Hey!

deast1988

Senior Member
Never went, but I hear bleak reports.
 

QuackAttack101

Senior Member
Lord willing, I'll find out the hard way this weekend! (Fingers crossed it's not a mad house!)

I was curious the effect it's had on harvest, so I checked out the game check results. Not really enough data to draw any real conclusions, but at first glance, it appears the shut down is working if the goal was to limit overall harvest on CC. Below is the game check data for the past 3 seasons as well as 2019 data as of today.

I always hear Redlands and Paulding Forest mentioned in the same sentence as Cedar Creek as far as hunting pressure, so I compared total harvests from these three "busy" WMAs.

..................Paulding................... Cedar Creek............. Redlands
2016..........43.............................39........................... 31
2017..........59.............................39............................29
2018..........54.............................52............................35
2019..........39..............................15...........................30

Other than the 2017 outlier year, CC and PF yearly harvest are fairly comparable, but in 2019, CC is way behind (most likely because no turkeys were *legally* shot in the first two weeks at CC). Another interesting fact is that Redlands' three year harvest average (excluding 2019) is about 31 birds. However, there have already been 31 birds killed there this year and we still have a month to go. Given the close proximity of CC and Redlands, I'm wondering how much of that CC pressure just moved north about 40 miles and ended up on Redlands?
 
limiting gobbler harvest promotes what?

More hunters not getting a chance to harvest a gobbler? I could have swore that the object here was to increase the chance of more gobbler harvest. Ok, that will be next year! Ok, I get it now.

So, there will be more gobblers to hunt next year, that they will not open up the season until the second week of the season. I am starting to see this picture now.

So it's NOT about hunter opportunities. It's about keeping the turkey numbers up and the hunter numbers down. I didn't know that gobblers raised poults? You are never to old to learn I guess.

On a side note..... Those cedar creek hunters just hunted the national forest until Cedar Creek opened up..... not real sure exactly what that was suppose to accomplish.

Truly and exercise in futility........and a ridiculous one at that.

Move the entire season to a date that the genius ones in charge can live with and leave the rest of us alone................PLEASE!
 

Nitram4891

Flop Thief
Cedar Creek WMA WILL NOT be open until two weeks after the statewide season starts. This year’s spring gobbler season on Cedar Creek WMA will be held April 6 to May 15.
In an effort to learn more about factors causing the decline in turkey populations, Cedar Creek WMA is one of the areas where research is being conducted.
Part of that testing will included the two-week delay on Cedar Creek. The delay was put in place to determine what effect hunting activity may have not only on the amount of gobbling but in the reproductive success of hens.

They are studying hunting pressure vs gobbling activity. They have audio recording equipment in the woods to measure the amount gobbles. I don't see the issue. The research could lead to better management of turkey populations in the future which I'm all for. This has nothing to do with limiting the amount of turkeys killed this year and like you said there are plenty of other areas to go hunt around there for the 2 weeks it was closed. I bet by the end of the season there will be just as many birds killed on CC as there was last year.
 

antharper

“Well Rounded Outdoorsman MOD “
Staff member
limiting gobbler harvest promotes what?

More hunters not getting a chance to harvest a gobbler? I could have swore that the object here was to increase the chance of more gobbler harvest. Ok, that will be next year! Ok, I get it now.

So, there will be more gobblers to hunt next year, that they will not open up the season until the second week of the season. I am starting to see this picture now.

So it's NOT about hunter opportunities. It's about keeping the turkey numbers up and the hunter numbers down. I didn't know that gobblers raised poults? You are never to old to learn I guess.

On a side note..... Those cedar creek hunters just hunted the national forest until Cedar Creek opened up..... not real sure exactly what that was suppose to accomplish.

Truly and exercise in futility........and a ridiculous one at that.

Move the entire season to a date that the genius ones in charge can live with and leave the rest of us alone................PLEASE!
?
 

XIronheadX

PF Trump Cam Operator !20/20
Well maybe they will find out something about gobbling activity and hunting pressure. I been studying it for 30 yrs and can't link anything other than not many gobblers=not many gobbles. And sometimes lots of hens=not many gobbles. I've hounded birds the whole season and can't make them be quiet. I've hunted numerous days in a row of high barometric pressure to hear nothing. I've watched numerous gobblers on camera and not heard a gobble for days. They seem to be most vocal right as the flock breaks up, and sometimes when they are lonely. When their gobbler gets stuck they gobble at every noise out there. But, if it helps turkeys produce more turkeys I'm all for it.
 
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" I bet by the end of the season there will be just as many birds killed on CC as there was last year. "

I'll take that bet right now, make it as heavy or as light as you want to.
 
I've been hunting them for 50, and I can tell you this without recall............

A gobbler, any gobbler, can bred every hen in the woods without ever gobbling even 1 time.

Almost every hen in the woods is bred before turkey season opens, she can store his seed inside of her for 90 days before she feels the need to bred again.

In effect, you, we, them, whoever causes not a bit of difference in turkey population because you cannot legally take a hen, regardless of when the "ones who must obey" can hunt.

These are birds, the population is going in ebbs and flows, this is life.

This is for all those who think that they can make a living, or even an extra dollar because they want to guide other hunters to turkey hunt and charge them for it.

Go Fishing! Your a lot better at it! And leave the remainder of us who do not bait birds, Fan birds, ride around and shoot them out of a truck, shoot them out of a blind on a food plot full of scratch gain and wheat seed broadcast on harrowed ground......

learn to call them to the gun or quit!

Leave us alone, and go find another way to make a turkey hunters life miserable....please.
 

Nitram4891

Flop Thief
" I bet by the end of the season there will be just as many birds killed on CC as there was last year. "

I'll take that bet right now, make it as heavy or as light as you want to.

I'll bet you a wheel of cheese. ::ke:
 

XIronheadX

PF Trump Cam Operator !20/20
Lol, I agree with Spurrs and Racks. His gobbler is stuck too though. If decoys and blinds became illegal I figure half would quit anyway. Feb 09 I saw 2 happy gobblers on cam with 21 hens. Their tongues were dragging the ground more than their beards.

Maybe the state can get those that hunt public land out there in the offseason with machetes and weedeaters to improve the habitat some. Like a turkey hunting chain gang. Maybe the ebb and flow will improve. I'm already planning to improve some things on private.
 
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