It would appear that turkey numbers are all over the place throughout the state. Every year we see guys that limit out in the first two weeks (or less) while guys like me struggle to kill a bird or two. I’m not the best turkey hunter in the world, but I generally find a way to kill turkeys when I have turkeys. There has been a marked decrease in the turkey numbers where I am AND the turkeys that are there don’t seem to gobble like they used to. My guess is that this is due to predation that only gets real pressure during the open hunting seasons.

I do think 5 birds a year is too liberal across the state, but if you’re consistently killing 5, you probably have the populations that can sustain it. IMO, 3 birds a year should be plenty for anyone...yeah I know, it’s been 5 for all this time, but it also used to be a buck a day every day. I’m not aware of any state that is as liberal even those with higher turkey densities (and probably more hunters, I get it).

As for the opening date, I’ve always loved it when the 15th fell during the week because I have been blessed to have a job that allows me some freedom in taking days off. That said, I would expect that the state will be looking to reduce the number of days altogether with a reduction in the bag limit. If this is beneficial to our turkey population, I think we could all agree that it is a good thing. The problem is that it will take a while to see the effects, if any.

I do not like big government in any way. However, an individual’s perspective is shaped by their experience...If you are blessed to have a thriving turkey population, this all seems like BS. If you are in the same boat as me, you will have a different opinion. A “one size fits all” set of regulations is a tricky thing at best.