There has been a lot of talk amongst local hunters about recent changes being made across the state that reduce the bag limit and length of the fall turkey hunting season. While some don’t mind the changes too much, others are quite upset and want answers.
To any regular hunter in these parts, the drop in our local turkey population was obvious and alarming. Wild turkey were once eliminated from our landscape, and after the efforts of state and private groups they finally became reintroduced almost half a century ago. The restoration efforts continued until stable populations were achieved statewide. About 15 years ago hunters and animal lovers saw turkey numbers beginning to decrease; there were varied opinions as to what happened to the birds, but nearly everyone knew something should be done. In the last five years a steady decline in birds has us all worried and ready to do something about it. The only problem is figuring out what to do with such varying opinions and information being published.
I decided once again to ask a bunch of hunters and outdoor types what they think happened to the turkeys. The last time I did this, I was contacted by two people offering great information on the topic and giving me material for next week’s column. There is much debate and speculation on this topic and I expect to receive plenty enough feedback for another column.
There were three different scenarios as to what has caused the drastic decline. The first and most common response to my question was predation. The second most common response was the weather, the last was human hunting pressure. The first task to solving a problem such as this is identifying what is causing it in the first place. These all seemed like valid arguments and could easily cause reduction issues, so I took a deeper look into them.
Every person I asked mentioned predators at some point; most of them were blunt and just said coyotes or fishers. Although they both definitely eat turkey, the problem is bigger than just the two of them. I have seen many studies that blame most bird casualties on other fur bearers, which happen when they are still in the egg. Coons, opossums, and skunks are avid egg eaters, and are known to wipe out a whole clutch in a single meal. Then the question: weren’t the three of them always here to predate on eggs? The answer would usually be that something changed. That’s when the coyote and fisher usually take the rap. With the near collapse of the fur industry, prices dropped so much that people stopped trapping. This has left the door open and all predators are at heightened levels. I happen to agree predators are partially to blame, but I can’t place it all on them. We don’t question what these predators eat. We know they eat turkey, but this doesn’t explain such a drastic loss in the last five years.
The next most commonly mentioned culprit was Mother Nature. Just like predators, we don’t question and are not surprised when she takes lives. We accept this as part of nature and have learned to take it as it comes. The past two winters have been long and hard followed by cold wet springs, which is really difficult on the birds. Its bad enough that many birds die of starvation and freeze when encountered with such a harsh winter, but when followed by a cold wet spring they take a serious hit. Many eggs are lost in such conditions and the hatch tends to be really low in years like these. The fact that we have had two such seasons back to back has definitely played a role in the problem.
Hunting pressure was also mentioned, but not enough in my mind. We also have to be accountable for the birds we take and adjust if something is going wrong. This is exactly what the state is doing now by imposing new turkey hunting regulations. Thus far, the spring season will remain the same two tom limit, but this fall will be different. The season in our area will only be two weeks long running from October 17th to the 30th. There will also be a reduction from two birds of either sex to only one. The state hopes this will help the population rebound, while many hunters seem skeptical.
Here’s my proposal to you all. Change what you can to help. The weather is out of question for now so you only have to worry about yourself and the predators. I’m not going to hunt fall birds at all until they stabilize. Any real hunter can give up a few years of fall turkey for the future of the animal. I am also going to invite trappers on to the land I manage until I become licensed to do so myself. We can’t complain about the high predator population if we do nothing about it. Get out and call in some of them this winter and do a bit of hands on conservation. This doesn’t mean trying to wipe every predator off of your property; they have their place and need proper management as our turkey do. It seems beyond predators the turkey were hit by all three problems at once, basically striking them out. By combining the two controllable methods, and a few good springs, we should see populations return to normal in just a few years. This is a situation where talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words. If you love turkey, do what you can to help them.
Good wishes and protect your flock.