# Please read and help. Turkey have vanished



## GCO (Apr 14, 2017)

So a good friend of mine owns about 700 or 800 acres in Montgomery county. Over the past years the place has had a good many turkeys. You could listen and hear 5 or 6 on one side of the property and 5 or 6 on the other side. The property has fields swamps and a bunch of pine's. Mature pines and just planted pines. This year during turkey season we havnt seen or heard one single gobbler. Not ever a gobler track. You can hear for miles up there cause there is no highways. And we can't even here any turkeys in the distance. We don't have a bad population of coyotes. We have a few like anywhere else but nothing major. So we don't know what happen to them. Can anybody help by telling me what they think. Thanks


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## kmckinnie (Apr 14, 2017)

Did y'all kill them or someone else maybe


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## GCO (Apr 14, 2017)

No, we havnt killed hardly any and nobody around is hunts


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## kmckinnie (Apr 14, 2017)

I've heard they range for miles. Further than a deer. 
That was by old timers.


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## jmharris23 (Apr 14, 2017)

They're going the way of the Bobwhite quail


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## Jellyhead Joe (Apr 14, 2017)

I wonder if bird flu is taking a toll on them.


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## PappyHoel (Apr 14, 2017)

What's your coyote, raccoon and possum population like?


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## elfiii (Apr 15, 2017)

I got a similar problem. Sitting under a roost tree right now that has turkey scat all around it but not a single gobble. Been that way for 3 weeks now.


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## ilbcnu (Apr 15, 2017)

pretty much the same around these parts, thinking the beautiful weather we had back in feb. had em' go hot early this year. hunted birds in 5 counties and very little activity. not over yet though boys


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## mattech (Apr 16, 2017)

There is definitely something going on. I've gotten pics of several Gobblers the last couple months, I have tracks and dusting bowls all over, but I've heard more gobbles during deer season than. I have during turkey season. Maybe the warm winter has them acting up.


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## Core Lokt (Apr 17, 2017)

Property I hunt is the same way. Years past you would hear them all over and always call in hens. This year I have seen 2 hens so far, 2-3 dust bowls and a few single gobbler tracks. every morning but one I've heard 1-2 birds on roost and mostly way off on another property. There has only been 2 birds killed off property this season.


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## Thunder Head (Apr 17, 2017)

Every serious turkey hunter I talk too says the same thing. "The population is way down".
 I have propertys that used to have big flock on it every year. now there is nothing. I have another area that was always good late. I didn't hear a bird there last year at all.
 It seems to me that since there less of them they move around more. So if there a prime piece of habitat 1/2 mile down the road that's were they will spend "most" of there time.

 By the way, after a pretty unexciting season last year. This year has been awesome. I have worked birds 8 different times. I should be tagged out actually but have let 2 of them slip thru my fingers. With 2 birds on the ground I surely cant complain.

 By the way the birds are on fire in the mountains!


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## bulldawgborn (Apr 17, 2017)

jmharris23 said:


> They're going the way of the Bobwhite quail



Kind of my thoughts as well.  

To the OP, was there a major change in habitat on the property in question. Or on nearby properties? Seems to me that turkeys and bobwhites are more susceptible to habitat change than other game.  Or at least turkey's are apt to find better habitat fairly quickly compared to other animals.


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## frankwright (Apr 17, 2017)

My hunting partner has access to a piece of land only he can hunt.
He went on three turkey hunts. He killed a gobbler each time and never hunted over one hour and biggest was killed in 25  minutes.

So for every turkeys are gone story, there are stories of great success.
I only have 100 acres to hunt. I have not seen a turkey but last two times I had two or three gobbling on roost but I could not make anything happen. 
On the same piece of property, owner has seen gobblers twice in pasture right outside window of house, so be patient and keep hope. Those TV hunts we see all the time don't happen often.


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## chase870 (Apr 17, 2017)

You have to have a serious program of removal of anything the bothers your turkeys


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## fullstrut (Apr 17, 2017)

In general the population is down across the state. But I did mange to get a mature bird opening afternoon. I've only hunted 4 times because I broke my toe and walking was not to fun for the last two weeks. I went back to my club on Saturday and nothing. So moved to another spot and located one at around 10:30 worked him in and he ended up coming in behind me and there was no way to spin a move on him. Let him walk on. So there are birds out there it's just not as easy as years past. Like mentioned before hopefully we are not looking at what happened to the wild Quail population that is all but gone.


