No Jakes Rule?

[Pygmy]

Adjusting the gobbler kill is going to make NO difference in the population.

 

It's like deer..If you want to manage the total population, the hens are the key.

 

If you want more turkeys, protect the hens, as simple as that,

 

Unfortunately, Mother Nature has more to say about it than we do.. A couple of good or bad nesting seasons will  determine the population level much more than any bag limits, beard or sex restrictions, or whatever.

[nyslowhand]

Pretty much agree with everyone else, managing the harvest or either toms or hens will NOT help increase the overall population. If anything, like G-MAN stated, go back to the old limit of a staggered 2X tom spring season. Predator management is the key, especially the notorious "nest raiders". At least in my neck-of-the-woods, the last few springs have been extremely wet, which is not conducive to a good annual hatch. Also in the small area I hunt, the overall population has gone down, which I'm assuming is due to probably no eggs/poults surviving. IMHO, if there is an abundant population of raccoons, skunks, opossums, fox, etc in your area - the turkey population will struggle to maintain their #s and more than likely decline. So, attempting to manage the turkey population through hunting harvest #s would be futile at best!

 

 

Edited February 26, 2014 by nyslowhand

[landtracdeerhunter]

Like any other animal, habitat is the key to their survival. If people would like to see more wild turkey in their area, improve your areas habitat . I'm a firm believer in this!

Edited February 26, 2014 by landtracdeerhunter

[Five Seasons]

I'm going to see if I can figure out the driver behind the 6" rule, but a hunch of mine is that it has the same idea as ARs do, and while perhaps my initial post referring to habitat and numbers being down will threw the convo off, I believe the idea is for hunters over 15 to get more shots at better birds, just like the goal of ARs is to get more chances at bigger bucks.

[Pygmy]

I hated the split season...It really sucked to kill a bird the first day or two of season and then have to wait 2 weeks to go hunting again, especially if you scheduled vacation for gobbler hunting.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Guessing the split season didn't work for TR, so it was dropped. Kinda lost touch with the last turkey study, but can it be deemed a failure or a success?

[dbHunterNY]

I wouldn't care.  we don't have a restriction on shooting jakes at the family farm.  I don't shoot them but others do.  split season sucks.  I don't encourage shooting of hens.  the population isn't that high here but the holding capacity isn't either.

[phade]

Feral cats...people forget about them. They devastate nests.

[G-Man]

The return of fisher,bear to many areas has to have an effect as well, but mother nature weather and habitat is a big key.. them food plots that we put in many fallow field destroys some prime nesting and bugging cover... always study your property before making changes to it. you might be better off knocking over some forest and clearing for a food plot than reclaiming a fallow field that had become prime nesting and bedding cover..... sometime the easy road hurts more than helps

[Terry]

It's funny you bring up fisher. I have seen more fisher in Oswego and Cayuga counties in the last 5 years than the 15 before that. Pretty cool animal to watch.

[Fanaddict]

I haven't shot a jake in the spring season in years they all get a free pass. In the fall I'll take them and hen's. I have turkey dog that I use in the fall and have a lot of time and money in her. Theres nothing like having a dog break a flock of birds than calling them back to the gun. There's not alot of fall turkey hunters out there so the # of birds taking in the fall amounts to nothing. A better idea is get rid of the stupid season on coyotes!!

[Trial153]

No Jakes here....I given a pass.

[john12205]

Adjusting the gobbler kill is going to make NO difference in the population.

 

It's like deer..If you want to manage the total population, the hens are the key.

 

If you want more turkeys, protect the hens, as simple as that,

 

Unfortunately, Mother Nature has more to say about it than we do.. A couple of good or bad nesting seasons will  determine the population level much more than any bag limits, beard or sex restrictions, or whatever.

 

I agree. Things seem to go in cycles and nature plays the big role in those cycles. I've hunted in area's on my property where the squirrels would be every where one year but few and far between in the next. I have a lot of oak there. Some years there's a lot of corns, some years not. Nature is a big factor.

