Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting TN Turkey Season

I just saw a little blip that said TWRA is going to move the spring 2023 season back 2 weeks and cut the limit from 3 to 2.
Just last year 2021 season they cut the bag limit from 4 to 3.

Do you think it will help the decline ?

Dang sure ought to help the out of state pressure.

Good for Tennessee! From what I have seen Southwest Virginias turkey population is in more trouble than Tennessee and so far Virginia DNR is doing nothing! But Virginia DNR is a joke and I would not expect anything less....Hb

I think that cutting the limits might help but I don't know. I think it maybe should have been done a few years back. We try to not over hunt the farm we are on, but you don't know who is hunting on the surrounding land.
That and what predators and just nature in general is doing to them either. We have trapped several coons, killed some yotes and a bobcat which I am sure were not helping anything.

I really am not sure what the root cause of the decline is, but TN is not alone in the decline. One thing I do wonder about is all the out of state hunters but I don't think that is the root cause.

Truth is no one at TWRA or the Commissioners have a clue....the original root cause was over population in a lot of areas followed by the spread of disease.

Chicken manure on crop fields....Nest destruction by spring burnings, early hay cutting nest desruction by crows and skunks....Now a seed coating used on agriculture grains is a part of the equation.

All are a problem but they are all localized problems trouble is we need a Nation wide solution not a localized solution.

Most of Tennessee public hunting areas (WMAs) should be put back on a draw/lottery system like they originally were....truth is they should never have been opened with the statewide season.

I didn't agree with TWRA going away from a hard copy game tag and game checking stations.

I think if one wants to look TWRA leadership I think it is responsible for a lot of the blame.

These 3 things should have been addressed at the meeting Bearded hens should have been protected.

Fanning along with the use of any type of gobbler decoy should have been outlawed.

Nonresident hunters should be put on a draw system of some sort....

Cut the nonresident limit to one instead of cutting the resident limit.

"TN is not alone".....there is where the "root" is.

Almost a Nation wide turkey pandemic.

It's a mess in my hunting area. This year was the first season since 2009, that I didn't get at least one bird. Most mornings I didn't even hear any. Sad.

Its as bad or worse in Southern Ohio, a few years ago that area was covered in turkeys ( the most i have seen anywhere) BUT after two weeks of deer hunting last Fall I saw exactly two turkeys in Ohio....Its a shame indeed..Hb

The turkey hunters aren't the problem, recruitment is. Hopefully it's just a cycle and herbicides or pesticides are not the culprit. I don't know what the problem is, but the hens all have very few poults with them. I still see turkeys pretty much every day but there's less every year.

Turkey hunters aren't the problem but sadly we are going to be a part of their solutions.

Kinda like the "gun violence" mania going on in Congress right now. The guns aren't the problem, but...........

I'll be the first to admit I do not know all the reasons populations are dropping. Hunting techniques have become more effective. Choke and shotshell technology has become more effective. Nobody traps anymore and the fur market is most likely never coming back. Modern agriculture is not conducive to turkey (and a whole lot of other critters) populations. It's a wonder turkeys can survive at all.

It's going to be really hard to get game agencies to pull back decoying and fanning policies in any big way. Same goes for HTL shot. EVERY turkey hunter should devote time to predator removal. Raccoons, skunks and possums ESPECIALLY. But also crows, coyotes, fishers and bobcats. Modern farming isn't going to change for the betterment of wildlife, ever. But, even in the heyday of turkey populations where I'm at, the hayfields got mowed too early and the seed corn was treated with captan fungicide, so........ I don't know how you can gauge if and what other things are having a negative effect.

I guess, bottom line is........... I'm going to act upon the things that I can. We mow our fields as late as we possibly can. And, beginning this fall I am waging an all-out carnage on nest predators. Those are the only two things I have control over. So that's the direction my efforts will go.

I'm wondering if the Kentucky folks, KDFWR, will do anything about the turkey decline in our state. Traditionally, they are far more interested in selling hunting licenses than anything else, as they love to rake the money in. The turkey population is way down, and there are no birds in places where I used to hunt them.

As far as the cause of this, I believe there should be some serious study on it, instead of all the speculation. When the turkey population was increasing, they were dealing with predators, farming practices, hunting, and everything else, just as they are now. But, something has changed, and it will take a commitment by the biologists and wildlife agencies to find out what it is. We can speculate all we want to, but I believe it's more complicated than just controlling predators and cutting back the season limits.

The main reason I started predator/varmint hunting way back then. Got tired of finding deer and turkey carcasses. Gave up the 22LR for varmint though, have a little 17 Mach2 now and kinda like fairy dust, smaller is sometimes better!

Those 17's (HMR and Mach2) both shoot way out of their weight class

I need to get a sight in done.

Gonna go with the dinosaur........... 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum. Never used it on yotes before. But it oughta be plenty bad for their health.

I got a friend that lives in Cumberland County, Ky. He's a super turkey hunter and he said this past season was the toughest he's hunted. Don't know if he scored or not.

Are you shooting the Aguila ammo in it?

Predators are not the problem.

Not by themselves, no, you're right. But they are in the equation. And for me, it's something I can do.

You need to include birds of prey on your varmint list. I've personally seen them kill a poult.

No doubt on the Raptors! Last year at my place in NE WI, I heard a commotion at the end of my driveway out at the road. There was an eagle screeching, crows cawing, turkeys putting... it was quite the racket! I walked down there and saw hens trying to keep their polts together and get into the woods across the road, an immature bald eagle was up in a tree making all kinds of noise and there must have been 50 crows flying around making all kinds of noise too. There were so many birds that I started looking around to see if Alfred Hitchcock was nearby! As I walked up, the eagle took off, the crows left and all the turkeys made it across the road into the woods on the other side.

