#1. Timber management practices
#2. More turkey hunters than ever before.
#3. Predators. Eagles. Coyote population at an all time high and what few coons hunters there are now don't kill the coons. Everyone used to coons hunt and every kid had a few traps.
#4. Disease. Chicken house litter untreated and spread as fertilizer is a death sentence.
My 2 cents worth!
I agree with 2 and 3. While there is evidence that laying house litter may contribute to the spread of blackhead disease it is believed that broiler farms litter doesn’t affect them. As for 1, I have a friend who has a lease that is the worst managed piece of land I’ve ever been on. 90% planted pines, once thinned never burned and it’s overrun with birds. This property is the nastiest piece of property in Henry County and the one time I hunted it this year I had 6 birds hammering at daylight and killed one at 0930.
