I’m one of the few on here that agrees with chamberlain on some stuff. I think the dominate birds that did most of the breeding have always been protected by Mother Nature. They always had hens with them so they were way harder to kill until late season when they too became expendable.
Fans and gobbler decoys have changed all that in a drastic way. I’ve used both so I’m not condemning anybody for doing it but I truly believe now that it really screws stuff up when you kill those dominant birds early season. I’ll not be guilty of doing it again. I’m not in favor of shortened seasons and limit reductions but I believe that if fans were outlawed and gobbler decoys were outlawed for at least the first half of the season that the numbers would come back.
Brent, I also agree with chamberlain on certain things. Like his prescribed fire studies for example. It's a popular thing to bitch about, but his research clearly shows burning is better for turkeys, than not burning. Even in nesting season.
I don't agree with his "dominant gobbler" ideas for a few reasons. 1. I never recall killing a "dominant bird" early in the season, where a new bird did not take up with that group of hens within a few days. 2. He's had ample opportunity to research this, and has avoided it. Or at least avoided exposing the results. 3. There are multiple states whose seasons, bag limits, and start dates fall right in line with is preaching. None of them are performing better than alabama.
With all that being said. At least your decoy/fan suggestion is logical. If you're goal is to save those henned up birds early in the season, that is the simplest way to do it, and would have far more impact than reducing a bag limit, or going to one gobbler for the first 109 days..
