I was impressed with this thread, 'till now. I was stoked that with so many people on polar opposites that the thread could remain respectful and constructive. But this thing is way off topic and has, for sure, gone South fast.

Mistakes happen, I applaud the guys that have the humility to admit theirs in front of a bunch of guys that can be pretty judgemental.

I'd say this thing has run it's course and a mod should close it soon.

I agree, portions of the last page are why folks can't stand to be here!

Man start another thread for that mess. Nobody here wants to hear it. Hens do get killed sometimes but it's a one in a million scenario when it happens unless you're careless. Guy starts talking about accidently killing several hens over the years he's either way too careless or he needs glasses.
This thread is about what the state of Alabama can do to better it's turkey population.

I guess I should have left that part out of my post, but someone mentioned it earlier, and I KNOW, yeah it happens. I'm for 2-3 bird limit, but not a shorter season. Weather can be terrible even in April.

I wish I had a good rooleyes emo. After 9 pages of this, please tell me WHY (unless you live in the parts of north Alabama where densities are very low) you would be in favor of a 2-3 bird limit and how it would help increase the turkey population?

I have a question: Is there anybody reading this thread who has actually ever killed an Alabama limit (5 or 6 depending on the year) who is willing to step forward and say that they think the limit should be reduced?
I believe if there is such a fella on here everybody would be willing to at least listen to his opinion.

Not I. I don't see why anything needs changing and I live in the most deprived area of the state. Dead center of it actually.

I keep wondering how many of the guys that are killing a limit now would stop entirely if it was lowered? Most would find someone looking for help or take other kids they might not have. With their help I would guess about the same amount of turkeys would die anyway.

Gobbler
My original post 10-15 post ago is the only response I have to that question.

I live in North Bama too..and I definitely like the 5 bird limit as it is.

I posted this 3 hours ago and can't get it out of my head. Anybody else really thought about this number? 6000 killing the limit?

That's over 1 out of every 10 hunters that attempts to hunt at any given point in the season. That's almost 100 hunters per county, and we know that distribution would be higher in good counties. So at least 150 hunters in a lot of southern counties.

I've stated before the only thing I believe I have a really good handle on with this stuff, is hunter behavior. I have been fortunate enough to be well traveled and my career has offered me that opportunity. If 6000 turkey hunters in AL are killing a limit, then I need to seriously reconsider my logic. I just can't see it.

Man I sure wish we knew what to do to fix y'all's turkey problem just like I wish we knew what to do to fix the deer problem down around the coast. It's kind of a shame that the best thing the state can some up with is putting more regulations on other parts of the state that don't have the problems to begin with.

I use to kill my limit in Alabama and Tennessee then pick up a couple extra limits in States I travel to. I have not killed a limit in either since 2010. I am in full support of the limit reduction and season length reduction where I live and hunt in Alabama. I would support completely closing the season in Limestone for 3-5 years. Hate me if you want but there are a bunch of guys around my area that don't post on this site that support and voiced these feelings to Steve Barnett who is the Turkey biologist for the state. I know of 9 other guys who are hunter that can kill a limit every year that made a phone call or emailed Steve with the same feelings.

Yelkca you think the limit and season reductions should be statewide or just in Morgan, limestone, Cullman and Madison?
My next question is what do you think happened to the turkeys you used to have?

You would think if the state really thought their model was going to work they would implement it on state owned lands only for a few years and study the results. Not implement anything across the board.

I also wonder if they have any good data on the amount of predator removal 20-30 years ago versus the present. I think most would agree there used to be a lot more trappers across the state.


I get tired of hearing how this or that worked for other states. We have more turkeys per square mile than almost all other states yet we have the largest bag limit. Why fix what's not broken?


And if anyone questions why so many people get upset about proposed regualtions it's because we all have seen hunting regualtions over the years that either did absolutely nothing or had adverse but unintended results. I'm sure there was data at the time that only the state had............why should the general population expect a different result?

