This is actually a pretty big conundrum…….If what I’m looking at is true…..and it soooo appears to be……then eagles are currently the main limiting factor for a big portion of the state……That means that if we are honest about that then folks are eventually gonna scratch their head and say “Well, is any of this stuff I’m doing really making a difference then??”…….and the honest answer will be…..”Well, its helping to draw in the local population to your land but as far as making more turkeys its all a matter of how many the eagles let live”
I don’t know……if you don’t hatch some out and raise some poults then there sure wont be any adults for the eagles to kill….but the reality of what that map is showing says that this is the best we can do in a lot of areas…..Its just like what the Wild Turkey Science Podcast on hen survival said……If something is killing the chit out of your adult birds then at some point it doesn’t matter if you have great nesting and brooding success……You’re being limited by adult survival rates…..This will be something tough to accept even for those most die hard turkey advocates who are genuinely looking for answers because accepting that as the culprit takes a lot of that wind out of the sails of this current movement to promote turkeys…….You almost want to just ignore the reality for the greater good but that would be undermining the integrity of the whole scientific process
