Wild Turkey population is tanking across most of its range

[Howboutthemdawgs]

If baiting was illegal, I would welcome the use of thermal drones by game and fish agencies to survey for bait sites at night around me.

Absolutely. I’d chip in for one to use locally to me

 

[SwampCat]

My take away from that podcast was stopping baiting could be the easiest way to control mesopredators. It's easier to do that than it is to trap or do habitat work. They talked about top-down vs bottom-up mesopredator control and how both have been shown to be effective. Top-down control is removing the predators and bottom up is limiting the resources of the predators. Trapping is top-down management. Stopping baiting would be bottom-up management. Why not see if the easier method could be just as effective at controlling mesopredator numbers? Heck, do both. Trap and remove baiting.

I am not sure it wouldnt be more difficult to stop baiting than catch every coon in the woods. We are still allowed to bait in the cwd areas. As much as I would like to see baiting stopped - there are 100,000’s of thousands of acres here where baiting has always been illegal - and the turkey population crashed and has not come back. I have a piece of property that backs up to a 27,000 acre NWR that has never allowed baiting. 20 years ago, i used to have difficulty planting wheat because the turkeys would come out of the refuge and eat it. I have not got a turkey picture over there in ten years. There are far more turkeys on my home property with 15 adjacent landowners, seven of whom bait. The refuge allows a quota of fifty permits for a two day gun turkey hunt, and a two day youth season - and average killing one turkey per year. 15 years ago, I heard 12 turkeys there one morning, scouting before season. They do allow bow hunting for turkeys after the first two days. A few years ago, I went over there bow hunting for turkeys and never heard one. I dont know of anyone else who has tried bowhunting there. It is almost 100% wooded bottomland and used to be covered with turkeys.

Very limited turkey hunting, very limited harvest, no baiting, no turkeys. But that said, I wish they would stop baiting here, because of my jealous side - I spend a ton of money defensive baiting. I could quit that because I have 40 acres of food plots. Quite a few of my neighbors own five or ten acres. Some of them might never kill a deer if they couldnt bait - and most of them need the meat. Definitely a first world issue.

But back to the issue of baiting and turkeys - in our state, there is a LOT of land where baiting is not allowed and there is no appreciable difference between the land that has a corn feeder every 40 acres and the 100,000’s of thousands of acres where baiting is not allowed. And yes, I have read a number of studies that show nest predation is higher the closer the nest is to a supplemental feed source.

I still think the habitat has to be there or it does very little good to stop baiting by itself. As you might imagine, a 27,000 acre property in the river bottoms, in the south, is infested with coons, possums, and coyotes. I dont see how a hen turkey is going to overcome.

The problem with trapping; is not enough people do it. The problem with habitat, not enough people do it. Most of my neighbors work actively to destroy habitat. They actively plant fescue and spray broadleaves. I dont know one single person out of all these rural landowners I know who has set a trap with lethal intent in the last ten years.

Poor habitat, and extremely high predator density, and baiting as a way of life. It is the perfect storm for turkeys - yet I sit here typing this and listening to two turkeys off my back deck. Not many folks around me can say that.