I think state wide is overkill. Like I have said in earlier posts. I hope the rest of you don't ever have to deal with what is going on here. I love to travel and hunt birds all over the country but with two young kids and being a business owner I can't pick up and leave for days at a time. I want birds around my area like the rest of you enjoy.

If you look at the counties having problems there are common links. Limestone,Morgan, Lawrence, Lauderdale,Lawrence, and Culman counties have all had seasons established in portions of the county within the past 20 years. Limestone,Morgan,Lauderdale,Lawrence have all got large areas of the county that have NO season currently.

If you look at the counties around these listed above you will see a significant difference in population. Jackson,Madison,Colbert ,Franklin, Winston, Blount, Marshall, portions of Lawrence around Bankhead, portions of Lauderdale from Florence west all have large blocks of continuous timber with openings. The counties seeing problems are primarily large blocks of open land with patches of timber.

The common landscape is piece of the puzzle concerning the loss of birds.Southern TN counties that are bordering is to the north have experienced the exact problem. TWRA says it Chicken litter that has not been pasteurized before it was spread for fertilizer.
I personally agree with there findings. The first place we started seeing problems was on farms that were using litter strait from the chicken house. We Killed birds in these areas in 2010 that had meat hanging off of legs and jelly like sores on their head and body.

One of The large poultry companies in Alabama is right up the road to the north. They have a biologist that is a turkey killing machine and he is in full agreement that the birds were hit by black head and avian pox. If they contract either they will not survive. It's a 100% mortality.

That was a mouth full to say but necessary to explain my position. What birds are around Limestone are trying to make a comeback but they need a little protection for a few years. Our first season was in either 97 or 98 and I can tell you with 100% certainty that many of the birds in small portion of the county that they opened for a 5 day season were hatched in an incubator by a handful of turkey hunters that were sick of driving an hour to hunt everyday.. We have only had three stocking efforts from the state in Limestone co to my knowledge. A couple in the early 80s and one into the southern portion of the county back in the mid to late 90s that still does not have an open season.

There are a hand full of people in Limestone co that can say they have a bird on their property in the spring. A couple of them are on this forum and they are the minority. I have said before here that we have extremely small parcel land ownership in this area. When I can go to one of my farms and no joke here hunters calling from 7 different properties from one hilltop it has to be a drastic change here or it won't work.

Hell yelk, I live in the heart of em and usually drive an hour to ANY of the properties I hunt! I agree that certain, low population areas may need some SPECIFIC addressing of the limit/season.

My basic premise and I'll try to quit harping:
I am fine with the State making regulations and changes to those regulations if necessary. However, if they do something as drastic as drop the gobbler limit by 40% in areas with "normal" populations, I think they need to have complete justification on WHY and HOW it would help (with representative documentation and studies) available to the constituents that pay their salaries and who it would impact. They then should set up a series of public forums, open to the hunting public, where a biologist is available to explain the WHY and HOW it will help and be able to justify it when someone like me has questions and wants a COMPLETE explanation of what the problem is and how the proposed change will address the problem. I am one of those who can't stand the explanation of "the turkey committee looked at the available info and, since we are so smart, and concerned, decided that this was best for you and the resource. Don't you see how educated and dedicated we are, trust us with this".

On my land in Lawrence county we have no season at all. Doesnt really matter...we dont have any turkeys at all either!
We used to. we had a good flock with a bunch of gobblers. They just disappearred in a year...right after the neighbor spread litter...

I'm already limiting my kills on certain properties.

Gobbler, I backed out of this thread pages and pages ago until Brent ask me a direct question other wise I would not have posted to this topic again. The post wasn't about how far I or you have to drive.

I tell you what gobbler or any one else that thinks I'm full of shucks on my area join me on a morning here in Limestone co I will take you from one end of it to the other. We will hunt every property I lease and have permission to hunt on. Go ahead and block off the entire day it will take us that long to cover all the dirt.

It will be the most disappointing day of hunting in your life. Your not going to see droppings or tracks or here a gobble. We might as well be hunting elephant or rhino. You can't kill what's not there. I will lay money on the fact that there is less than 1000 birds in Limestone Co.