I don't disagree. Not even a little. But, like I said.............. I'm going to act upon the things that I can. As STUPID as it is to have federal protection on an entire class of predators and as badly as I'd like to............. the getting caught part just is not worth it. I obey the law, no matter how stupid it is.

That's commendable, but my beliefs are a little different. You definitely have to be happy with the image you see in the mirror. Just because it's the law doesn't make it right.

Understood.

I am.

The original run of (flat) "hollow point" ammo shoots EXCEPTONALLY well in my 592M. It's not as crazy about the varmint hollow point.

This thread is about Tennessee turkey populations not the ammo you dream about shooting a predator with.

Thanks for that.

You might as well look into predator hunting as a replacement for turkeys. I saw the turkey calls at Academy the other day. I thought, if the population doesn't get better, I don't see a lot of this stuff flying off the shelves.

Who'd have thought 10 or 20 or 30 years ago we'd be where we are today with the declines in turkey populations ???

I live the entire rest of the year for April and May. Whatever I can contribute............ I'm gonna do my dead level best

Who would have thought Ruffed Grouse in Pa, Ohio, West Virginia, etc would have almost winked out. Although Pa seems to be slowly getting better. Yet none of the Commissions gave it much thought until it may have been too late. Turkeys are almost considered big game and have a large following. Most likely they will work on it sooner.

I see far more Canada Geese in fields than I do turkeys. Years ago, the lakes around here were filled with ducks and Canada Geese were an unusual sight. Now, Canada Geese have pretty much displaced ducks and and taken over. And they are in the fields where I used to see turkeys. When I would drive to work 10 years ago through Suffolk and Isle of Wight, I'd see turkeys in the fields, and an occassional dead one that had been hit by a car. In the last couple of years I drove to work that way before I started working from home, I saw mainly geese, and only an occassional turkey. And these geese are here year round. I know some experts say bird flu is spread by waterfowl crap and that turkeys are at low risk since they don't use the same areas. But they do use the same areas.

Turkey numbers in Virginia appear to be stable according to our DWR. But I certainly do see fewer in places that used to have quite a few.

There seems to be a lot of things going on. Growth - woods here are constantly being cleared for apartments or shopping centers. Several farm fields arouind here have for-sale signs in them marked "Zoned for commercial." I do see far more coyotes in the last few years. My neighbors say we have one in our neighborhood. And I saw one in a local Walmart parking lot. And I see their tracks on the trails where I hunt. Raptor numbers have increased exponentially. Geese ARE [bleep] in fields turkeys use. Add there is a multitude of other things going on.

The grouse situation is TRAGIC. They are functionally extinct on our property............where there used to be TONS of them. If the same thing happens to the turkeys..........may as well shoot me.

Take up goose hunting.

Sad to say but turkey's are not the only game bird on the decline, ducks are as well. Don't know if the game and fish departments will admit it but the duck seasons around here and part of Arkansas have sucked for several years.
Snow geese seems to be taking over everywhere.

At least the snow geese actually migrate in and out of here. They and Canadas cover the fields and water here in winter. The snows leave, many of the Canadas stay. The Canads stay and breed and [bleep] all over everything.

Canada Geese, the federally protected non-migrating migratory nuisance species. There's enough of them in this area to feed all the hungry people and more.

Used to. A LOT.

Sold all my dekes several years ago.

I was coming back into the states at Minot, ND from a moose hunt up in the NW corner of Saskatchewan. There was a big bird flu panic going on at the time, 2017? All the waterfowl hunters coming through had to surrender every bird carcass in their possession and there were dumpsters full of dead birds! The smell was pretty bad! Thankfully, there was no moose flu and I rolled right through. I did see, and hear, a lot of very pissed off waterfowl hunters!

There you go....

A turkey man you will never be.

Well, I have been spending my life happily married to the same woman for the last 33 years, having two sons, one a teacher with a masters degree, and one a US Marine. Paying off two houses. Having a very successful career as does my wife. Having more that 6 times the national average in my 401K at 55. Traveling. Fishing. Hunting. Chasing bears with my camera. Caring for my elderly parents for years until both of their deaths last year. And now caring for my father in law who has dementia - because that's what our family does. Surrounded by good friends. And not one single day of my life spent sitting on my ass on "disability." So, with all that, if I can't ad "turkey man" to my resume, I think I'll still be able to sleep at night.

Gonna need a pic of the wife and sons.........a copy of the marriage license......military records.........bank statements and the bear............or you're a ph0ny.



BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!

LOL.

Like I said a turkey man you will never be.

Pretty sure he heard you the first time and didn't give a crap about your opinion THEN.........

That right phoney bOy...

You guys keep ruining what could be some good threads/discussions...

Dean's right, of course. I'll put LFC back on ignore and I will try to do better.

I've thought about it, too. But the cheap entertainment value is hard to give up.

All shOe shine bOy has to do is tell who paid him in the turkey hunting and choke tube industry for decades and I'll leave him alone.

"Leave him alone".......................

As in..........you're bothering me ?????

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!

Luther........you've become the highlight of my days !!!! My sunshine. The cheapest entertainment I've found in a LONG time. I apologize to all the rest of the folks who'd like to have formative discussions here. But, it's like............ I throw the ball and Luther brings it back.

Maybe I should PM Rick Bin to create a separate forum. Just for me and you, Luther.

You have never had an informatine discussion in your life......thar would mean you would have to actually know something.

You trashed me then bragged about who you were that you had been paid...I asked who then you put me on ignore.

Trust me you might as well tell....nothing wrong with being a shOe shine bOy.