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## PappyHoel (Apr 17, 2017)

Any restocking programs for wild turkey in Georgia?


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## Core Lokt (Apr 17, 2017)

I'm not crying "the turkeys are wiped out" but when you go from seeing the numbers that you once did year after year and then to seeing a few the next, something is not right. I have heard up to 8 different gobbling birds one morning this season. Just not seeing the hens or hen track like I should. I agree land changes can help or hurt hunters/turkeys. 

The 500 ac I hunt has it all for turkeys. 80ac 2 yr old clear cut that was planted in pines last winter (produced 1 bird this season), several sections that get burned on a rotation each year (produced 1 bird this season), big food plots, open hardwoods and good nesting areas (only seen 1 hen near them so far this season). This season I have called up a pair of gobblers twice and we've killed one each time and called in a single that wouldn't get close enough. have not called in the first hen.

There has been some major thinning on the 500ac property to the West, really to clear for birds with very little cover. West and North of that is a 6k ac lake, South are huge open pastures and to the East is the property I hunt. 

I got a call today from the land owner asking if I was hunting this morning and I wasn't. He got a call about 2 shots on his land from a neighbor this morning. Land owner went to the area and found boot tracks, one very large and one small like a kid or female size. Not far from there are a few houses. He may have poachers but that isn't the reason I have only seen 2 hens this season.  Trail cameras are going up in that area today. 

Good luck to everyone.


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## alphachief (Apr 17, 2017)

I haven't seen the slightest drop in the number of turkeys where I hunt...and they haven't gotten any dumber either.


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## saltysenior (Apr 17, 2017)

10 yrs ago no one posted about a dwindling turkey population in their areas....nowdays , probably 50% or better of the posts state that the population is down (or gone) from their area...this is happening all over the East..Suggested reasons do not hold water in different areas of the East....The only cause that could be a factor everywhere is disease....


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## Possum (Apr 17, 2017)

I think some birds are being super tight lipped this year. Was in a spot last weekend, heard a bunch of hens in a holler and no gobbles all morning. Can hear for miles in that spot. At 10:00 I drove out past that holler again and there was a gobbler with hens on side of Rd. I've listened a couple mornings and heard no gobbles but I've seen gobbler tracts in the road each morning so I know some are around.


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## AliBubba (Apr 17, 2017)

In the March GON magazine I think it noted that turkey population was down by 30%.


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## spurrs and racks (Apr 18, 2017)

*I hope*

every turkey hunter I know quits and takes up bass fishing.

s&r


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## horny1 (Apr 18, 2017)

spurrs and racks said:


> every turkey hunter I know quits and takes up bass fishing.
> 
> s&r



I c what u tryna do. Keep it up


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## mossyoakpro (May 1, 2017)

There's a nice shooting facility in Egdefield for those of us who used to have turkeys to hunt.

That seems to be the focus for that group now.....


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## fountain (May 1, 2017)

PappyHoel said:


> Any restocking programs for wild turkey in Georgia?



This is what I want to know.  I want to know how to get some brought in and released on my place


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## Dinosaur (May 1, 2017)

I have a friend that is a biologist for NWTF here in south georgia. He told me sunday that he wouldn't be suprised to see the limit cut to two birds soon. Said the data from the turkey harvest records is pretty telling.


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## Sixes (May 2, 2017)

Dinosaur said:


> I have a friend that is a biologist for NWTF here in south georgia. He told me sunday that he wouldn't be suprised to see the limit cut to two birds soon. Said the data from the turkey harvest records is pretty telling.



That makes little sense, just like a higher limit on bucks will not change the recruitment rates of the females.


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## Dinosaur (May 3, 2017)

Sixes said:


> That makes little sense, just like a higher limit on bucks will not change the recruitment rates of the females.



Might not be the solution to the problem as a whole, but if the population is in as big of a decline as the biologists are thinking, leaving the limit at 3 doesn't make sense either. We gotta do all we can to fix it. Sticking our heads in the sand continuing on as if nothing is wrong won't solve a thing.


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## XIronheadX (May 3, 2017)

Dinosaur said:


> Might not be the solution to the problem as a whole, but if the population is in as big of a decline as the biologists are thinking, leaving the limit at 3 doesn't make sense either. We gotta do all we can to fix it. Sticking our heads in the sand continuing on as if nothing is wrong won't solve a thing.



Very true. Those that care about it would understand. Maybe outlaw decoys and fans and leave it at 3. That works too.


