Well if all these studies are true, I'm guessing posco has all the predators wiped out of Maine.

Glad to see everyone feels that way about decoys. So I’m guessing no one will use any this year? Seems I see pics on here every year of dead turkeys and their decoy flocks. I can tell you with 100% certainty, you throw out a few decoys here on a field and you will kill a turkey. No calls required. I know of folks that do it every year. They’ll have their decoys and if one hangs up they’ll hold up a fan and here they come. Even know of a few that have motorized decoys. They’ll admit it to your face they can’t kill a turkey without one. You can’t watch a video without a decoy or fan in it. There’s a few out there that hunt them right, but very few. Outlaw them and see how many turkey hunters there are, lol.

Good discussions and points. I too have thought of chemicals. Predators have been around forever and in high numbers. How was our population able to climb through years of high predators? I have heard before this that numbers in MN and WI are increasing. I assume they have high predator numbers also as well as avian predators?

I don't turkey hunt but I would think as a trapper one would insist it was predation whether it is or not.

With the right habitat, predation falls low on the list. Without proper habitat, predation is at the top. I know folks that burn their entire property and watch the Turkey population plummet. I will tell you this, just because someone works for the forestry department doesn’t mean they understand habitat. I trap for a guy that thought burning everything in March and April was good because his forester said so. I finally got someone to “talk” to him and he’s in a three year rotation leaving plenty of cover now and his numbers are improving.
Been on one place for 6-7 years now and the turkey/quail population remains as stable every year. During good hatch years it rises a little and during bad hatch years it falls a little. Nothing drastic, but it does fluctuate. They keep numbers on EVERYTHING, lol. The one constant is the habitat, wet or dry. The other constant is trapping. Year round trapping of coons/possums.

I have read studies of seed being used to plant causing some type of disease in turkeys. What brought the article up was the NWTF gets a lot of leftover seed and passes it on to their members. This seed was tested and the chemicals used to coat the seed was bad news for turkeys.

I don’t think it’s any “one thing” that’s causing a decline. But I also don’t think lowering the limit and reducing the season will help much. One thing about it, when they take away, they never give back.

Great point! Well played sir. Well played.
Your brief statement makes as much sense as any one of the other points posted thus far.
The cause of demise of any wild population in one given area is very difficult to determine. We are limited to hunches, wild or scientifically based. They are just hunches nonetheless.
Then we throw in All of the areas which have turkeys which appear to be declining or increasing, and try to throw spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks.
So what should we do?
-KIll all of the predators as alluded to by J Staton.
-Improve properties to enhance good nesting and rearing habitat.
-Vote for twice-impeached and recently indicted Donald J Trump in 2024.
Now everybody get back to work.

its not a mystery. no trapping. coon skunk possum coyote bobcat numbers are exploding.

Nest predators are what I blame for a turkey decline in my area