Declining turkey populations are occurring nearly everywhere. Missouri’s turkey numbers are a fraction of what it was 15 years ago. In the heyday turkey could be found in marginal habitat. Not anymore. Only the best has a few birds, and even then they aren’t in any numbers.
In our county we used to kill around 800 turkey during a spring season. Now we check less than 300. Conservation Department acts like they could care less. We still have a fall shotgun season during which you can potentially and legally kill 2 hens. Fall archery deer hunters can potentially and legally kill 2 hens. Why they won’t stop all harvest of hens is beyond stupid. Cutting edge wildlife management. You don’t need a PHD, just common sense to protect hens when the population is so low. This certainly isn’t the only answer, but it’s a regulation change that makes sense and would give the appearance that the Conservation Department gives a crap about our turkey populations and not just about selling permits.

One problem is all the corn that gets fed to deer in the south now. Millions of pounds of food now available to all the animals in the woods. Creates larger predator populations and very few people putting forth any effort to control them. I believe that GA and Alabama are starting turkey season a week later next year to allow the more mature toms longer to mate before the hunters can get them.

The turkey population in PA is going down fast and the Fisher and Bobcat population are on the rise. Then throw in the uncontrolled avian predator population too.

But it's the habitat!!!!

Very few places have more raccoons than Iowa and we have a crapload of turkeys. I saw 3 road-killed in an 8 mile stretch of hwy yesterday just out of town.