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## bdavisbdavis727 (May 3, 2017)

XIronheadX said:


> Very true. Those that care about it would understand. Maybe outlaw decoys and fans and leave it at 3. That works too.



Decoys and hunters are not the reason for the decline. When you take away the habitat and push all of the animals into small blocks of woods the predators multiply while the game they eat declines.


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## XIronheadX (May 3, 2017)

bdavisbdavis727 said:


> Decoys and hunters are not the reason for the decline. When you take away the habitat and push all of the animals into small blocks of woods the predators multiply while the game they eat declines.



Everything that decreases the number of turkeys is the reason. Of course its habitat and predators, hunters, methods of hunters. Bad weather at hatch. Is there a difference in a predator eating a turkey and a hunter shooting one? If you can't fix the habitat or the predators in a short amount of time, you have to try a fix in an area you can control before the population is too low . I'd rather have the opportunity to go out there and call a turkey within shooting range, than to worry about pulling the trigger to take a picture. I know where the adrenaline rush is, and its before the trigger is pulled. Self gratification comes after the fact. You do what is necessary for the resource. If it meant a year or two with 2 chances instead of 3. I'd live with it.


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## Dinosaur (May 3, 2017)

XIronheadX said:


> Very true. Those that care about it would understand. Maybe outlaw decoys and fans and leave it at 3. That works too.



I'd be fine with that. Be a bunch of turkey hunters taking up golf or bass fishing though.


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## southGAlefty (May 3, 2017)

Dinosaur said:


> I'd be fine with that. Be a bunch of turkey hunters taking up golf or bass fishing though.



Which wouldn't hurt my feelings at all and probably yours either! Strutting decoys have made the game about 50% easier in my opinion.

There's definitely been a decline in one of the places I hunt. I have seen early season flocks in the 30s-40s there in years past with 5-6 gobblers in the bunch. Thats been 6-7 years ago but the point is that on the same tract of ground this year I've seen 2 gobblers and 2 hens all season. There's been a pretty steady decline too. Habitat has changed very little and the change has been for the good so I'm not sure what's going on. 

This is in extreme south GA.


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## bdavisbdavis727 (May 3, 2017)

XIronheadX said:


> Everything that decreases the number of turkeys is the reason. Of course its habitat and predators, hunters, methods of hunters. Bad weather at hatch. Is there a difference in a predator eating a turkey and a hunter shooting one? If you can't fix the habitat or the predators in a short amount of time, you have to try a fix in an area you can control before the population is too low . I'd rather have the opportunity to go out there and call a turkey within shooting range, than to worry about pulling the trigger to take a picture. I know where the adrenaline rush is, and its before the trigger is pulled. Self gratification comes after the fact. You do what is necessary for the resource. If it meant a year or two with 2 chances instead of 3. I'd live with it.



The difference in Georgia at-least is hunters dont shoot hens or poults and most dont shoot jakes. The majority of turkeys get killed when they are poults, so there is your difference.


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## spurrs and racks (May 3, 2017)

*changing the gobbler limit...*

will make ZERO difference in the turkey population.

The folks who don't understand that, need to study the bird more and write less.


By March 25th almost all ...if not all the hens are already bred. She can store active sperm form 60 to 90 days.

Gobblers don't raise poults......hens do. It is already illegal to shoot hen turkeys and here in Georgia there is no fall season.

The gobbler limit could be 1 or 5 or any other number....it will not affect the turkey population one bit.


You want to do something about your deer and turkey population, don't let another Yote, fox, bobcat, coon, or possum walk......ever.

or pig.....ever

s&r


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## Sixes (May 3, 2017)

Dinosaur said:


> Might not be the solution to the problem as a whole, but if the population is in as big of a decline as the biologists are thinking, leaving the limit at 3 doesn't make sense either. We gotta do all we can to fix it. Sticking our heads in the sand continuing on as if nothing is wrong won't solve a thing.



I assure you that my head is not in the sand, I'm just stating the fact that lowering a limit on males will not increase the population. From what I have seen this spring, the population in Troup county has decreased a small amount from the last few years. The population in Laurens/ Bleckley county area has decreased substantially in a predominately agricultural area. North Cherokee county seems to be on an upswing and I've seen more birds this spring than in the last few years and some some really big flocks during this past winter.

If the limit is moved to 2, then so be it, but the population is not going to increase without hens having more poults that survive and this will need to happen for a few consecutive years to really increase the population.


