It looks like Auburn had or has a research study that started around 2015 but I cant find where any data was ever published or if the research stopped or if its ongoing. Would be interesting if we could get real numbers to see if there was an actual decline in population and if so how big was or is it?

Glad so many of you are seeing poults, the one thing I saw in research data was the number of poults per hen is down to just below 2 when including the hens with 0 poults. Not including the hens with no poults the number of poults per hen is about 3. Those numbers seem low to me, I wonder if those are poults that reached adulthood or babies seen with the hen at any time.

Oh there's no question reducing the season length will reduce harvest. That's not what I am questioning here. I have seen no research from our biologists to indicate that we have a statewide population issue that is probable cause for statewide legislation like they have passed. I'm in agreement with Squeaky that all they are doing is passing garbage laws to react to the "problem." In actuality they don't even know if a problem exists, and even worse, what is causing it.

I certainly don't know the numbers either. And yes, I hate to see a shorter season as much as anyone.

If I had 1000 acres, in a good turkey county, that truly had a chronic issue - and my goal was to have a place for my kids to enjoy turkey hunting - there would have been a for sale sign up years ago. Go buy a place with some turkey. Even if it’s “family” land with a history. You can’t take it to the grave.

If I were lucky enough to have 1000 acre asset, it would have turkey on it, period. When you get serious enough, you’ll change. If I wasn’t that serious, I’d quit whining about it.

the dept has changed the turkey dates three times now, and I have seen zero biological reason for doing so. Pick a damn date and stick to it, it doesn't need to start or stop on a Sat to make sure everybody has a fair chance. Jeeze.

I know of many turkeys killed in sight of litter piles and plenty of farms use it I hunt on. So that theory isn’t true everywhere. EHD kicked my deer herd to the ground in 2016. We rebounded. Who is to say avian flu or other fowl derived sickness didn’t make a run thru areas. Doesn’t always have to blamed on litter. There’s plenty of airborne illness birds can get

But Johnny Career sitting in his office in Bham, paying high dollar lease prices, needs to be able to go to work on Tuesday March 15, and not have to worry about neighbor killing his turkey before Saturday when he gets to go. He’s already taken his trophy wife on two vacations and deer hunted a week in January, so vacation is running slim. Never mind he’ll be fishing every weekend in April also. It’s about being fair.

Money, politics, etc........

Not sure I buy the litter argument either. We have a 250 ac working cattle farm in the middle of our lease that we can't hunt. These pastures gets fertilized with chicken chit every year and most of our birds hang out in them 90%of the time. Our numbers aren't great but they have been pretty steady for the 20 years that I have hunted this lease.

We had another piece that was 280 acres it was full of turkeys they all vanished over the 25 years we owned it the main decline was in the last 10 years so we sold it 3 yrs ago. The other 1200 acres my family has owned for 40 years, 0 turkey living there wont make us sell it. It has too many other positives, location or proximity being the main one. I like whining about it cause it bothers you so much. I dont think it's the land which is why I use our place as an example. 8-10 years ago in one 60 acre field one morning we watched over 70 turkeys 60 hens and 10 or 12 Jake's and long beards. The land is the same if not better now than it has ever been habitat wise which is why I fear something more serious is the problem that may spread across the state.

I'm no biologist but I have a little coomon sense. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the reason the turkey's numbers are declining is because their habitat is declining. Good luck changing that! Ask the quail hunters that saw the Good Ole Days for quail when the landscape was patchwork Family Farms.

Them changing the seasons are just to appease somebody with some money that is pulling the strings in the Gump

This may very well be the direction the turkey hunting is headed. I sure hope not but it is possible.

Lots of factors. Habitat loss, lot more hunters, use of decoys, advancement of guns and shells, more predators( we didnt have coyotes and I had never seen a damn armadillo till about 10 years ago) decline in coon hunters, errbody and there brother putting out corn wich in turn created more coons. Its a wonder they're not extinct

I was told by a very reputable source that there may no statewide season period in 2020. Announcement can be expected soon. You heard it here first.

Well that would suck !!!

That would be something to watch, be interesting to see what the result would be besides a bunch of pissed off people. Would leaving an entire years worth of would be harvested turkeys make the population change any, would having that many more mature birds make gobbling better or worse the following season etc?

What’s the cost of the ticket for hunting during a closed season? Asking for a friend...

Lol gonna be a buncha outlaws up in heah! Err I mean, more than normal

There is one club I know of in stclair cnty where 40 plus birds wee killed last year. That’s on 13000 acres but tell me that doesn’t make a difference. And from friends in it I know that people sit on the fields all day long and wait on a gobbler to walk out and shoot. There are way more people who are out to kill a turkey then there were 10 years ago and these aren’t turkey hunters just turkey shooters.

That's 1 bird per 325 acres. Totally sustainable. As I mentioned earlier, I've got a 600 acre tract I've killed anywhere from 3 to 5 birds off of every year for probably 10 or 15 years. Based off of the Jake's I saw last year, next year should be a blast

That would work out to well over 300 acres per gobbler killed, and seems pretty ordinary to me. Good land is capable of producing way more than that.