Killing gobblers in the Spring doesn’t do anything to the population of turkeys, so allowing all that stuff shouldn’t matter.

Brad, it’s hard to tell when you’re being sarcastic or not, but that’s what we’ve heard over the years. I’m not so sure the population as a whole is down, but gobbling turkeys sure are and has been for several years. I’m guessing you’ve experienced it also to some degree if you hunted in the early 2000’s and before. It sure does line up with decoys, fanning, and the craze of posting turkey pics and videos. I’ll admit, I’m taking a stab at it being that (I know there are many other things to go along with it), but that’s the simplest thing to control. Not everybody has time to trap. Nobody can convince the timber companies to manage more for quail/turkey habitat than growing those golden pine trees. People that can kill in the double digits every year will still do it, even if they drop to one a year. The only way I see to take a large number of turkeys out of the “dead population” is to do away with fanning and decoys. It’ll create a better experience for the people that truly care about turkeys. Maybe that’s selfish. I don’t know. But when people like gobbler who spend their life managing, studying, and hunting turkeys speaks, I think we should all consider what they’re saying as something to listen to. It’s not the state trying to fulfill an agenda. It’s somebody that gives a crap about the resource.

Killing gobblers in the Spring doesn’t do anything to the population of turkeys, so allowing all that stuff shouldn’t matter.

I’m been saying this for years and everybody thought it was funny. Now THEY think it’s a problem, so we need to dictate how others should hunt. Folks can miss me with their crap now.

I’m been saying this for years and everybody thought it was funny. Now THEY think it’s a problem, so we need to dictate how others should hunt. Folks can miss me with their crap now.

Killing gobblers in the Spring doesn’t do anything to the population of turkeys, so allowing all that stuff shouldn’t matter.

I've been blessed to hunt the same tract of land every year for over 50 years and all of my experience says this is true. And it used to be what the state dcnr said was true, and I've never seen any evidence that proves that it isn't true. As I have said many times - forget about proving that hunting too early in the year reduces poult production. How about first of all finding evidence that spring gobbler hunting reduces poult production, period. I've never seen that evidence, and I don't believe that any exists. If they had it, we would be bombarded with it.

If spring gobbler hunting reduces poult production, it should be easy to prove that that areas with no hunting have much higher poult production rates. There are lots of such places. I asked Dr. Chamberlain on Twitter a couple of years ago how much higher the recruitment rate was on unhunted land, and he had no answer. He said he was starting a study on a military base, but I haven't heard any more about those results than I have of the years of study that he already has on the WMAs in GA that have a later start.

If you don't have as many turkeys as you used to have, it's not due to decoys, TSS, poachers, or any of the other things regarding hunting that we constantly hear about. It is entirely due to changes in the habitat. And the habitat is changed daily by a whole lot of factors - timber practices, farming practices, chicken litter, weather, and predator populations cover most of it, but there are probably others. I think y'all are starting to think exactly the way the state wants you to think when you talk about hunting methods ruining turkey flocks. If your neighbor kills a turkey using a decoy, that takes away the opportunity you might have had to call him up later, but I think it's very unlikely that is going to result in fewer poults in June.

Gobbler started this thread with an "If" the department wants to reduce the harvest. I understand that, but I don't think that should be the goal. I suppose their rationale is that they want to spread the harvest out among more hunters, thus keeping more people interested and selling more hunting licenses. There is no money for them in letting one man kill 5 turkeys. This is the force that is driving everything.

My observation is that turkey populations are as high, or maybe even higher, in areas with good habitat than they have ever been. One area that I hunt was devoid of turkeys this spring, and I think that was entirely due to the timber practices.

. It is entirely due to changes in the habitat.

My observation is that turkey populations are as high, or maybe even higher, in areas with good habitat than they have ever been. One area that I hunt was devoid of turkeys this spring, and I think that was entirely due to the timber practices.

Question PCP.......If there weren't any predators then would prime habitat matter??

That's an impossibility, and I don't know the answer. There have always been predators. Even back in the Indian days there were plenty of predators, probably a lot more than now. But those burned woods produced that native grass that you like and gave the hens and poults a place to hide. Still, I don't doubt that most of the eggs and most of the poults were eaten by predators. That's the way it's always been and always will be.

I don't know how the eggheads classify it, but I count predators as part of the habitat. And I think it's great to remove as many as you can. I still think providing the hens and poults a place to hide is more important than the number of predators, but I could be wrong. No reason to not do both.

You’ve also been saying for years that the state should allow a person to kill their season quota of 5 gobblers all in the same day.

Decoys and fans—take it or leave it as far as I’m concerned. I don’t use either. Personal preference. I was taught how to hunt without them and have been doing fine for a few decades that way. I can understand someone with a physical handicap wanting to use decoys because they can’t walk and are not able to have numerous setups on a gobbler if that’s what it takes. On the flip side for someone that is physically able then I don’t think decoys or fans should be used. Once again—personal preference. If you’re really serious about turkey population in Alabama then why not stop turkey hunting at 12 or 1 o’clock everyday? Odds are if you find a gobbling bird at 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon you have a dang good chance of shooting him in the face. No it doesn’t always work like that and I don’t know if there’s enough gobblers killed in the afternoon to make a difference here. A lot better odds than earlier in the morning anyway. I can’t count how many times I’ve got on a gobbler first thing in the morning and things not work out but go back later in the day and end up carrying him home with me. If you end turkey hunting at such and such time everyday your chances of bumping a hen off her nest decrease as well. Maybe that would help here, maybe it wouldn’t. Just another suggestion. I do know several states I’ve hunted turkeys in that you can’t hunt them all day has some pretty good turkey numbers. And yes I totally agree ants, predators, and timber management are huge problems too. There are numerous ways to help the turkey population here, but until there’s someone that has the authority to do so and actually cares about the turkey population here it doesn’t mean anything.

why don't we outlaw calls too ?