Turkey Population Down Nationwide

[hunter22]

The spring harvest in Arkansas this year was around 9000 birds. Five years ago that number was around 20,000. They discontinued our fall season last year. I think last year's hatch was decent and maybe things will turn around with a couple more good hatches. It sure is hard to hunt where you do not hear a gobble in three days of hunting.

[Lonnie Sneed Jr.]

I did not get to hunt a lot this Spring due to work and jury duty. I hunted 4 straight mornings in a place that has been very good to me for years and never heard a gobble, but this has happened to me when I knew there were a lot of gobblers in an area. Changed places and heard two gobblers and killed both, one on a Friday, one on Sat. I did have luck on my side. I think as a whole in the areas I hunt the turkeys are down a lot from what we had in the late 70's and early 80's.  I am not saying we have no turkey but I do think it is down a good bit. Also I am seeing turkey in places I have never seen them before. So how much they are down I can't say for sure.  I do think a lot is playing into the turkey being down in places, from hunters to pred.  I base turkey  being down when I get to hunt or be in the woods a lot and don't hear anything, and I did not get to hunt a lot this Spring so I can't say for sure.

[jmck]

are there any studies about the use of Chicken manure as fertilizer---we do use it on our corn crops to get it started

[West Augusta]

http://www.mdwfp.com/wildlife-hunting/turkey-program/turkey-ecology-and-life-history/will-disease-decrease-turkey-numbers.aspx

http://www.nwtf.org/conservation/bulletins/bulletin_25.pdf

Looks like there are also studies that show no ill effects.

[TRKYHTR]

The turkey POP isn't down where I live but I am trying to keep them from taking over the state. Lol

TRKYHTR

[West Augusta]

The local paper said that West Virginia had a spring kill of nearly 11, 000 which is UP nearly 32% over last year. 
Those birds weren't near me. 

[muzzleman]

I'm not hearing alot of gobbling here in Pa either, But with the amount of turkeys I seen last fall , with that many hens they don't have to gobble, they wake up with thier hens right with them. Last week alone my cousin and I called in two yotes and a huge bobcat , that tends to make the gobblers pretty quiet.  One day we heard eight different gobblers On a huge top back in the mountains, haven't heard them since, but there is sign everwhere.  And where i grew up there are just two many hens. Cutter and I will have to do something about that this fall.!!!

[Lumberjack]

I heard more turkeys in P.A. than ever before, hunt state gamelands and heard 4 to 12 a day for first week. New York on the other hand was totally different,lucky to hear a bird a day.Our camp in N.Y. has always had a good amount of birds around this was worst season in 20 yrs.

[M Sharpe]

One of the problems that I encountered was not yotes or bobcats, it was other peoples dogs that were running loose.

[Spring Dragon]

Here where I hunt in PA I know its down, way down as compared to past years.  Dont see anywhere near the number of birds and gobbling is more of a rarity than the norm.  Tough hunting.  Went to WV this year too to hunt some and saw lots of birds but gobbling was minimal compared to past seasons there for me

[KPcalls]

  I think in one way it's is a cycle of good hatches, but there are so many places down this way that were full of turkeys in the eighties that are gone with very little apparent change....Mark brought up alot of good questions....

[boxcaller]

you have to look at it on a big scale,....start the scale (graph) in 1980 and take it up to 2010,....most everyone will agree that their graph goes up DRASTICALLY over those years,....there is no way in any species that that can continue,..mother nature will correct that graph somewhere along the way,...it has to come down and then stabilize for about the same time it took that drastic climb.  We are just starting to see that downward trend on the graph,....that trend along with some unique weather conditions made things very noticeable over the past two years.   It will be fine over time,......we just got spoiled very badly during the late 90's and early 2000's in certain areas.

[West Augusta]

Here is the harvest report from the West Virginia DNR.  Marion county where I live is actually up quite a bit.
http://www.wvdnr.gov/2013news/13news112.shtm

[CW]

The last issue of the bird hunting report had an article about the numbers being down in OK which is what I have witnessed hunting the same property the last 4 seasons.

[Silverspur]

With the amount of rain in the country, hatch numbers could be worse.  Northeast has taken a pounding just as poults have hatched or will hatch