Pawpaw, it is on the website now you old cranky cuss 😀

So are the dates in this unofficial book right or not?

I have read a lot of the research about the season timing. Basically using averages for hen nest start dates they have determined most of the Gobblers were being killed before the breeding season had finished and hens started their nest. And yes everyone knows one Gobbler can breed multiple hens, but hunting pressure during the breeding season and fewer Gobblers to do the breeding can leave hens unbred. As for as Lovett Williams...I have read everyone of his books and don’t recall him saying a later season would be detrimental. The “theory” that hens will abandon nests if disturbed is redicoulous I’ve flushed hens from their nest and the next day they were right back on them. There is a difference in repeatedly spooking a hen off the first 3 or 4 eggs and flushing one after incubation begins. Once they have a full clutch and have started the incubation they will return they have too much invested. If they get flushed several times off the first few eggs they will usually abandon that partial nest because it is obviously in a poor location, they will try again in another spot. How many of those complaining about the season change regularly kill a 5 Gobbler limit? And of those how many kill all 5 in the first two weeks? If you are one of the majority that never kills 5 and usually 2or 3 in a good year, you probably have been hunting them in the later part of the season anyway and a week or two either way will not make a difference. I will not go into details but anyone that hunts everyday of the season, which I have done for years, will already know about the peaks of gobbling activity, the Gobbling Lull and the difference in Gobbler behavior before during and after the breeding season. If you are a part timer that has been hunting turkeys for 30 years but only have maybe 5 seasons total worth of days in the woods I can see why you would think a week or two will ruin your season.
Would everyone prefer they do nothing and let the turkeys slide off into oblivion. If you have real documented researched facts of why this won’t work and what your research has proven to be better, let’s hear it otherwise you’ll have to adapt your hunting tactics. Missing the early season will affect the strutter decoy crowd the most because the pecking order will be established before the season opens and the fighting will be mostly over. The chufa patch “hunters” will probably not notice a difference as turkeys will still be eating, but then again chufa patch sitters don’t notice much anyway sitting in a tent all day staring at a bait field. As for those that made the remarks about season dates only being a suggestion you have proven you don’t care about what’s best for the Wild Turkey you just want to say you killed one.....sad.

Welcome to the forum Chuckie

If you have real documented researched facts of why this won’t work and what your research has proven to be better, let’s hear it otherwise you’ll have to adapt .

The better question is, do you.....or “they”, have real documented facts of why it will work. Please provide them. I’m talking a real solid connection in higher poult production from “X” number of hens where hunting was delayed. Better yet, name a state who has already pushed back and shortened their season, and can prove turkey numbers are on the way up, not down.

Why is it crazy that the hunting public, the hardcore guys who buy stuff and pay the bills of conservation and research, to ask for facts before making change?

And lastly, if I hunted North AL like I once did regularly, it wouldn’t be as bad. But where I live and hunt currently, the absolute best hunting and gobbling activity is about M10-M20. And that’s a fact.

The research on why the states are trying this are easy to find. No state has pushed the season forward for long enough to have data on the population effect. There is plenty of data showing the kill figures were highest in the early part of the season before nest initiation. La is one state I hunt that has moved the season. Even with their reporting system problems it was clear the move dropped the Gobbler harvest with the later opening. Even though everyone doesn’t call in a kill it is reasonable to assume the same percentage that followed the law before the season move would continue to call in kills, that number has dropped. That is proof that more Gobblers survived until the main breeding was complete that is a fact. More Gobblers per hen left to breed would mean more hens successfully bred. Your trying to compare your guess at what to do with a mathematical fact. It is a fact moving the season DID NOT hurt the population. In what way could more Gobblers surviving the season be a bad thing. You cannot move the opening date for one season and expect a miracle. It took a long time to get to this decline it will take a few seasons to see any effect good bad or indifferent. I have not heard a comment from anyone that regularly kills a limit in either Alabama or La or any other state that plans to move the season. It’s clear the ones most upset with season changes cannot kill a limit no matter what the calendar says and have gotten themselves into a hunting strategy that requires very specific conditions for them to have any chance of success. Most are chained to the first Gobbling peak that happens before breeding starts they find one maybe two satellite Gobblers that operate on the outskirts of the flock they kill them and are completely hopeless when the Gobblers get there harems together. Most lose all motivation when the Gobbling lull starts most don’t even know that it exists or what happens afterwards. You have to adapt your hunting to the condition. One of the guarantees of the season move is ALOT of the part timer, strutter/fanning clan will give up. Regardless if the population increases or not decreasing the hoards of wannabes will make a difference in the overall hunting experience, that is a cold hard fact. If you hunt private land and sit over bait( I mean food plots) you won’t notice a difference and you could probably get away with hunting the old season dates and get away with it. But for all the public land hero’s you’ll either adapt,quit or spend some money on fines and or lawyers when your caught poaching.

The research on why the states are trying this are easy to find. No state has pushed the season forward for long enough to have data on the population effect. There is plenty of data showing the kill figures were highest in the early part of the season before nest initiation.

That is proof that more Gobblers survived until the main breeding was complete that is a fact. More Gobblers per hen left to breed would mean more hens successfully bred. Your trying to compare your guess at what to do with a mathematical fact. It is a fact moving the season DID NOT hurt the population. In what way could more Gobblers surviving the season be a bad thing.

PROOF!! There is no proof. Wake up! Plenty of us have read some recent research. Nothing I have read can provide a clear link to a gobbler survival theory and actual number of poults walking around. It sounds great. It even sounds halfway logical if your grasping for something. But research shouldn’t make assumptions, plain and simple.

Which state has moved the season forward for the 3 years you said it would take?

Surely this whole thing is a huge conspiracy to keep you and everyone else from killing a turkey in early March. Now the question is why. What is the state of Alabama and several other southeastern states motive for keeping you from hunting turkeys in March? What is their end game who stands to gain from this horrible crime committed on you and the other brethren?

Surley a genus