I saw where they’re talking about going to adult birds only for adult hunters, no Jake’s. Under 18 can take one Jake and the other must be an adult bird. What do you guys think? I’m surprised I didn’t hear that option here when the turkey talk was big a couple seasons ago.
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They have had that law in Mississippi for years, I thank it has merit especially if you thank killing fall hens has an effect but not if you still allow killing spring hens.
The old biologists who brought them back from the brink would say there statistics enyhow and you’d might as well get sport out of A few instead of letting the wildcats and winter have them all. But…given the fact that we are prolly killing spring birds at a rate they never saw or fathomed it may not be the same.
Personally I believe in a day and age where most hunters take every advantage and allow the bird none. It should be 1 bird no hens half a day for the first half of season, in the spring since asking for ethics laws is clearly out.
It’s not a traditional turkey season enymore it’s a slaughter.
Colt
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I believe no hens was part of what I read too. There’s a fine line between allowing the most a chance for some success and not killing too many. A lot of people expect instant or quick success and if they don’t get it they start complaining. I’m afraid game depts. listen to them too much and not the dumb old hillbillies that are out there seeing things.
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Personally I think it should be one gobbler/jake in the spring, no hens in the spring. No decoys for at least the first half of season. And in the fall 2 or 3 either sex.
It just makes sense to me that in the fall, when you have the most turkeys on the land, and a big number of them isn’t going to make it til spring, to allow hunters to put the excess to use.
And in the spring, to limit the use of crutches and killing the adult breeding males during breeding season, and eliminate the killing of females during breeding season.
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I gave up on ever being a Game Warden years ago; But in the age of online sales, and online telecheck’s, how hard would it be to have an either / or Turkey Season, with a couple of options? If a guy only wanted to hunt in the Spring, He could buy a Turkey Tag #1 option of a Turkey limit of one Gobbler only in the Spring, with a shotgun or Bow?
Or, A Turkey tag option #2 Fall season that allows for the taking of 3 birds of either sex in the Fall? Most folks only eat Turkey around Thanksgiving time seems like, so maybe going to a tag option type of season of Spring only hunting as option #1, or option #2 hunters would have to wait till Fall only to hunt, with the possibility of taking up to 3 birds by waiting till then to hunt. With an automated ticket sale system, once you bought a season option, the system would not allow you to buy the other! This would possibly cut down some of numbers of guys hunting in the Spring Season, and with a one bird limit in that Spring Season, you would basically cut the Spring Harvest down considerably too! … I know this not a perfect option, and in all honesty, I think a one bird limit in Spring, and a one bird limit in the fall would maybe work just as good, but it’s a thought I had. …What are your thoughts on the matter?
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If it would eliminate spring hen killing I would be fine with 1 in spring 1 either sex in fall.
But if there gonna continue to allow spring hen killing I dont like giving up nothin in the fall.
Cause it’s bull with zero logic.
Colt
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I agree with Colt on the hen killing in spring. Bearded hens breed just the same as non bearded hens do. It makes no sense to cut in to the fall hunters number of hens but still allow hens to be killed in the spring during the breeding season.
Most of our turkey season changes have been made due to emotions and public outcry, nothing to due with science or biological facts.
I’ll always stand by the fact that spring turkey season does way more harm than the killing of fall hens. If you include bow season, the fall turkey season runs from September to January. Nearly four months of the year. In those four months there are typically less than 1500 turkeys taken, including hens, jakes, toms, and young of the year. Now take a look at the spring massacre, over 30,000 each spring in 3 weeks time. I’m willing to bet that 90% of those are breeding males. Now I don’t have much book smarts, but even I can see, if there is a problem with turkey numbers, my first bet would be the taking of 30k+ males and hens in three weeks during the breeding season. Not the fall harvest that is a drop in the bucket compared to spring numbers and the fall season is when the most turkeys are on the landscape.
It doesn’t take much in my opinion to figure out what the issue is, and that’s loss of habitat/urbanization. And two, it’s easier now to kill turkeys than ever before. Anybody with a shotgun and a tail fan can do it. Pop up blinds, decoys, chokes and gun/shell combos that can put 200 pellets in a turkey head target at 80+ yards. And hunters having a kill them all for Facebook/youtube fame attitude.
But I guarantee that they’re gonna pussyfoot all the way around the true issues before they dare to lose some license money during the spring money making season.
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