Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs The Turkey Numbers '26

I would think that grouped up flocks of hens in open fields in the winter would be easy targets for an eagle……There’s probably not much of an easier and more efficient food source for them to utilize…….I wonder how many eagles are actually in Alabama now during the winter months?? It wouldn’t take too terribly many across a single county if they were hammering adult turkeys as a food source to have an impact……

I really think that’s what we’re looking at on those recent maps…..If we go back to 2021-22 where the whole state was really down, we had some other variable like a wet spring that was the limiting factor on everyone for a couple years….Wet springs result in wet nesting hens and better scenting conditions for yotes as well more chances for poults to die of hypothermia, etc…..When that variable swung back to dry then it removed that constraint off of some counties and allowed the turkey population to grow…..Other counties though had the limiting factor of eagles kick in and that’s why our maps change the way they do…..These counties need a dry spring PLUS some other factor to line up that gets the eagle pressure off for them to see a growth year……That’s the theory anyways. The 2023 year where southeast Alabama had a great year should have been that year where both things lined up.....Maybe the eagles didnt make it down here that year and the cycle started over with them returning the next.....