hens - no I don’t shoot jakes - but Henned up is a kick in the nuts - lonely means he alone and looking = opportunity. I hav killed them with hens - killed one in TN w over 20 hens w a bow this year - but rather not hav to deal w henned up tom
Lonely = ideal - never found that this year

And they were killed just the same. Pre season hunters wins, honest hunter lost. And virtually zero enforcement to keep it from happening.

One that knows there are some hens out there that are ready for breeding but doesn’t know which one is ready yet.

Hell, I never cared if they gobbled or not . It was the , having one in my hands when I walked out.

I’m the same way buddy

I can live with the dates but quit taking days to hunt away from me. This 2 of 4 off the same wma and 1 the first 10 days are the laws that make mad.

If he dont ever gobble and u n woods and not huge open fields - he gonna be kind of hard to find - heck yea I care if he gobbles - 0 chance if he don’t if u can’t see him - gets like deer hunting and I only do that n deer season

I approve the message

i think they ought to start deer season on feb 10th thru march 30th. i mean we need to save the dominate bucks so all the does get bred. we know now thanks to chaberlin that a doe will not breed with a young buck. then start turkey season on april 1st thru may 15th so the hens will get bred. chamberlin will be so proud of my proposal.

And I’m just gonna say having season end on Mother’s Day is bull$hit too. They knew there would be very few people turkey hunting today. Just one final jab at the turkey hunter. I hope the CAB and Sykes are pleased with themselves

Arent they doing studies on the ability of different age group gobblers to be able to successfully breed and seeing if the clutch size is affected by the age/fertility of age group of gobblers? I thought I heard that and would like to see the data if anyone knows of such a study. That would certainly help justify or disprove the need for season date changes, but didnt the season used to start at the end of may for years and years anyway before they moved it up to the 15th, then added the youth weekend even earlier?

Ben the season started on March 20th and ran through April 25th for a very long time for many counties south. I believe counties further north ended April 30th. I do not know what the season dates were prior to those as they were before I started turkey hunting.

I guarantee that was never even a thought on their minds.

Another vote to change back, it,s hard to hunt the way the woods have shot up and heat and ticks in the last week.

Seems to me that they should get the evidence and then change the seasons based on that evidence. Instead, they changed the season and then looked for evidence to support it. They have already spent millions of dollars and 5 years on studies here in AL, looking for any evidence to support their theories, and found nothing they could use. They had to justify the changes on the "opinion of experts."

GA and AL both have been starting seasons later on several WMAs in the hopes that they could show higher poult production with a later season opener. But they found nothing. Zilch.

This isn't about science.

^^^^^^👍🏻👍🏻

I cast my pearls before swine on that ATH Alabama Turkey Hunters Facebook page. Some idiot responded about “grown me whining.”
My response was:

It ain’t whining. It’s saying we got a complete lack of leadership at the highest level in the Conservation Dept. You do realize March 20-April 30 served us well from the dark days when the state had hardly any turkeys, through the boom and into the current time? It’s the season framework we had for the longest.

And that WMA rule is an absolute travesty that only affects law-abiding hunters.

Ive posted on here a couple times about the Auburn project (primarily funded by AWF and TFT among others) that is ongoing to look at gobbler fertility. Hopefully MANY of the Aldeer members collected and submitted carcasses or testes to the project so that they can see how many, what proportion of and the timing of fertile gobblers in the harvested population
https://mossyoakgamekeeper.com/podcasts/?msclkid=706280e4cf3611ecb16b6c8e274a7cb4
listen to episode 90

It’s been like that in the southern 3rd of the state since April 1st, or before some years.

This was the first year I ran into hens with poults in the woods. What’s worse, killing a gobbler on 3/15 that probably has bread hens already and will likely be replaced by another? Or, separating a hen from 12+, day old poults that don’t stand a chance without her? It was an odd year all together as far as turkey behavior/gobbling, but it wasn’t for lack of birds. I had more birds than ever before across north Florida and south Alabama, public and private. 5/7 was last day I went and heard the most gobbles, at least a dozen different birds.

I am looking forward to seeing what they find out. That being said they determined collection sites and collection leaders well before the season, a person could not just randomly submit a harvested bird similar to CWD check.

