Moving Louisiana's Season Later

[Splittoe]

http://www.nola.com/outdoors/index.ssf/ ... jor_c.html

I don't entirely understand the point of this. If you're not reducing bag limit or season length I would think you're not effecting turkey harvest. I don't think that there are any hens that aren't getting bred. Or that hunters in the woods are effecting breeding cycles.

Also in 2018 it's a 2 week change due to there being 5 saturdays in March. Meaning season will end May 6. It's hot in early May in Louisiana.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this.

[dirt road ninja]

It's hot in March. The decline is due to Habitat loss, I doubt it will help.

[howl]

Are they moving the open dates until after peak breeding? Kind of a bad idea if you want to limit harvest.

[870 Shooter]

They keep talking to the boys at Arkansas and it'll start in July. Ours got better this year by 5 days and opens on Monday.

[Waddle Whacker]

I can give you a pretty good run down of why this is happening. Don't quote me on exact numbers or dates, but I listened to the turkey study leader for about an hour last week, so I kinda understand it. We do have a new turkey study leader, but he's just carrying on what was done the last 10+ years before he gained the position. Our turkey population has decreased around 40% statewide over the last 10 years, and is trending down...as we in LA all know.
So they radio tagged a bunch of hens. Out of those tracked over the years, 123 of those hens nested. On average they all nested on April 9th (pretty sure that's the date, could've been the 7th). Which means they were bred 30-48 hours prior. I think he said it was somewhere around 70% of our turkey harvest occurs within the first week of the season....therefore those toms never get a chance to breed. That basically what it's about. We won't be losing hunting days, it'll just be a later start. I'm all for it after listening to Cody...something needs to change. I don't know that this is the answer, but I think it's worth a shot.
This opening will not be after peak breeding. Guess we'd be hunting into May if that was the case. That question was asked...why not push it back until after April 9. He knew the hunters wouldn't appreciate that. This seems to be a compromise between the turkey and the hunter. I also totally agree on the habitat changes. As a turkey hunter, and someone who would like for my kids to turkey hunt, I'll support the move to a later opener. I just think something needs to be done. It doesn't hurt my feelings any, and it can't hurt to try....our population is only getting worse.

[GLS]

Clay, thanks for telling us what appears to be a well-reasoned motive for changing things up for the better. There appears to be a scientific method behind the proposal. Here in Georgia, it was a political move to allow deer hunters to "bait" deer in some areas. I heard a radio program a few years ago wherein a biologist for the DNR appeared live on O'Neill Outside on WSB 750 a.m. in Atlanta. I was driving to the turkey woods on a Saturday morning when the biologist made the above comment about the decision being a political move by the state legislature with no basis regarding game management principles. The jokes pretty much on those who wanted the change, at least around here. The deer adapted and now come to the feeders okay, but in the pitch blackness of night. Gil

[Waddle Whacker]

Yeah Gil, this looks to be totally biologist/bird driven. They've apparently put in a lot of work the last 10+ years studying our birds, and feel like something needs to change. I think the only hurdle at this point may be to get the politicians on their side. This proposal has not passed yet.

[GLS]

I've taken part in a gps study on land that has gps saddled gobblers. The study shows the interaction (or non-interaction) of the hunters and hunted. It's been ongoing for several years. A hockey puck sized unit is carried by the hunter and downloaded after the hunt. The study has noted some gobblers not moving an inch for hours in areas that are hunted and are often within a 100 yards of the hunters unseen. Hell, I could have told them that. Gil

[Tail Feathers]

I'm in E. Texas about 50 miles from the LA line. Our Eastern season starts April 15 and runs to May 14.
It gets real hot and the gobbling really slows down after the first week of May. I sure wish they would make our season the month of April like it used to be.
And our Easterns are in a big decline. Most counties around here have been closed to turkey hunting for the past three or four years, including my home county.

[Splittoe]

Next year it will open April 7th and close may 6. Are there really hens going unbred due to lack of gobblers from hunters killing all the gobblers?

So many reg's are politically motivated it's hard to trust a biological one.

[quavers16]

I am from New York and our Spring Season is always May 1st--31st. I would prefer moving that to the last Saturday in April and wrote in to the DEC about it. No change will be coming. We lost most of our Fall turkey season as well. In my area my 6 week Fall season has been slashed to just 2 weeks and a 2 bird limit has been cut in half to just 1.

[Cove]

I'm unsure about this particular move but I know we as sportsman need to get in line with our biologists more so than we are now. You would be amazed at the amounts of rules/ regulations that are politically motivated rather than science based. A hunters best friend is a motivated biologist. Many want to throw their hands up and claim "the man" is wanting to take away their "rights" when changes are suggested. If these changes are coming from your biologists and are supported by findings and facts, then you best listen and participate.

And this was directed at no one in particular.

[GobbleNut]

Having the spring season (in any state) set too early is one of a number of factors that might affect reproductive success in wild turkeys. Theoretically, the season should be set such that there is some assurance that breeding of most, and preferably all, of the hens has taken place prior to any disruptions of the breeding cycle. Again, in theory, a single breeding of a hen by a gobbler is sufficient for her entire clutch of eggs to be fertilized, and a hen can supposedly "store" viable semen inside for as much as 60 days (or thereabouts) after being bred.

To my knowledge, there is no research that indicates that for hens to lay fertile eggs, they must be bred with 48 hours (or less) to lay a fertile egg on a particular day. Hen turkeys lay a single egg a day until their clutch is complete. That is not a process that occurs in a short period of time.

Is hunting disruption, if occurring early in the breeding season, a significant enough factor to cause incomplete breeding of the hens in a flock? That may well be causative in certain areas with high hunter pressure/disturbance, but in many others, probably not. Personally, I think it is wise to err on the side of caution as to when to start the hunting season,...but I also believe that the affect of starting the season too early is probably much less of a problem in most turkey populations than are such things as severe weather events (flooding, etc.), lack of adequate nesting habitat, and nest-raiding predators.

There is no doubt that turkey biologists are searching for answers as to why populations have experienced significant declines in some regions. Timing of spring hunting seasons is only one possibility,...but it is a possibility. Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary to adjust hunting seasons, when indicated, to find out for sure if hunt timing is a factor in those declines.