Turkey season shut down chances.

[packmule]

Bigger limit in the fall won't have much effect. Even with the higher limits last season there were very few hunters in our area. Frankly, it's not really a hunt it's just a drive around and see which 1or 2 or 3 you want to shoot and not that many seem to want to spend $15 per tag to do it. There were several winter flocks of well over 250 birds in the area and they really could use some thinning down. Just seems that tag price keeps guys away and not that many interested in taking a hen

Are landowners in these areas open to providing access?

[Russ McDonald]

Bigger limit in the fall won't have much effect. Even with the higher limits last season there were very few hunters in our area. Frankly, it's not really a hunt it's just a drive around and see which 1or 2 or 3 you want to shoot and not that many seem to want to spend $15 per tag to do it. There were several winter flocks of well over 250 birds in the area and they really could use some thinning down. Just seems that tag price keeps guys away and not that many interested in taking a hen

Are landowners in these areas open to providing access?

That what we are trying to work on.  Also the fall is 2 either sex and 2 hens.  Fall is a good time to get first time hunters out.  That is what I use the fall for.  Granted it isn't the first part of spring hunting but you get out of it what you put into it.  Other than the week and a half after the 5th late May turns into almost a fall hunting situation too.  Not saying that this year is going to be like that.  I think that with birds not being pressured that this is going to be a little different.

[baldopepper]

Bigger limit in the fall won't have much effect. Even with the higher limits last season there were very few hunters in our area. Frankly, it's not really a hunt it's just a drive around and see which 1or 2 or 3 you want to shoot and not that many seem to want to spend $15 per tag to do it. There were several winter flocks of well over 250 birds in the area and they really could use some thinning down. Just seems that tag price keeps guys away and not that many interested in taking a hen

Are landowners in these areas open to providing access?

That what we are trying to work on.  Also the fall is 2 either sex and 2 hens.  Fall is a good time to get first time hunters out.  That is what I use the fall for.  Granted it isn't the first part of spring hunting but you get out of it what you put into it.  Other than the week and a half after the 5th late May turns into almost a fall hunting situation too.  Not saying that this year is going to be like that.  I think that with birds not being pressured that this is going to be a little different.

Bigger limit in the fall won't have much effect. Even with the higher limits last season there were very few hunters in our area. Frankly, it's not really a hunt it's just a drive around and see which 1or 2 or 3 you want to shoot and not that many seem to want to spend $15 per tag to do it. There were several winter flocks of well over 250 birds in the area and they really could use some thinning down. Just seems that tag price keeps guys away and not that many interested in taking a hen

Are landowners in these areas open to providing access?

After the deer hunts are over, landowners are much more open to allowing turkey hunting with many openly encouraging hunters to come chase them. I honestly didn't see anyone hunting last December.

[TheStovePipeKid]

I'd shoot 10 every fall if they sold a group of tags together at a more reasonable price. Heck even three or four $5 tags like Idaho. Took two last fall and called it good because of cost. I hunt nuisance birds exclusively in the fall.

[JeffRaines]

Bigger limit in the fall won't have much effect. Even with the higher limits last season there were very few hunters in our area. Frankly, it's not really a hunt it's just a drive around and see which 1or 2 or 3 you want to shoot and not that many seem to want to spend $15 per tag to do it. There were several winter flocks of well over 250 birds in the area and they really could use some thinning down. Just seems that tag price keeps guys away and not that many interested in taking a hen

Are landowners in these areas open to providing access?

That what we are trying to work on.  Also the fall is 2 either sex and 2 hens.  Fall is a good time to get first time hunters out.  That is what I use the fall for.  Granted it isn't the first part of spring hunting but you get out of it what you put into it.  Other than the week and a half after the 5th late May turns into almost a fall hunting situation too.  Not saying that this year is going to be like that.  I think that with birds not being pressured that this is going to be a little different.

Just an idea - maybe leave the limits alone and lift the weapon restriction like some states do for the fall season?

I don't know how others feel, but with the risk of your rig getting broken into I'm not too keen on leaving weapons unattended in my truck(or in camp). I'm not going to lug a shotgun with me, either.

A lot of people spend more than $15 bucks on "secondary" tags(lion, bear) for a "what if i see one" scenario. I think doing this for the fall season only you'd see an uptick in tag sales and also harvests.

You could probably halve the limit and still see a ton of participation and maybe doing that would prevent any chance of an over harvest.

[253shotgunner]

I'd shoot 10 every fall if they sold a group of tags together at a more reasonable price. Heck even three or four $5 tags like Idaho. Took two last fall and called it good because of cost. I hunt nuisance birds exclusively in the fall.

Last fall I saw over 70 turkeys in two days. I only harvested two because of the cost of tags. If they lower the price, I will buy more. It's simple economics and a win-win situation for all involved.

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

Sounds like they need to make a landowner tag.... $5-private landowner tag. I agree, in some areas there are a lot of birds that could take the fall pressure. I personally cringe and am still cringing from the new regulations. They are too liberal and provide a real opportunity to hurt some turkey populations that can't take the pressure.

I understand this liberalization came to help with Nuisance birds but it really goes to show WDFW's lack of care for wild turkey in WA.

[253shotgunner]

 
Great idea! I would totally support a $5 private landowner tag. That way the turkeys on public land wouldn't be hit as hard and the nuisance birds would be targeted.