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## GLS (May 3, 2017)

Louisiana has conducted a study wherein 135 hens were radio collared.  The average nesting time for these hens was April 9th.  The season started two weeks earlier and it is estimated that 80% of the kill occurred in the first week.  It might be more complex than a mated hen can lay fertilized eggs throughout the season after being impregnated with sperm.  The 80% seasonal kill before nesting starts may have something to do with reduced population.


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## Nicodemus (May 3, 2017)

Sixes said:


> I assure you that my head is not in the sand, I'm just stating the fact that lowering a limit on males will not increase the population. From what I have seen this spring, the population in Troup county has decreased a small amount from the last few years. The population in Laurens/ Bleckley county area has decreased substantially in a predominately agricultural area. North Cherokee county seems to be on an upswing and I've seen more birds this spring than in the last few years and some some really big flocks during this past winter.
> 
> If the limit is moved to 2, then so be it, but the population is not going to increase without hens having more poults that survive and this will need to happen for a few consecutive years to really increase the population.





I wonder if the use of chicken litter spread on fields has anything to do with the spread of disease that might affect turkeys and quail. Good possibility of it.


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## OleRed15 (May 3, 2017)

While I still kill atleast 2 birds a year for as long as I can remember, there is a huge decline in the numbers of turkeys in middle ga on both public and private land.. 4-5 years ago it was no problem going to a couple private spots I have and hear 4-6 gobblers a morning and even more on public land. Now I'm lucky to hear one of those some pieces of property. Well I still kill 2, I chase the same bird around for a week or more before he finally messes up or looses hens. 
But I honestly think the increase in predators such as yotes, bobcats, coons, opossums and hogs  and the lack of killing or trapping of previously said species, has a huge impact in the population decline. 
DNR has said poult per hen numbers are up to around 1.3-1.5 poults per hen in 2016 which I feel is way to low to maintain or even increase the population to a level of the 90's. I think we need to see poult numbers in the 2.5-3.5 range to see numbers increase to where they use to be.


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## Sixes (May 3, 2017)

Nicodemus said:


> I wonder if the use of chicken litter spread on fields has anything to do with the spread of disease that might affect turkeys and quail. Good possibility of it.



I think it's one of the problems in the area. The land I hunt is ~9800 acres and is a private quail plantation. The quail seem to be thriving with more seen and heard every year and these are natural born quail. But, I rarely see coveys around the ag fields where chicken litter has become more and more used, they are in the pines and road edges.

Deer and quail thrive on the land but the turkeys have dwindled over the last few years. I'm hoping it is more due to a natural down cycle and will begin to pick back up. I've saw the cycle in Cherokee county and birds are back in big numbers.

It's hard for me to complain about the quail plantation when the owner only allows a few people to hunt the property for deer/turkey and hogs and allows us to come hunt several times a year, we stay in his lodge or cabin and charges us nothing and if he sees us hunting, will thank us for shooting the deer and hogs.

His goal is a natural, sustainable quail population in Georgia and so far he seems to be achieving his goals


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## Nicodemus (May 3, 2017)

Sixes said:


> I think it's one of the problems in the area. The land I hunt is ~9800 acres and is a private quail plantation. The quail seem to be thriving with more seen and heard every year and these are natural born quail. But, I rarely see coveys around the ag fields where chicken litter has become more and more used, they are in the pines and road edges.
> 
> Deer and quail thrive on the land but the turkeys have dwindled over the last few years. I'm hoping it is more due to a natural down cycle and will begin to pick back up. I've saw the cycle in Cherokee county and birds are back in big numbers.
> 
> ...





Quail have come back here really good in the last 10 years or so, and turkeys are doing well too. One thing we are doing around here is fire ant control (as good as we can anyway) and it has really helped.


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## NUTT (May 3, 2017)

Same song different species. Deer vs Turkeys. DNR will not intervene. Deer were on a decline and you didn't see the limit changed and you won't see it for turkeys either. Some parts of the state, turkey numbers are good, some parts are low. This will all come down to what we can do as sportsman individually to help with the issue. What you gonna do? What have you done?


