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Thread: Good read....

  1. #1
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    Default Good read....

    Newsletter

    http://www.soforest.com/news/blog/20...-turkeys-gone/

    Where Have All the Turkeys Gone?
    Are you seeing as many turkeys as you normally do? How many gobblers have you been hearing on your spring turkey hunting trips? If your answers to these questions is either “no” or “not very many” you must be wondering why. Opinions are plentiful about the apparent decline in turkey numbers. Some probably have some merit, others not so much. One thing is certain, many states across the south are reporting reduced turkey populations. The chart below shows the reproductive trends in Georgia for the last 35 years based on poult to hen ratios as measured by their wildlife biologists. Ratios above 2.0 indicate an average to good hatch, while <2.0 is not good. Georgia numbers have generally been under 2 for the last 10+ years. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that this statewide trend in turkey reproduction is not good. Let’s explore some of the possible reasons for these declines.

    turkey-chart

    Prescribed Burning

    The relationship between turkeys and prescribed burning has been researched for many years. More recently, much of this research has focused on the impact of growing season burning (normally considered to be burns conducted after April 1) on turkey reproduction and habitat quality. Research indicates that hens prefer to nest in areas that have been burned within the last 2 years. Areas not burned within the last 2 years are generally avoided by hens. Without question, prescribed burning is a very important tool in the turkey management tool box. When those burns should be conducted is still up for debate. One study found little difference in insect abundance between winter and spring burned areas, while another study found a sharp increase in the average number of insects the first year after a growing season burn. Burns conducted before April 1 (i.e. cool season) have little impact on actual turkey nests, however growing season burns have been shown to destroy some nests. Are the nest losses enough to impact the overall turkey population? The research says no. Studies in Mississippi and Georgia found that while a few nests were destroyed by growing season fires, the overall percentages were low and in many cases the hens re-nested further reducing the impact of these losses. Both of these studies concluded that overall habitat improvement outweighed the loss of a few nests.

    Regardless of your opinion on the impacts of growing season burning, it is hard to imagine that enough growing season burning is being done to impact turkey populations throughout the south. A more likely cause for reduced turkey numbers is complete lack of prescribe burning on millions of acres in the southeast. I travel a lot across the south, and with the exception of large quail plantations and most federal properties, regularly burned tracts are the exception rather than the norm. The limited use of prescribed fire should be a major concern of southern turkey hunters.

    Predators

    Like burning, the impacts of predators on turkey populations has been well researched. There is no doubt that predators impact turkey numbers but which predators are doing the most damage? Historically, nest predators such as raccoons, opossums, and skunks have had a far greater impact on turkey reproduction than larger predators like bobcats and coyotes. Coyotes have been receiving a lot of press lately about their impacts on wildlife populations. I’m sure that coyotes will opportunistically eat turkey eggs, poults, and hens, but the most current research indicates that their impacts to population numbers is not nearly as great as the egg eaters mentioned above.

    Should you practice predator control on your property? The short answer is certainly “yes”, but don’t expect that removing a few coons and possums will put a turkey behind every bush. Intensive predator control is expensive, labor intensive and research shows that while it can be successful, if habitat conditions are not suitable to accommodate the additional reproduction, then your efforts will not be rewarded. Take home message: Get your habitat in shape before undertaking an intensive predator control project.

    Hunting

    It is a generally accepted premise that harvesting a limited numbers of males from a population does not impact overall population health. This is the theory behind gobbler only spring turkey hunting. Harvesting gobblers after hens have been bred has little impact to overall turkey numbers. While that is true I would like to offer another point of view to this accepted principle. If you agree that turkey reproduction has been trending down as indicated by the previous chart, then fewer turkeys, thus few gobblers, are being produced each year. Turkey hunter numbers have been increasing. Turkey hunting technology and the use of gadgets (decoys, blinds, etc.) has without a doubt increased hunter success. Yet with this increased success, season bag limits have not changed in most southern states in many years. Here is the rub: if fewer gobblers are being hatched and more gobblers are being killed, than it would stand to reason that after a few seasons the numbers of gobblers heard on a spring morning would be reduced. Is this the reason hunters seem to be hearing less gobbling each spring? Is it time to consider reducing bag limits, making jakes illegal, and/or shortening the season?

    Discussion

    There is certainly no silver bullet when it comes to increasing turkey populations. No single event or issue is responsible for the decline, but more likely it is a combination of many things. That is the way things work in nature.

    If you are concerned about burning up turkey nests, schedule your burning earlier in the year. Most hens begin to nest, at least in our part of the world, in late March to early April. Incubation, on average, begins in mid-April. Whether you schedule your burns early or prefer growing season burns, please burn – it is extremely important to burn!

    I would encourage everyone to try trapping and predator hunting. These are very interesting sports that require improving your outdoor skills and knowledge of the critter you pursue. Coyote hunting is gaining popularity, especially by those concerned about deer fawn production. Give it a try, you might like it!

    Spring turkey hunting is a grand sport and one that I have enjoyed for years. I fear that with the increased emphasis on killing turkeys, we are losing the essence of the sport. Are we at a turkey hunting crossroads where consideration should be given to reducing bag limits? I’m sure there is a wide divergence of opinion on this, but we should at least be having a conversation about it.

    One positive to come from these downward trending numbers is that increased research dollars are being spent to further understand turkey ecology. Turkeys were heavily researched in the 1970’s and 1980’s as turkey populations were being rebuilt and expanding. Turkey research waned some in the 90’s but is picking up steam now. While there are no simple answers, hopefully recent and upcoming research findings will put us back on the path to increasing turkey numbers. We certainly hope so.
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  2. #2
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    This research mentioned was done in pine dominated habitat, so it would apply to that habitat alone. I agree with those findings. RX fire is a great thing for many species when applied properly as to timing, return interval, size and intensity in pine dominated forests especially more so if timber harvest is the main objective.

    I do find it somewhat ironic that he contradicts himself between fire loss being non pertinant and predator loss being pertinant but in thought he most likely isn't considering or even thinking of landscaped sized burns greater than 250 acres as seen on public lands throughout the SE. The author does later add some light in his discussion section semi smoothing this over.

    All in all a pretty good article when reading between the lines. It fails to mention many other possible facets of the decline such as poultry related disease, fragmentation and Neonics but as mentioned still a good general article. No doubt the decline is a multi faceted and wide spread occurrence. However in a noted decline I just can't get behind burning large tracts during nesting season @ 3/15-6/15 "If" one truly values their wild game. I should add that most private land owners follow this rule of thumb and see the positive results. To me its just common sense to be careful of wild game fecundity.

    Still though, even after asking Tall Timbers, The LLA among other groups and Turkey biologist no one has yet been able to produce a factual paper showing that landform/acreage = "X" ( having no growing season fire regime) where growing season fire "Y" has been introduced (even in best return intervals, sizes and with best fire effects laid down) where "Z" = population of Turkey and Quail has actually increased. As the author himself expressed, if producing future habitat actually was doing what the generic statement of " a few nests lost are not more valuable than possible future habitat" then surely such a paper would exist showing increased populations right? There are plenty of shoulds and coulds but no factual data showing such of which I have found to present.


    In other words there is no [past nor current research showing X + Z where over any time frame a greater yield of Y has been found as the result of growing season fire. Maybe, as he mentions, with the renewed interest in Turkey research just that type of research will provide a conclusive answer. I am hearing some stirrings as to something like that being done soon.
    Last edited by Strick9; 06-28-2018 at 10:37 PM.
    Genesis 9;2

  3. #3
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