I agree that there should be less turkey hunters...

I have killed plenty of turkeys in my 34 yrs of hunting them, killing five of them doesnt do me any good. I am tickled too death to kill one a yr, which i have managed to do so going back 8 yrs or so. I will kill one on our place and then 1 on the place i hunt in Louisiana. After i kill one in AL, i just bring a buddy to try and get them one. Usually, once that 2nd turkey dies in AL, i quit bringing a gun. That self imposed 2 bird limit off our land has really helped the turkey population in the last 10 yrs. We have several different groups on the 675 acres i hunt now, i am confident i could kill 3 a yr on that place and 5 if i hunted it hard. This is just my opnion, but i think 3 would be a good number. The guys that kill 5 every yr pretty much do it for bragging rights anyway. That is just my opnion, 5 turkeys is ALOT for one person, especially off one tract of land.

I used to be that guy that killed 5 a yr. Now, to me, it is more about the game than the kill. Beating an old gobbler at the game (getting him in gun range) is a huge thrill for me. Of course i pull the trigger and that first one every yr, but that usally is enough to feed my family and "scratch my itch to KILL"

I still LOVE playing the game with them and shooting them with my finger after that

Let's see. We've had a 5-bird limit for years and, despite some rogues that you'll have anywhere, most hunters -- I'd say, yes, most -- are honest and will choose to limit themselves as B'ham Fred does or would stop at five if they hit that number.

Yet again there's a thought to reduce the limit when voluntary restraint and personal choice would be better than imposing a lower number that many hunters would then think is easier to attain, thus making them more of a hunter in the eyes of peers.

I would venture to guess very few turkey hunters in this state get to their 5 bird limit. I'm sure that a few do out of the turkey hunting population, but I'm also sure that a lot of the ones who do are on aldeer. I've tried really hard and 3 is the most I've got in one year. And that's with A LOT of traveling.

Alabama has had the #1 eastern population and the #2 overall population in the country for the past 10 year. So what I feel confident that the State has done a overall great job. Here in Wilcox county we have as many or more hunters than any where else and our population has not fluctuated in the 20 years I've been turkey hunting. I would be all for a hard tag system to try and help enforce the existing law. But I agree with dealing with the population on a county wide basis. Wilcox,Dallas, Marengo, and Monroe counties where I hunt are in great shape. I watch 7-10 birds die a year and have never ran out or not had birds the next year. I know nothing about North Alabama but we are in great shape down here. 2 bird idea is insane. Mississippi went from 3 to 2 because if the floods the last 2 springs in the delta. Also Mississippi has about half the birds Alabama does

I think the limit should be removed all together....


This ^^^^^

An excellent point! Praise the Lord that Charles Kelley had sense enough to know that God intended for turkeys to be hunted in the spring, and that He created them in such a way that killing a spring gobbler has no impact on the overall population. Kill a gobbler and you kill one turkey. Kill a hen and you might be killing dozens of turkeys.

I can't help but wonder if some folks think gobblers sit on the nests and then help raise the poults? How else could folks reach some of the conclusions they do?

I have no idea what you are talking about.

Sustainable, healthy populations of turkey and quality turkey hunting in the heart of the pine belt? Surely not? Can't be?

Now this some logical thinking. I wonder why we don't apply it to deer hunting?

Y'all got Yekrut.. What more you need??

Tru-Talker should be able to legally kill 10.. I gave him my 5 since I don't hunt them..

If the limit were 2,3, or 15, it wouldn't make a difference. I know some dang good hunters that don't even limit at 5 anymore. With the explosion of predators, I think very few people take the 5 limit every year like they did in years past. The guy that doesn't have a full time job, or has time to hunt every day of the season is going to take as many as he wants regardless of the limit set by the state. I'd guess 80 to 90 percent of Alabama is paper company or lumber land, so I don't know how anybody could know how many birds we have. It's not like the West, where you can go to an alfalfa field and actually count the birds all day.

Because overpopulation of turkeys don't usually destroy the ecosystem, like deer overpopulation.

Fact: less than 30 percent of acreage in AL is owned by forest industry landowners (timber company land).

Morningair - 80-90%, cmon bro?

Of course, last time this came up, you said "timber companies....are the biggest turkey killers".

Stop guessing.

They might decimate the grub population.

when I lived in Hale Co in the early 80's there were HUGE vast areas of mature hardwoods from Moundville to west of Greensboro along the Warrior River . By 1987 or so the timber companies and private landowners had clearcut well over 10,000 acres, prolly near 15,000 acres of that forest. All in a short period of time. The turkey population in that area declined greatly. I was there, working in the woods daily and saw the decline first hand.

22.9 million forested acres in AL.
15,000/22,900,000 = 0.00065502%
They just moved somewhere else temporarily - a cycle.
That was also before the days of sustainable forestry and harvest size and location restrictions, mostly practiced today by timber companies, not private landowners.

Try again.

Yea c'mon!!

It is pretty much impossible to argue that timberland is better than the more natural patchwork that we had before. Obviously it isn't the nail in the coffin, but it is not ideal either. To argue that it has done anything but hurt the population is foolish.