What happened to Turkeys

[YFKI1983]

My whole life, up until about 5 years ago we would see so many turkey on our property in the fall. Now all of a sudden we do not see 1. All year. The last few years we are lucky to see a couple pass through. Only 1 on camera all season.

 

What the heck happened?

 

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[bhunterED]

Fischer

36 minutes ago, YFKI1983 said:

 

My whole life, up until about 5 years ago we would see so many turkey on our property in the fall. Now all of a sudden we do not see 1. All year. The last few years we are lucky to see a couple pass through. Only 1 on camera all season.

 

What the heck happened?

 

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In my opinion it's the fishers that are the main reason in the decline. Every year I see more fishers and less turkeys.

[Grouse]

Coyotes and all the animals nobody traps anymore, since the state made it so difficult to be a trapper.  I don't see many fisher, but the turkeys are almost gone.

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by Grouse

[Gobbler Chaser]

Happened very sudden around here in south Ulster. Only a few years ago I was watching flocks of 40 plus birds walk under my stand all the time. I'd look out my front door and see the whole front yard covered with them. Now they're down on Long Island, my sister in Medford has them everywhere. Something or a combination of things pretty much wiped them out around here. 

[Grouse]

The NY DEC hasn't been doing it's job.

[Gobbler Chaser]

9 minutes ago, Grouse said:

The NY DEC hasn't been doing it's job.

What could they have done. Sometimes nature takes it own course no matter what we would like. Fishers, racoons and even crows that have become really good at spotting spring nests. Who knows. I hope they rebound one day as quickly as they disappeared

[Nomad]

Must vary by location. I see tons of them every deer hunt , and I’m loaded with coyotes as well .

[Grouse]

1 hour ago, Gobbler Chaser said:

What could they have done. Sometimes nature takes it own course no matter what we would like. Fishers, racoons and even crows that have become really good at spotting spring nests. Who knows. I hope they rebound one day as quickly as they disappeared

They could have left the trappers alone and not implemented all sorts of feel good animal rights trapping methods, removing the old school methods that were effective and easy to use.  Without trappers keeping the predators in check, turkey are disappearing.  It's the DEC's job to know when something like this is happening and stop it.  They didn't.

[Lomax]

Have them here in abundance in Cayuga County 7f.  I had been seeing a lot less birds up until late summer and early fall now it appears they are on the upswing. Seen some decent flocks bow hunting this year. 

[Cabin Fever]

Practically none by me. I had 6 hens visiting my yard every day all summer. Not one poult with them! Haven't seen the hens in my yard or while hunting in almost 2 months now. I have 16 trailcams out and never get pics of turkeys!

[YFKI1983]

Nomad is spot on!  NY Turkey Population  varies by ( Location).
 ORANGE COUNTY has come Roaring back since 2015. Hen Turkeys everywhere  now. Which is why,I took one recently. 
 Remember  also that the DEC changed completely the Fall Turkey Season  back in 2015 in "3" ways in Zones 3+4.
  Cut the Fall Season back from 6 Weeks to just 2 Weeks. Cut the Bag Limit by 50% from 2 Turkeys to 1. And the 3rd part that,I never agreed with was moving the Fall Turkey Opening Day from October  1st when alot of Small Game Opens up also to- this year-- October  16th.
   No DEC Field Reports after 7 years as far as Turkey Populations that,I have seen yet.
  Going from my observations in Orange + Rockland Counties-- Turkey Populations  are Booming with a surplus of Hens. And,I currently  feed a Flock of 15 Turkeys.
Now the situation  is Horrible  in the New Jersey Counties of Passaic + Sussex where,I also hunt Turkeys.
  With Black Bear Hunting Banned on Public Dirt-- they are everywhere...  Who knows how many Turkey Nests they raid. 
  Not much Gobbling the last 2 Springs in NJ. I was Lucky to nail a Jake in 2020.
  Too- NJ needs to change the Spring Turkey Limit. Right now there is No Limit... If you have Deep Pockets and know the System- you can buy up to 27 Spring Turkey Permits.
 But- I understand  changes are coming to New Jersey as well. Too many Rich NJ Hunters are taking far too many Gobblers for any 1 State to offer.
  Anyway,I believe Spring 2022 will be a Good year for alot of NY Gobbler Hunters. 
  If,I lived in one of those Pockets that had Few Turkeys- personally  this Fanatic would drive a Full 1 Hour to a better area.

