Brilliant idea for down turkey population

I killed a hen with a 9 1/4 beard last year and I have one around this year with about a 8 inch beard and u can bet if she gets within range of my wife she will make some excellent table fare...... plus bobcats and coons are really the only predators to worry about, youth season I watched a gobbler chase a yote all over the field and out of site, then the gobbler returned

 

Sure, but life's pretty short and we only get so many hunting seasons before we're too old to get out there and enjoy it. I'd hate to give up three years of hunting so that eventually there would be an abundance of big, unpressured bucks.

 

If we really wanted to help the turkey population we should open up Coyote hunting with a rifle at night. I think they're harder on them than anything. But like I always say, I'm not a biologist and I trust F&W to be better at management than I am.

 

I ageee populations are down..at least in my area. This is going by sightings or lack thereof. Not by what i hear gobbling in a particular place.

I dont agree that the fall season..or shooting jakes and bearded hens is whats causing this decline. I think there are multipile reasons..which i stated in another thread on this topic.

I beleive if WE the hunters want to make a difference...start trapping..coyotes..bobcats..nest predators for sure. I myself am guilty 100% for not doing my part on that..but sitting back and complaining about the population. I am going to try and remedy that by learning to trap. That is the one thing that we can do to help.

We cant control the weather..we cant control how the hatch does..cant control disease..cant control what the neighbors do on their land..but we can make an effort to trap more critters that are out to get the turkeys.

 

I agree on the trapping. We are going to try an work on the coons an coyotes this winter. Already got the snares an going to get some dog proof traps an be ready for fall.

 

Because they dont have racks or beards to measure. Sad but true. An you cant eat them so most people aint gonna get out of a nice warm bed in the winter or hot summer just to go kill a yote like they would a deer or turkey.
As far as bag limits and season dates i dont feel like the kdfw is gonna do jack untill it gets alot worse then it already is. Too much money involved. An the ones that go out a few days in the spring and hear some gobblers gobbling and maybe even kill a bird or two are gonna swear that the numbers are just fine. Just beecause they heard old tom turkey hammer one morning and they may or may not have killed one. When reality is they dont have a clue about the over all numbers. They just know that there 200 acre farm in bfe had a few birds on it snd they killed so the numbers are fine.
I killed birds last 2 years too. But that doesnt mean jack in the big picture.

 

Well i was out this morning and never have heard as many birds firing off as I did this morning. There’s turkeys everywhere seems to me. I cant wait til morning cause I get to hunt all day and I know where two sacks full of bearded critters are hanging out

 

I try to do my part.

 

As far as bag limits and season dates ky isnt gonna do something about anything untill it gets alot worse then it already is.

Your right hitch. Take these decoys out of play and hunting blinds and lets just see who has tags left at the end of the season. Some people would be crying the blues then. Haha they would swear birds have vanished off the face of the earth.

 

Every one seems to forget about how easy our telecheck system is to beat. An how little some people care about conservation. I would be willing to bet whatever number is recorded every year in the total haverst catagory you can multiple that by atleast 2 or maybe even 3 in some counties. If they cared it would be alot harder to beat the system and fines and penalties would be alot stiffer.

 

I try to do my part

 

Turkey numbers seem to be pretty consistent on our place, and in my part of the state in general, as far as I can tell.
We typically hear about a half-dozen birds gobbling each year, and it seems like I see birds in the same fields from year to year when I drive around this area.
This is E-town and southern Hardin County that I'm talking about.

 

Hell let's take shotguns and camo while we're at it. I love guys that think they're the only man walking that knows how to hunt. Get over yourself.

 

Coons are the easiest critters to trap. get some dog proofs and marshmallows and set them wherever you see coon sign. that would probably help nest survival.