When firing off emails it's probably best y'all don't complain about the hunting weather. Keep it focused on the turkeys and not how comfortable or not you are while walking in the woods. Last day of the season was 52 degrees in the morning.

I've seen them early and late . I've een hens together and it'd be a big differences in the poults.

I seen more turkeys in February than deer.

For last few years on this new place - they strut more in February and early March than any other time - then gobblers split up and lot of them leave area until next year starting second half March

Wouldnt it only make sense for turkeys to shift their breeding with long term warming and cooling trends so that they stay in synch with spring green-up????.......I'm talking LONG term climate trends....like the one that shows us increasing 2 degrees over the last 50 years or what have you

I haven't heard a gobble in 3 weeks.

If the “focus” was on turkey - and someone actually believed the dominant gobbler theory - then a single season date structure proves it’s an agenda - and not about the species. If you want something for the benefit of the turkey in that regard - the southern 3rd of the state and the northern 3rd of the state would have a 3 week difference in opening days/season structure.

So, who really cares about the birds here? See - they show their hand in that regard. Politics. Agendas.

I heard as much gobbling and had more good hunts last week as compared to the first ten days of the season. Can't get any more middle of the state than where I hunt. Even had 2 strutters henned up with 3 in a field Mother's Day morning. Season dates seem fine to me.

Can you imagine the bitching here if Wilcox County got to start a week before Dallas, or Dallas Co got a week later that Wilcox didn't get? not to mention the enforcement nightmares?

This one gobbled a few minutes ago, Abbeville

He was looking right at the truck too

What enforcement nightmares? Still gonna be a season limit, I’m guessing. And this year, public land inside counties with private land - had different season dates - they don’t care about enforcement in that regard. Non issue.

Hey Chuckie. I always wondered what screen name you used on here!

Dominant gobbler Theory

OK I've seen this a couple times on here .

What are yall talking about ?

A Dr Chamberlain of Georgia had espoused the theory that if the dominant gobbler gets killed early in the season, it retards the breeding cycle in the flock and is detrimental to the population. I disagree based on my personal experience.

Frankie. I guess that there is ONE dominant bird, and if he is killed the hens will not get bred because he is the only Gobbler they will breed with.

And that if decoys are used this dominant bird is like a Kamikaze Japanese suicide pilot and will leave his bevy of actual live hens to run up and beat up that PLASTIC gobbler or a jake decoy, therefore making it so no hens are bred the rest of the year.

So to allow the "only bird" that breeds the hens to breed we knock the season back until March 26th and no decoys for 10 days after that.

A perfect example of a moron who has to try to justify his position coming up with a "Theory" on a "paper" to justify his position and then some morons in Fish and Game departments actually using it to change their season.

Biggest crock of manure ever peddled in my opinion. Flys in the face of all previous "Theories" and all personal observations of 50 years of hunting turkeys for me. In my experience there is one dominant gobbler until another comes in a whups that arse and takes those hens. I guess at that point the original dominant gobbler must become sterile

Yea he espoused this theory because every other theory in hunting has been studied, written on and published in hunting magazines like Turkey and Turkey Hunting and Turkey Call and Outdoor Life for the past 50 years ad nauseum and he had to try to come up with a "New spin" and some new idea that hasnt been discussed yearly in every turkey hunting publication.

That is my "Theory" on his idiotic "Theory" only mine is more based on more "facts" than his.

.

Yeah ,,,,, I'd say that's bullshitt too

Strange that we are seeing so many early poults this year. Maybe it’s because the dominant gobbler had 10 extra days to do his job.

Not when they are running around mid April, but I get the angle. You and I probably disagree about DGB exactly. But we probably agree on the need for zones. Like I stated previously - DGB believers should be advocating zones to prove the theory. The 3 states most affected, IMO, by geography and green up, are GA, AL, and MS. Those 3 southern states cannot have a single season structure. It’s counter to the theory on its face.

come on now 24/7. Dont be trying to bring logic into a turkey hunting conversation and especially dont try to bring logic into anything that chuckie, the cab and their minions do.

Make decoys illegal all season like it use to be.That will save a ton of those Toms with a dozen hens in a hayfield that use to be almost impossible to kill til the end of the season. The WMA laws are just sorry for a resident hunter that tries to stay within the law.