I'm sure there are spots that still have Turkey. There are an estimated 180K in NY according to DEC. However, that number was estimated between 250k and 300k in 2001. That's a huge difference. I dont trap so I didn't know of any law changes but that is interesting. Come to think of it, I hear coyotes a lot more now in 4o than I used to in the past.
I am going to email DEC and see what they say and if there is any plan in place.

Talking to my father and uncles who were hunting here in late 80s and early 90s said when they started hunting here they would rarely see Turkey and that changed. Hopefully they turn it around again.

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[WNYTRPR]

Still have the same turkeys around as in years past .Only thing more abundant now are fishers .Turkeys to me disappear to other roosting areas as if they disappeared,then one day they just all show up again .So maybe they are there ,just found greener pastures ?

I will say ,fox ,coyote ,fisher all are tough on a Turkey population .Then you have coon ,skunk and possum along with the above that love the eggs .I’m sure birds of prey get their fair share also .

[WNYTRPR]

3 hours ago, Grouse said:

They could have left the trappers alone and not implemented all sorts of feel good animal rights trapping methods, removing the old school methods that were effective and easy to use.  Without trappers keeping the predators in check, turkey are disappearing.  It's the DEC's job to know when something like this is happening and stop it.  They didn't.

Imo ,surprisingly NYS still has some pretty decent trapping laws compared to many states .2 things that factor in the loss of trappers :fur prices and no new recruits ie.younger generation.Gas prices also don’t help out .so make that 3 for starters .

 

[jperch]

Turkey numbers and behavior was very different 20 or 25 years ago.  I remember one day on the farm during bow season when I saw two huge flocks of hens/poults and one flock of gobblers, over a hundred birds.  There is nothing like that now.  I think when turkeys rebounded it took a while for predators to learn they are a good food source.  Yes, fishers are almost common now and they are fierce predators who climb trees easily.  I will throw in that I think there are a lot more hawks and owls than there used to be and I suspect they take a lot of poults.  Throw in a lot of wet springs and who knows??  I'm not sure trapping has been a big factor for us, we never had trapping on our property.  There is, and has been, tons of coyotes.  It sure was fun back then but I don't blame anyone for the change, change happens.

[wolc123]

I think the coyotes do more good than bad for the turkeys, by controlling the coon and fox population somewhat.  
 

[turkeyfeathers]

8 hours ago, Grouse said:

Coyotes and all the animals nobody traps anymore, since the state made it so difficult to be a trapper.  I don't see many fisher, but the turkeys are almost gone.

 

how did the state make it difficult to trap? I used to trap hard many years ago but haven't in years

[turkeyfeathers]

3 hours ago, WNYTRPR said:

Still have the same turkeys around as in years past .Only thing more abundant now are fishers .Turkeys to me disappear to other roosting areas as if they disappeared,then one day they just all show up again .So maybe they are there ,just found greener pastures ?

I will say ,fox ,coyote ,fisher all are tough on a Turkey population .Then you have coon ,skunk and possum along with the above that love the eggs .I’m sure birds of prey get their fair share also .

lack of trapping definately the biggest effect on turkey population especially the egg eaters (coons and grinners)  nobody wants to skin,flesh and stretch a XL coon for $3 

[Grouse]

8 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

how did the state make it difficult to trap? I used to trap hard many years ago but haven't in years

The state made it illegal to use leg hold traps, which were much simpler to use.

[turkeyfeathers]

1 minute ago, Grouse said:

The state made it illegal to use leg hold traps, which were much simpler to use.

legholds arent illegal ?

[First-light]

Don't see many at all in 8P. Although this year I did get one picture with about 20 on it. Very young birds. 

[ncountry]

6 minutes ago, Grouse said:

The state made it illegal to use leg hold traps, which were much simpler to use.

Are you sure?

I know they banned leg holds with teeth.

Unless it was recent and I missed it they are still legal. 

[eaglemountainman]

If leg holds and snares are illegal, what does that leave, just conibears? I'm not a trapper, so I don't know. My personal opinion is that snares with breakaways should be legal for coyotes, and that they should be reclassified as vermin.

[WNYTRPR]

29 minutes ago, Grouse said:

The state made it illegal to use leg hold traps, which were much simpler to use.

What do you mean ?how so ??

[WNYTRPR]

All leg hold caught last season 

[Grouse]

Doesn't the state regulate legal leghold traps to just the small ones?  I don't trap, but know people who quit while complaining about the reg changes years ago.

Edited November 7, 2021 by Grouse