[baldopepper]

How does that work? Does the landowner buy the permit and use, or can anyone buy and only hunt on private ground?Good idea as some landowners are very frustrated with the big winter flocks that decimate their feedlots by not only eating a lot but also crapping all over everything.  Know a couple who've considered poisoning them.

[Russ McDonald]

The land owner can also request a kill permits.  This is the main practice of the state.  Land owner will just kill the birds only because they won't let people hunt on their land.  Gun restriction wouldn't  be a good idea. There has been people that have been shot with a shotgun.  Imagine what would happen if someone shot from 60 plus yards with a rifle.  I think there would be more incidents.

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[MerriamMagician]

 

I’m sure they will jump all over the fall bag limit increase. They don’t give a *censored* about our turkey population. Trap and transfer backs to much sense.

Increased fall bag limits? It's already a high bag limit, doesn't need to be increased even more. 
Shooting lots of hens is the quickest way to wipe out turkey populations. If there are areas where turkeys are causing damage I agree with the comments on landowner tags. However there should be an agreement of some sort that the landowner tags have to be distributed to hunters who actually want them and the landowner allows permission. Too bad our game department no longer cares about turkeys. Like turkeyman said, if we still had trap and transfer programs in place there is a ton of good turkey habitat in central WA where turkeys can be relocated to either to establish new flocks or bolster existing flocks.

[Pegasus]

I’m sure they will jump all over the fall bag limit increase. They don’t give a *censored* about our turkey population. Trap and transfer backs to much sense.

Increased fall bag limits? It's already a high bag limit, doesn't need to be increased even more. 
Shooting lots of hens is the quickest way to wipe out turkey populations. If there are areas where turkeys are causing damage I agree with the comments on landowner tags. However there should be an agreement of some sort that the landowner tags have to be distributed to hunters who actually want them and the landowner allows permission. Too bad our game department no longer cares about turkeys. Like turkeyman said, if we still had trap and transfer programs in place there is a ton of good turkey habitat in central WA where turkeys can be relocated to either to establish new flocks or bolster existing flocks.

If those turkeys get into a dense population they risk wiping out the whole flock through disease transmission. A lot of areas in NE WA are over-populated and are at risk of infection unless we lock them down, make them wear masks and limit travel to essentials only.

[Turkeyman]

Keep killing all those hens in the fall. Then have a couple bad winters and 5 to 10 years from now everyone will bitch about what happened to the turkey numbers. The east side doesn’t have the birds it had 10 to 15 years ago. We are heading in the wrong direction with turkey management. Really a sad deal.

[TheStovePipeKid]

Keep killing all those hens in the fall. Then have a couple bad winters and 5 to 10 years from now everyone will bitch about what happened to the turkey numbers. The east side doesn’t have the birds it had 10 to 15 years ago. We are heading in the wrong direction with turkey management. Really a sad deal.

He he, you said turkey management like it was a real thing. You might as well talk about Sasquatch management, WDFW does a better job of that.

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

The land owner can also request a kill permits.  This is the main practice of the state.  Land owner will just kill the birds only because they won't let people hunt on their land.  Gun restriction wouldn't  be a good idea. There has been people that have been shot with a shotgun.  Imagine what would happen if someone shot from 60 plus yards with a rifle.  I think there would be more incidents.

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The process for requesting and obtaining a kill permit is cumbersome for a landowner. Doable, but cumbersome. I know a landowner that got 15 and gave them to my brother, a friend, and I. You can read through this forum. Lots of people don't have much issue getting land owner permission. I would cut the bag limit back in the fall to what it was 3 years ago (if not more) and start issuing private land tags.

Again, it comes down to WDFW wanting revenue. So why wouldn't you rather find a way to convert "kill tags" to revenue through a landowner tag. I know, some don't want others hunting on their land. We will always battle this all the way up to nuisance big game. Give them their kill tags. Other states have private land only program, their is no reason we couldn't as well. Idaho and Colorado to name two western states.

I strictly hunt "nuisance" birds in the fall. Fall hunting turkeys is the "traditional" way to hunt turkeys. It does, can, and will have the biggest impact on populations though if hens are targeted. But our spring practices at the moment aren't helping either. Thank god they have kept central and north central wa to permit hunting in the fall. And again those permits are meant to be used on nuisance birds.

I do support trap and transport. Yes disease is an issue but there are plenty of places without birds that could take birds. AND if they do this they need to keep the species where they have them. Heard rumors about people trying to throw RIO's on the Westside. I will never support this, EVER. Opportunity should not out way the fun opportunity of diversity we have in this state of species. The Easterns are doing better than people think, they just need to do a better job in their transplanting next go around. For Example, close the unit to hunting for 3-5 years after a transplant. I know of a couple units were easterns were dropped and the next year they were all killed at the drop zone. Gotta give them time to acclimate a spread out. Do a permit draw for the unit for the next 3-5 years (yes more money for WDFW). Then open it up. Need help on how to successfully do trap and transplant. I'll hook you up with some really smart dudes from Utah. One that has touched over 3,000 birds in his 25 years making turkey hunting real in Utah. Sometimes the trap and transplant is more of a stocking of turkeys, aka you plant over populated birds in an area that gets decent hunting pressure and basically subsidize what's being harvested, to making brand new WILD populations in new areas.

BUT to do all this we need a state wildlife management program that actually gives a care first.

Want to talk about fun ways or new opportunities for turkey hunting in our state. Open it to hunting with a dog in the fall. Would be all for that!