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## GLS (May 3, 2017)

A few years ago, DNR reps met with fishing guides to discuss lowering the redfish and seatrout limits.  They're hands were tied.  They needed more than anecdotal evidence of reduced populations.  They needed studies which required funding something not available.  They couldn't lower the limits without scientific evidence.  And they had no funds to do the study.  A political Catch 22 of sorts.   Wouldn't surprise me if that's the story about hunting.  LSU, Clemson, maybe UGA, are doing a study in the lowcountry.  Not sure what the study entails, but hunters are given tracking gps units to carry with them in the woods.  A few Toms have been collared.  They have noted some Toms standing within a hundred yards of a hunter for hours and not moving a foot.  That shouldn't surprise anyone.   Gil


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## Nicodemus (May 3, 2017)

GLS said:


> A few years ago, DNR reps met with fishing guides to discuss lowering the redfish and seatrout limits.  They're hands were tied.  They needed more than anecdotal evidence of reduced populations.  They needed studies which required funding something not available.  They couldn't lower the limits without scientific evidence.  And they had no funds to do the study.  A political Catch 22 of sorts.   Wouldn't surprise me if that's the story about hunting.  LSU, Clemson, maybe UGA, are doing a study in the lowcountry.  Not sure what the study entails, but hunters are given tracking gps units to carry with them in the woods.  A few Toms have been collared.  They have noted some Toms standing within a hundred yards of a hunter for hours and not moving a foot.  That shouldn't surprise anyone.   Gil





Yessir, they are mighty good at being turkeys. Not much of what they do surprises me anymore, Gil.


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## six (May 3, 2017)

spurrs and racks said:


> The gobbler limit could be 1 or 5 or any other number....it will not affect the turkey population one bit.


It won't effect the number of poults this summer, but to think it won't effect the population seems mathematically impossible.   1,000 hunters kill 3 gobblers each for a total of 3,000 dead gobblers.  1,000 hunters kill 1 bird each for a total of 1,000 dead gobblers.   Where do the other 2,000 live gobblers go? 

I'm not saying the decline is all hunter related.  But long seasons, liberal bag limits, increased number of hunters, dumbing down hunting, combined with predators, chemicals, weather etc. is going to take its toll eventually.   And as bad as I hate it, the more shooters and tags, the more incidental hen deaths there will be.   No telling how many hens are killed each year by folks who shouldn't be allowed to carry a weapon.   The "what is it threads" prove that a lot of people can't tell the difference between lab, house cat, Panther or deer.   So I'm sure they really struggle with the whole hen/gobbler identification deal.


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## GLS (May 3, 2017)

I think some of us, including me,  have mislabored for decades under the notion that killing Toms in the breeding season doesn't affect the overall population.  It sounds good to the hunters like me who try to shoot'em but it sure doesn't increase the overall population.  I'm beginning to come to the realization that mature, dead gobblers are more than just surplus when the breeding season starts.  Biologists have determined that a mourning dove is going going to die one way or the other in year one of its life.   Turkeys have a considerably longer life expectancy.  Don't take this is an anti-turkey hunting opinion, I love to hunt them, but there are some unknowns out there and we may be a part of it.  Predators have been a fact of life forever with turkeys.  Coyotes have been around here for more than 3 decades.  No one claims turkeys are declining in Texas and Coyotes have been in TX since time began.  Anyone know the number of big game licenses issued in Georgia in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2016-2017?  More and more hunters in the same places that are shrinking in size,  are a big part of the decline.  Gil


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## sea trout (May 3, 2017)

I'd like to learn more about the chicken litter fertilizer affects on the wild turkey.

Everything else that people are blaming I can kinda understand it's not good.......however I know better that it's not the cause of this great Georgia turkey population decline.

Predators and wild turkeys co-exist....always have always will.
Yes!!!!!! We have a higher number of hungry coyotes now than 20 years ago. However, a state like Texas that has one of the highest populations of wild turkey....also has one of the highest populations of coyote.
Fire ants are moving north??? Yes!!! The Oceola wild turkey has not gone extinct
Decoy's and tail fans!!!!!!!?????? NO! I hunt 50 percent trying decoys and strutter decoys and 50 percent without. A new place to hunt where birds have never seen a decoy and a sneaky man in camo....yeah they'll come in. Give that a couple years....and those birds will be like high pressure club birds who completely turn an haul tail at the sight of a decoy. The use of decoys is NOT the problem.
Too many hunters hunting turkey???? Idk on that one. When I was a teen and early 20's, birds were less pressured and easier to kill. Now...there's a lot more hunters yes. Turkeys are more pressured and harder to kill. However...they aren't much more being killed.
A 3 gobbler limit is making turkey extinct? Gimme a break!!!!!!!

