I had that happen several years ago. I backed up to call, thinking he knew. He didn't. And it was the last day of the season.

As someone a bit "in the know" on this, I can assure you the proposed change WAS NOT in anyway tied to the dominant gobbler theory.

MDWFP was tasked by their commission to look at the turkey season structure. This was spurred by a lot of the public comments the agency had been receiving in regards to turkey populations. MDWFP and Mississippi State University currently have a very thorough collaborative turkey research project going on that looks at changing season opening dates, bag limits, etc. Preliminary findings suggest those variables have VERY LITTLE effect on turkey populations. The biggest variable on population stabilization or growth? HEN SURVIVAL! That is one reason the elimination of the fall season was proposed (and passed).

The suggested new opening date would have only been a loss of 2-8 days of hunting. (Opening day would have been between March 17-23). MDWFP did not expect the opening date to help increase turkey populations, as the MSU/MDWFP research suggests it won't. But the turkey hunters of MS were looking for something, so reverting to the old season framework (opening day being the Saturday closest to March 20) is what was proposed. This same framework was in place for quite a long time during Mississippi's hayday. There is a study out there showing increased hunter success rates with the old framework vs the new one (March 15 opener). I'm sure that can be attributed to better gobbling and more receptive gobblers with the slight delay. MDWFP's suggestion to slightly delay the season was coming from a hunter satisfaction/hunting quality standpoint.

In summary: MDWFP put forth a proposal (as tasked) to try and appease their hunters. The season structure part of the proposal failed to pass. Status quo will be maintained (March 15 opener). Mandatory physical tagging PASSED.

lol, definitely politically appointed!

!

And it will be even harder to draw next year with social media and YouTube pimping out travel turkey hunting.

In 2022, all non-residents who applied draw.
For 2023, draw odds tanked.
And i expect them to further drop for 2024.



MDWFP's commission also mentioned extending the NR open public lands draw thru March 31 to bring MS in line with other states on public land openers (i.e. April 1 pub land opener in Bama.)

That's great info! Thanks for sharing it.

Since you are in the know, can you tell the dumbasses in Mississippi that they don’t have to start on March 15 if they have more satisfaction with a later start? Just stay at home until the time is right on the property they hunt. Also tell them if they don’t have many turkeys, they don’t have to shoot them.

So, why did Mississippi basically kill OOS hunting on public land the first two weeks of the season on public land...? The fact that they can do that on National Forest land which is owned by all of us really puzzles me.

I haven't hunted the Mississippi NF land close to me the last couple of years but have hunted it since the early 90's. At least back then the pressure seemed to be limited to the first couple of weeks and then boom everyone disappeared. It was due to increased pressure in the early season I would guess. Everyone I know that still hunts that NF I'm referring to says the pressure is still as bad and even worse now later in the season. Is it all OOS hunters..? No it's an increase of hunters both in state and out.

What is being accomplished..?
Thought...?

"But if I don't my neighbor will!" Which is true.

Mississippi first addressed the issue of non-resident crowding by implementing WMA draw hunts the first 2 weeks of the season on certain WMAs back in the 2000s. Turkey hunters who hunted these WMAs were surveyed, and a limited quota hunt system was preferred. Both turkey hunters and the agency deemed it a success.

Fastforward over a decade. YouTube and social media regarding traveling turkey begins taking off circa 2018. As much time as I personally spend on turkey forums and traveling across the country turkey hunting, I saw what was happening/about to happen. An explosion in non-resident turkey hunting like we've never seen before. And my predictions were correct. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of non-resident turkey license sales DOUBLED for Mississippi. And the majority of these non-residents are hunting public land. For years, residents of MS had voiced their concerns about the NR pressure on public lands. Well now, there was sufficient data to back it up. Thus came the non-resident open public lands draw implemented in 2022. For 2022, every non-resident who applied was awarded the public lands endorsement. For 2023, ~70% of non-residents won an endorsement due to the increase in applicants. My predications are 2024 will have even more applicants, further reducing draw odds.

As far as the NR draw helping....Reports are definitely on the positive side for the NR draw. It seems to have helped in some regions more than others. But KP, you are 100% correct in that there has been a big increase in resident pressure as well. There are just simply more turkey hunters than ever before.

Restricting hunting use of federal lands is nothing new. It has been going on out west for DECADES. It is just new to us who live east of the Mississippi. Non-residents just can't go elk hunt out west on federal lands. Now days, the only state that truly has over-the-counter elk tags available is Colorado. Non-resident elk hunters have been losing opportunity year by year. And most recently, so have turkey hunters. States manage the hunting of the game within their boundaries (with some migratory bird exclusions). States owe it to their residents to give them preference when it comes to hunting. Turkey hunting is basically following the route of western big game hunting.

We will continue to see further reductions in non-resident turkey hunting opportunity. Nebraska recently implemented a NR quota. KS just approved a NR quota. There have been talks in other states east of the Mississippi about implementing NR restrictions.

It truly does sadden me knowing my future kids will never get to experience non-resident turkey hunting opportunities all across the nation like I have. I can't imagine the restrictions we will be seeing in another couple decades.

I wonder if the future thought of reduced opportunity is pushing a rush to grand slam or state slam sooner than later. Is that also a factor in increased OOS hunters.

Thanks for your reply deerhunt88.

Its D.) = all of the above. Social Media/YouTube has shown the opportunities available to the masses, so the masses are taking advantage of it. With technological innovations such as OnX/HuntStand/GAIA phone apps, it makes it easier than ever to hunt out of state. The Grand Slam craze has always been there. But this new US Super Slam is pretty new. However a TON of people have been convinced to pursue it. This non-resident influx is to all states. I have a a bunch of data i've gathered through state agencies and information requests and its pretty mind boggling.




Anytime. You know I'm always open for discussion and I'm going to shoot it straight!

I’ll be interested to see the state of turkey hunting in the next 5-7 years. It’s not looking good for the traveling turkey hunter. Loose lips sink ships.

How will Mississippi's mandatory tagging work? Is the state issuing tags, or does the hunter have to put his/her own on the bird? Or has that been worked out yet?

It's not difficult to make your own tag, put any required info on it, and affix it. Ohio DNR requires this for deer (and maybe turkeys) in lieu of spending $$ on tags it issues. It's easy to do. And if you don't have a tag on your deer, the GWs don't mess around.

It hasn't been completely worked out yet, but the goal is to have a physical tag printed off by license vendor. So when someone goes and buys their Sportsman's License or a non-resident buys their turkey permit, they will be issued 3 physical tags. If they buy license online, tags will be mailed. A digital option will also hopefully be available, through the MDWFP phone app. If caught hunting without physical tags or digital tags in your possession, it should be a ticket. If caught with a dead turkey without the physical tag attached or a digitall tag notched that day, ticket.