I don't find it odd that populations have decreased in some areas. Populations fluctuate. That is natural and to be expected.

Second, what do you think gobblers are doing to benefit populations other than breeding hens? Alternating nesting time to give the hen a break? Fighting off coons, coyotes, and other predators? Eating privet bushes to improve habitat? I just don't see any logic there

I would love to talk to someone from AU to verify that but have had no luck getting someone to talk to. Yet

Please share the info with us when you find out!

No need to wait on gobblers response. I answered it above.

And quite honestly, we aren't hearing ANY complaining except from the people who think they have to kill 5 birds every year. To heck with the resource or your science. By gosh I'm killing my 5, and don't care what anyone else does.

Nobody here believes that for a second and its childish as hell to even say it. You must realize that you are lumping well over half of the aldeer turkey hunters into that category with that comment. I was afraid that the state was gonna try to make the folks that wanna preserve Alabama's turkey hunting tradition out to be bloodthirsty bad guys. Looks like that's exactly what their agenda is and what their talking points are gonna be.

AU and the turkey committee have been collaborating for a couple of years now on this problem. AU is simply providing the information from the population models we ran given different season structures and bag limits. The entire committee, from our staff to AU is completely unbiased. No one is pushing an agenda. Chuck was sharing this information, so I guess he was the spokesperson for the findings. We hope to fine tune the model with real mortality and survival numbers collected from AL turkeys in current research, not research conducted 23 years ago from MS, LA, or SC. The committee is making a dang honest and informed effort at being proactive, instead of reactive. No knee jerk reactions are being proposed. It should be understood that we ALL understand the driving factors for turkey populations. Trust me. It's all about nest success. Plain and simple. For some reason, or combination of reasons, nest success has declined over the entire southeast USA. Could it be predators? They can absolutely be a key player. Could it be habitat changes? It could absolutely be a key player. Could it be weather? It could absolutely be a key a player. Could it be disease? It absolutely could. It could be a combination of all of the above. Unfortunately the state has much less control over those variables than we do season structure and bag limits. Given the information currently available season structure changes alone, or in combination with lowered bag limits, could potentially slow the decline. Potentially. To think we haven't looked into this from all angles is not giving us enough credit. All Chuck did was present this at the CAB meeting. A proposal was not made. No one said we were going to do anything. It was simply stated that AU and the turkey committee are weighing options that could benefit the resource and meet the desires of hunters. And quite honestly, we aren't hearing ANY complaining except from the people who think they have to kill 5 birds every year. To heck with the resource or your science. By gosh I'm killing my 5, and don't care what anyone else does. In the stakeholder meetings we had with avid turkey hunters, we received their feedback on satisfaction regarding various aspects of turkey hunting. Hearing birds gobble ranked as high, and even higher on some surveys, than actually killing a turkey. People want to hear turkeys. They want to know there are turkeys out there to hunt, whether they kill them or not. Most were in agreement that they would rather change the season and/or bag if it meant more turkeys, even if that meant killing fewer birds. We have received a lot of complaints over the last few years about turkey numbers, and people are demanding something be done. I wish we had a total log of all phone calls regarding turkey declines. It is real. It's being taken seriously. We've been looking at this going on nearly two years now from the beginning discussions. We meet several times a year. We have spent weeks pouring over research, papers, surveys, and data to propose a solid, defendable plan. I am assuming there will be a plan submitted soon.

And quite honestly, we aren't hearing ANY complaining except from the people who think they have to kill 5 birds every year. To heck with the resource or your science. By gosh I'm killing my 5, and don't care what anyone else does.

Don't take this personal Brent but I don't think anyone has room to be calling us childish in this or any recent thread. Sometimes the truth hurts and anecdotally anyway, our evidence is that most folks complaining are the ones that kill or reasonably expect to kill a limit every year or two. This holds true to the folks I know that don't like it.

This process can be done correctly and benefit ALL turkey hunters. That is what I hope happens. I guess we will all see.

So why isn't GA a MUCH better turkey State than Alabama in regards to turkeys? It already has the recommended limits and season?

[quote=Mbrock] And quite honestly, we aren't hearing ANY complaining except from the people who think they have to kill 5 birds every year. To heck with the resource or your science. By gosh I'm killing my 5, and don't care what anyone else does.