Chicken poop is interesting BECAUSE!!!!!!!........ I hunt turkey in huge managed pine forest....thousands of acres in managed pines. I hunt some NE Georgia WMA's that are hardwoods and pine mix for thousands of acres. The turkey population to my experience is NOT! I repeat NOT on the decline in these areas! I can 100 percent speak for our 1600 acre club that is managed pine and surrounded by thousands of other managed pine clubs....our turkey population is on the rise!!! And that's a fact!!!

I hunt extreme northeastern Tennessee in ag farms. Hay fields and cow pastures. They fertilize with store bought chemicals. Their turkey population is NOT on the decline! And they also have a coyote problem!

I hunt ag fields in NE Georgia that are either having chicken poop used for fertilizer....or the neighboring farms are using chicken litter for fertilizer. 100 percent yes!!! The wild turkey populations in agricultural NE Georgia are going down hill so fast it's sad! Scary!! 

I would love to learn more of the affects chicken litter has on wild turkey in Georgia!
I would love to learn more and be a part of any one who logically want's to help do something about our declining population!


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## mattech (May 3, 2017)

Nicodemus said:


> Quail have come back here really good in the last 10 years or so, and turkeys are doing well too. One thing we are doing around here is fire ant control (as good as we can anyway) and it has really helped.



I think fire ants could be a huge problem for poults.


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## XIronheadX (May 3, 2017)

Tomorrows weather will be a problem for poults.


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## Nicodemus (May 3, 2017)

As far as turkeys and predators, they have been in contact with each other since the Pleistocene. If predators haven`t wiped them out in that length of time, you can quit worrying about that problem. 

Whether folks want to admit it or not, the problem is man made, in some form or fashion.


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## XIronheadX (May 3, 2017)

Nicodemus said:


> As far as turkeys and predators, they have been in contact with each other since the Pleistocene. If predators haven`t wiped them out in that length of time, you can quit worrying about that problem.
> 
> Whether folks want to admit it or not, the problem is man made, in some form or fashion.



True, Nic. Best turkey population I've seen was a place infested with coyotes and coons. I've seen hardwood loss ruin one place back in the late 80's.


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## spurrs and racks (May 4, 2017)

*the problem is man made*

50 years ago when I was young(big smile) folks still hunted squirrels, raccoons, possum.....

today, I'm not sure that I can name anybody who small game hunts. 

I never saw a Yote in the woods until my late 20's.

So, yes I do believe the problem is man made...to some measure. But, The problem is the turkeys have many enemy's ....and man does not do to the turkey population in the last couple years that a poor hatch 2 years in a row can do. I have a friend who lives inside the refuge in Jones county. Late spring control burns have him on fire.

And, I live on a farm and I can say this....I have seen what fire ants can do to chicks. The chicks do not have long to hatch out, dry themselves off and get moving. And, once the fire ants have found the nest the remainder of the unhatched chicks don't stand a chance.

s&r


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## killerv (May 5, 2017)

We are in the same boat, although we have scratched at a couple, its been nothing like years past. Very few hens also. Not hearing the birds we used to and not hearing the shots from others either. Pigs in the area have become bad.


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## DRBugman85 (May 5, 2017)

killerv said:


> We are in the same boat, although we have scratched at a couple, its been nothing like years past. Very few hens also. Not hearing the birds we used to and not hearing the shots from others either. Pigs in the area have become bad.


KILL THE  pigs they ruin turkey nest.They smell them and destroy and eat the eggs.


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## TexasRed45 (May 8, 2017)

Unfortunately we have the same problem here where I hunt.  Its is a beautiful property that has always been a good place to turkey hunt.  Only lately no one has been hearing any  gobblers.  The last gobbler was taken about 6 years ago now.  I have hunted the place hard for the past two years and haven't heard a thing.  Very rarely even see them during deer season.  The place has almost no pressure, hardly anyone but me goes there anymore.  So what gives? A few weeks ago I was fairly stumped as to why I wasn't hearing any gobbles after hunting 7 mornings in a row.  And then I realized what was going on.  As I was walking back to the truck I saw a good sized coyote walk, stop, and look right at me very calmly, right across the road 80 yds in front of me.  This made me think that growing up we never heard coyotes on the property but over the last couple of years I have begun to hear them more and more.  I have to believe that this is why I am not hearing any gobblers, the dang yotes are running them out!!  Now just worried about the fawn mortality rate on the property,  that could be the next bullwinkle!!


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## big lazer (May 9, 2017)

Clear cuts and endless pine rows.


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## JMB (May 10, 2017)

What Nickodemus said...


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## cumberland (May 12, 2017)

Wild hogs have certainly hurt nesting success in the mountains in recent years.


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