I haven’t read this whole thread so someone else may have said it. Moving days off the beginning and adding them to the end was done for one reason and one reason only….. to reduce the overall harvest in the state. They had two options, reduce the limit, or do what they did. They chose the latter because it would receive the least reaction from the hunters.

And tss shot . Lol

I am sorry but if you guys think decoys are the problem I have to laugh. They use them all over the country. And have no problem.

Around here they see them, they turn and head the other way. I dont use them myself. I think I used them twice this year. And when a henned up dominant gobbler saw them in a big pasture he turned and walked back into the swamp. Same experience my neighbors have had.

The second time I used them same thing and I had to run out and grab them and stuff them back into my vest. Yeah...Dominant gobblers just leave a bunch of hens and run into them. And risk losing all their hens? That is just silly.

The problem is ONLY LEGAL HUNTERS did not hunt March 20th. Heck we were chasing trespassing poachers here on March darn 2nd and Yall think decoys are the problem?

The problem in Alabama is POACHERS, out of season hunting, as in March 1st or when deer season ends and the ENDLESS amount of bait in the Alabama woods.

Sorry to tell you, but I am not from Bama and but have lived here 21 years. This is the most bait slinging state I have ever seen when and where bait is illegal. And I have hunted all over this country. Sorry but it is the truth. I know people doing burns and they say the woods is littered with bait. They hunted on me. I told them finnd some bait Ill sign you over my darn truck title. And it is a nice truck!

It is ridiculous. If you had a bunch of gobblers until you pulled your feeders and stopped feeding 20 days before the season, than lost them all...well yall know why.

I know why and hunt accordingly. My neighbors pour it to them and I hunt 35 yards from their line and pull the birds across or if they roosted on me headed to their piles I'm between them. And I own a ton of land. Why dont I hunt the rest. The turkeys are no longer there. They are concentrated around the neighbors bait. I am sorry but it is true.

Do I know the bait is there? No..I dont trespass. But when I see folks driving around at noon in a side by side with a big darn blue barrel in the back of their UTV or four red and white bags labeled WILD BIRD SEED I can put two and two together.

All my first three gobblers came from hunting different property lines of my neighbors as once we pulled our feeders all the gobblers were gobbling from 4 spots. All where I suspect neighbors feed.

If Fish and Game REALLY wanted to make a dam difference, instead of WASTING millions of tax payers dollars on stupid theories and study they would instead hire 20 new wardens and address the poaching, baiting and out of season hunting problems. That is what is actually killing Alabamas turkeys. And they do not even have close enough Wardens to address it. They are all over worked and under paid.

One ex F and G employee I know told me someone was telling him how he and one friend shot 17 gobblers while sitting together! And Yall think a decoy is the problem? SMDH!

The people with No limits, no seasons and no dam scruples are the problem. Stop the nonsense about decoys or dominant gobblers and try addressing reality.

Sorry rant and REALITY CHECK over.

Frankie! You should know better. Some of these guys like that TSS.

You can only outlaw things the same guys dont like. Kind of like dems up in here sometimes isnt it with their picking and choosing of what to outlaw. Only things they DONT like or use though.

I’ve always said alabama needs a minimum of 2 but preferably 3 zones for turkeys. It’s a heckuva long way latitude wise and springtime wise from the gulf coast to the Cumberland plateau. I’ve been on youth hunts when it was 17 degrees, hunted in sleet and heavy snow before on March 15. It’s different up here and I’ve always said our turkey season should mimic the Tennesse season.
Heck back in my younger days before the statute of limitations ran out some of the best Alabama turkey hunts I’ve ever witnessed took place in the first 10 days of May.
Here’s the difference in Alabama and the yankee states………. Them people don’t care about turkeys. They got a 3 week season that starts late and they sit in their tent and kill their 2 gobblers over a decoy the first 2 times they go and spend the rest of the year ice fishing and talking about how stupid turkeys are.
Alabama is special because before decoys and fans we had to do it the right way. It’s not easy to kill 5 turkeys the right way so we had long liberal seasons. Now in the decoy and fan era; Lonnie Sixpack can sit in his tent and kill 3 or 4 then ride the roads with a fan and kill half a dozen more. This has gone on for a few years and now we don’t have turkeys anymore.
So we either have to get rid of fans and decoys or go to a 3 week 2 bird season like the Yankees do if we are ever gonna get our turkeys back.
It’s just that simple. I’m like 10 Bears from Josey Wales. There is iron in my words. I’m speaking the truth. If somebody don’t like me for telling the truth I don’t care because if you gotta have a fan or a gobbler decoy or a cell camera to kill a turkey I wouldn’t hunt with you for a thousand dollars in cash anyway. Ridgestalker is one of the best turkey hunters on this planet. He’s telling you the same thing. Listen to him Montgomery. Get rid of the decoys and we get our turkeys back. It’s that simple.