[john12205]

Feral cats...people forget about them. They devastate nests.

 

I agree and have had this problem here.

N.Y.S. requires me to have a license for my dogs, with proof of rabies vaccination and my hounds have to be under control all the time.

 

I've been in the woods and seen these cats killing everything they can take down and NYS has no requirements on cats.

 

They cleaned every rabbit, squirrel and song bird off my property at one point.

 

I've had them in packs of 4 or 5 stare me down and even start approaching me with no fear of a human and in a not a friendly kitty way. I'm sure some had rabies.

 

When I hunt I consider them to be  unprotected with no closed season if that gives you a clue.

They are tougher then you would think to take down.

[maytom]

It's a personal decision all the way. I will only try to harvest a Gobbler, mainly because I collect the beards and spurs. As most of you know, a jake has a stubbie for a beard and a small nub for a spur.

[Five Seasons]

worried about this spring. this winter is going to hurt the deer and turkey. the deer might be better off for it, but the turkeys really can't afford it.

[G-Man]

the crust on the snow really helped the birds this winter as did all the apples still hanging in the trees. had a good melt here and southern exposures melted to the ground. good flock out in the winter rye 3 gobbles 5 jakes and about 20 hens. deer here are still high in population over 50 in the rye every day... thats here 9w conditions may have differed where you are..

[Pygmy]

Here in 8X and 8T we did not have enough snow to limit mobility of the deer and turkeys.

 

The super cold temps do stress the critters to a degree, but are not nearly as harmful as deep snows.

 

Generally, if they can stay mobile, they can get enough to eat above ground. 

[Fanaddict]

I agree and have had this problem here.

N.Y.S. requires me to have a license for my dogs, with proof of rabies vaccination and my hounds have to be under control all the time.

 

I've been in the woods and seen these cats killing everything they can take down and NYS has no requirements on cats.

 

They cleaned every rabbit, squirrel and song bird off my property at one point.

 

I've had them in packs of 4 or 5 stare me down and even start approaching me with no fear of a human and in a not a friendly kitty way. I'm sure some had rabies.

 

When I hunt I consider them to be  unprotected with no closed season if that gives you a clue.

They are tougher then you would think to take down.

 

 

 

This has got to be the DUMBEST post I have ever read!!!

 

 

Anybody and I mean anybody who shoots a cat is an A-HOLE and has no right calling themselves a sportsman!!!

[G-Man]

I have a not so poltically correct field and stream magazine from the 50's. in a large color lithograph on the back cover,,it reads Save yourr small game kill all feral cats!!!  it really is a great lithograph. and a ferral animal cat or dog, should be put down, imo.  a collar on an animal is a different story. my friend's son was attacked an bitten by a lage ferral cat last fall and at age 17 had to undergo rabies shots as he was able to kill the cat and have it tested. and it proved positive.

[hunter49]

   I say no, you can have a mature tom with a 10" beard today & we get ice & snow & in 2 days that beard can freeze/break off & be 3".  The 6" rule might work in MS. because they don't get snow/ice like we do.  jmo.

[nyantler]

No need for a beard size restriction... just looking at the fan will tell mature from juvenile.

 

[Terry]

And although a little more difficult, also by the wings

[WNYBuckHunter]

This has got to be the DUMBEST post I have ever read!!!

Anybody and I mean anybody who shoots a cat is an A-HOLE and has no right calling themselves a sportsman!!!

Feral cats are a scourge on the environment. Pet cats should have a collar or be kept indoors, the ones that have turned wild should be done away with. Do some research on the subject.

[hunter49]

  I watched the neighbors pet cat stalk & pounce on a poult turkey (3-4#) last sping in my back yard luckily the mother hen went after the cat & the young one got away.  We can only guess what  feral cats,fox,cototes,& hawks are doing to the turkey population. I would say they lucky to stay alive.