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Post by span870 on May 18, 2024 9:13:57 GMT -5
I don't think anyone, least me, is saying don't hunt them. Heck hunt away. My point is more towards those that think they are having a huge negative impact on turkey let alone deer. You could kill every cat we have and will not even have a blip of expansion of turkey numbers. Lack of habitat, loss of habitat, bad nesting habitat and nest raiding predators. Cat may take a turkey here and there and probably not even worth mentioning. Nest raiders will eat every egg and kill the hen also. 10 plus a night every night and they look for eggs on a nightly basis. Raccoons, possums, skunks, crows. Kill every one you see and you'll see an increase in numbers. Cats aren't the problem.
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Post by mattfinney on May 18, 2024 14:49:41 GMT -5
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Post by welder on May 19, 2024 12:17:58 GMT -5
Holy cow!
I just now read this thread and it is interesting, to say the least.
Bobcats, possums, raccoons, FERAL CATS,birds of prey, etc ALL have an impact on game birds and rabbits. I'm not a biologist, I didn't even go to college, I am a greasy old welder, used to be farmer and coal miner. I have ZERO data other than my own observations and experiences, this is going to likely upset some people, but,IMO, the #1 cause of lack of game is.....
ROUNDUP!
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Post by titanium700 on May 19, 2024 14:37:06 GMT -5
There’s probably something to that ⬆️
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Post by tine-n-spur on May 19, 2024 16:02:16 GMT -5
I know Roundup did a number on me or more specifically Agent Orange.I am hospitalized in Nashville Tennessee right now for Car-T cell therapy for Non Hodgins Lymphoma.
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Post by welder on May 19, 2024 17:34:20 GMT -5
I know Roundup did a number on me or more specifically Agent Orange.I am hospitalized in Nashville Tennessee right now for Car-T cell therapy for Non Hodgins Lymphoma. So sorry to hear this! To my understanding, Paraquat,was outlawed, only to have the recipe changed a little and renamed it Gramoxone and they both are pretty much Agent Orange..... |
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Post by mstr2175 on May 21, 2024 8:47:51 GMT -5
I’m torn on this subject, after moving here in 2019 up until 2022, I could go out most nights during turkey season and hear gobbles from the backyard. This year I have heard one single gobbler on my property, while mushroom hunting the first week of April. At the same time I have seen more bobcats than ever before. I get a trail cam photos weekly and during deer season had two separate close encounters where they came within 10 yards of me. My property is out of control with bobcats. I’m sure the turkey population will bounce back, but all I can do is drive 20 minutes down the street and hunt a public spot where the turkeys are plentiful.
I listened to the gamekeepers podcast with Dr. Bret Collier (professor of wildlife ecology at LSU), who works with Mike Chamberlain. His studies showed that 30-35% of hens will die while nesting and the most efficient killer is bobcats, followed by owls and coyotes and sometimes foxes. He also claims that nest predators are not as big of a problem as hunters think they are, and that raccoons, opossums, etc. are opportunist, mainly eating nest that have already been abandoned by a hen that was either killed or attacked by the big 3 mentioned above. I don’t really believe everything Collier claims but, he is one of the top turkey researchers and has been doing it for decades. To me, it makes sense that there’s too many predators putting pressure on the hens to leave the area, causing the toms to leave with them.
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Post by parkerbow on May 22, 2024 16:49:15 GMT -5
I am sure this does not happen much but if it happens once it could happen more. I had a co-worker the other day said he witnessed a bald eagle kill a hen turkey the other day. We have a growing population of Bald eagles in the southern part of the state. I know for sure hawks and owls get alot of poults. I try and keep my bush hog in the barn until after July 4th so the poults have cover in the hayfields and food plots.
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