The impact of decoys appears pretty blatant when looking at the harvest numbers for the year's surrounding their legalization ...

LOL is all Im saying

So Brent..youre saying youve never fanned one ? Or hunted with people and done it? Never used a decoy? Just asking....

To be honest I might have fanned just a few in my life, but most of the times it didnt work. But heck yea Ive tried. Shot two or three too. Told the story here as well. Posted the pics too. Under a different name though.

And Ive run decoys before but not worth the hassle IMO though I have friends that swear by them.

Mine were free and twenty year old buck wings. Back then I thought they were something until I saw my buddies AvainX. Thing looked great. He stuck it out there about a week ago and we didnt see a dam bird though.Heck..we were even in a dam tent blind. Wew were waiting for a kamikaze domint bird. Guess there were none around dang it!

And I hunted all over the North..from Maine, NH, VT, Ma. NY , PA, Ohio, Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois... and too be honest never saw so many tents set up until I hunted Bama. Every dang food plot on every club Ive ever joined.. Look out in front of them and a pile of seed is somewhere in that food plot too. Truth.

But the simple fact is bait, blinds, folks starting March 1st, stop and dropping other folks land while freaking when it happens to them... over looking them and outlaws are indeed the biggest problem in Alabama and until folks decide to address that yall just pissing in the wind.

Anyone thinking it is decoys or Dominant gobblers really need to look a little further. And maybe into the mirror.

I bet they like them 6.5 gaymoores too lol

What is Dr Chamberlain theory on satellite gobblers breeding hens

Hell theyll use em on turkeys too but never say a thing...Got em with their 410s and their TSS! After fanning them too no freaking doubt. Telling like it is!

Turkeys will drive you to do crazy things .

Nah, not me but some folks surely. Make them think THEIR way of hunting is the only way. and lets outlaw all others. Silly isnt it? Dam, Imagine that.

Lol yeah they will . I was told one time on friday if I didn't show up for work on a Saturday not to come back Monday . End of the day I loaded up my tools boxes on my truck .

Lord willing if I make it to 70 plus years old I hope I don’t talk and like I’m 15.

I think that is a good theory on his theory.

In any academic discipline, the only way to make a name for yourself is to come up with something new. It doesn't matter a whole lot whether it's true or not; it just needs to be something different enough to get your colleagues to talk about it, and if you are lucky enough, let it filter down to the public. I couldn't have named very many turkey biologists before Chamberlain came along, but now most turkey hunters know who he is. His career really took off when he started using social media to promote his ideas, and a certain segment believed everything he says.

Bible scholars very much know how to use the idea of something new to make themselves famous and leverage that to a better job. There's not much about the Bible that hasn't been studied endlessly, so it's a challenge to come up with something new, but some of them manage to do it. Those biblical theories don't have much affect on the rest of us. Unfortunately, the turkey theories do.

The most humane way of killing them is with #9 tss at 30 steps

That's because the season opened during the lull...

I just bumped up the news from last year. Looks like 5/18 they posted for the next Spring

I called in 33 longbeards from 3/25 to 4/20....Butler, crenshaw, dale, henry, barbour, decatur/morgan counties.. I didn't get to hunt again until 4/26. From 4/26 to 5/8 I didn't hear a single turkey gobble in the S/SE part of the state. none of these properties had extreme numbers of turkeys killed off of them and I know for a fact I still have 20+ gobblers running around that were huntable. i watched multiple " Dominant birds" die that were replaced within a couple of days by the next the dominant gobbler stuff is garbage and the season dates aren't saving any turkeys...

I’m tired of debating all of the turkey decline theories, but this made reading the thread worthwhile.

Thank you.

Wow 33 longbeards in 26 days that’s some fine huntin there.👍🏻