I missed this post back when you made it; I certainly agree with you that decoy legalization increased the harvest. I much preferred them being illegal. But nobody asked me and they are legal, and I doubt it will ever change. TPTB don't want AL to be unique in our approach to turkey management; they want us to be just like everyone else.

Still, I doubt that the gobbler harvest has made any significant difference in the overall turkey population. If it has, it would be in the places with very few turkeys. If we are overharvesting the gobblers, then that should reveal itself in a really skewed gobbler/hen ratio. I haven't seen that anywhere that I hunt. I can't tell any difference in the ratio now than what it has been at any time in my life.

Ironically, the place that I have seen the worst gobbler/hen ratio was in KS. The place where it was the worst had a one bird limit. Over those 4 days, I saw over 100 hens, maybe 10 jakes, and just 2 longbeards. The outfitter that controlled nearly all the land in the area had sold too many hunts. He recognized that and cut back some the next year and the problem went away. The jakes became longbeards and the problem solved itself in a year.

That just confirmed my belief that it isn't the state who decides the turkey harvest; it will always be the landowner or his agent or lessee.