I was fortunate enough to spend my first years turkey hunting in the beautiful Hardwood hills of West Central Mississippi. This was back in the early 90s and there were quite a few birds in that part of the country. It was common to hear 6 or 8 gobblers sounding off at daylight on a crisp, cool, clear morning.

“I can still feel that chilly Spring air”

I can still feel that chilly Spring air with the scents of fresh flowers all around. It would often times be just me and my grandfather at the camp. Man it was so peaceful and relaxing in those woods when no one else was around.

Fast forward about 25 years and things are very different for me today. My Grandfather has passed on and that oasis we always enjoyed hunting is long gone. Nowadays when I get the opportunity to do a little Spring Turkey hunting I usually spend my time running and gunning in the piney woods of Louisiana. I’ve had some success over the years but lately it seems like the birds are getting fewer and fewer in my area.

So I decided to do some research on the Turkey population data in my area and learned some interesting things. In the mid 90’s the wild turkey population in Louisiana was about 80,000 birds. Today that numbers is around 40,000. Looking over some reproduction data created by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, I found that reproduction rates have been on the decline in all major areas of the state for the last 10 years.

Several Factors Play a Role in Wild Turkey Reproduction

There are 3 major factors that affect wild turkey reproduction. Weather, predation and habitat.

Turkeys need average or below average rainfall during incubation period (mid-March to mid-April) and average to above average period during the period the poults are out.

They need good habitat. From my experience, turkeys thrive in big woods with low under brush or pastureland with wooded creek bottoms and forested borders. This gives them ideal places to roost at night and feed and mate during the day time. The large trees will provide them with high places to roost safely away from predators like coyotes, foxes and bobcats. The open woods and pastureland gives their incredibly sharp eyes the ability to see great distances and look out for predators while on the ground feeding and seeking reproductive mates.

The final key factor and the one that I believe is having the greatest affect on our Turkeys these days is predation. These predators like coyotes, foxes, bobcats and even racoons and possums are increasing in populations because they really aren’t hunted and trapped much anymore. It’s taking a toll on our Turkey population. I also believe the wild hog population is having a big impact.

Need Help from State Agencies

We need to start petitioning our state agencies more to deal with the wild hog problem. They are affecting not only the Turkey population but the Deer population as well. I’ve read where as many as a quarter million deer have disappeared from 10 – 15 years ago. It’s not like we have more hunters now. License sales have actually decreased over the last 3 decades.

Opinions?

I’d like to know the opinions of other hunters on the wild turkey population decrease across Louisiana.