Telecheck Results So Far Updated 4/18 page 3

Gut_Pile · Apr 12, 2016

As of 12:00 on 4/12/16 there have been 7,125 turkeys (adult gobblers and jakes) checked in to the new telecheck system.

Today marks day 20 of a 53 day season (youth weekend included) and with the current harvest numbers, if everything was to stay constant, the expected minimum harvest should be roughly 18,881 turkeys killed in the 2016 season.

My assumption is, that your part timers will start not going anymore, and some people are already limited out so they will no longer be adding to the tally. I think this will have the total at the end of the season closer to 16 or 17 thousand.

Over the past 5 years GA has always estimated our annual gobbler harvest to be over 30,000 with a major spike in harvest during the 2012 season. I know that not all turkeys are reported and there will still be surveys done by the state to get a total harvest estimate, but these numbers seem to be low to me compared to what was estimated the past several years.

Is this year an off year, have we lost that many turkeys, are that many people not reporting?

Should be interesting to watch as the year progresses.

Dinosaur · Apr 12, 2016

My opinion is that it is both. I think the numbers are down of gobblers to be killed and I believe there are a lot of birds that probably haven't been checked in as well. Tough to get a real feel for the true numbers right now.

klemsontigers7 · Apr 12, 2016

Gut_Pile said:
As of 12:00 on 4/12/16 there have been 7,125 turkeys (adult gobblers and jakes) checked in to the new telecheck system.

Today marks day 20 of a 53 day season (youth weekend included) and with the current harvest numbers, if everything was to stay constant, the expected minimum harvest should be roughly 18,881 turkeys killed in the 2016 season.

My assumption is, that your part timers will start not going anymore, and some people are already limited out so they will no longer be adding to the tally. I think this will have the total at the end of the season closer to 16 or 17 thousand.

Over the past 5 years GA has always estimated our annual gobbler harvest to be over 30,000 with a major spike in harvest during the 2012 season. I know that not all turkeys are reported and there will still be surveys done by the state to get a total harvest estimate, but these numbers seem to be low to me compared to what was estimated the past several years.

Is this year an off year, have we lost that many turkeys, are that many people not reporting?

Should be interesting to watch as the year progresses.

People aren't reporting. I would guess only half of the turkeys are reported. A survey here would do no good, as I would assume MOST forum users report their turkeys, but still not all.

GA DAWG · Apr 12, 2016

I havent reported nothin.

PappyHoel · Apr 12, 2016

Is it possible that we have been over estimating our flock and harvest rate. I bet 80% report.

Dinosaur · Apr 12, 2016

PappyHoel said:
Is it possible that we have been over estimating our flock and harvest rate. I bet 80% report.

I'd be surprised if it's that high.

antharper · Apr 12, 2016

GA DAWG said:
I havent reported nothin.

Me either!!! And I bet 50% don't report nothing! But I hope to soon !!!!

Core Lokt · Apr 12, 2016

So where did the data come from on the supposedly 30k killed in one year? That is a lot of birds. Something doesn't match up. Earlier numbers are way off or a lot of birds aren't being reported.

AliBubba · Apr 12, 2016

Was wondering for those that got the orange DNR turkey "report card" to fill from Bobby Bond (DNR), how does the data come into play?

Timber1 · Apr 12, 2016

Birds not being reported. Pretty sure they have a formula to figure in percentages of unreported birds. What it is or how they figure it I have no clue.
As soon as the weather patterns stabilize a bit more and hens start laying and setting I think the harvest numbers will increase. Whether the reporting reflects that....we will see.

Gut_Pile · Apr 12, 2016

Timber1 said:
Pretty sure they have a formula to figure in percentages of unreported birds. What it is or how they figure it I have no clue.

I'm not sure they really know either

01Foreman400 · Apr 12, 2016

I like how it breaks it down county by county.

elfiii · Apr 12, 2016

Dinosaur said:
I'd be surprised if it's that high.

I'd be surprised if it were that low. Nobody is ever going to know because the ones who don't report aren't telling anybody. I'd like to think at least 90% of us are honest.

PappyHoel · Apr 12, 2016

elfiii said:
I'd be surprised if it were that low. Nobody is ever going to know because the ones who don't report aren't telling anybody. I'd like to think at least 90% of us are honest.

We never reported it before but somehow they know we aren't now. And we somehow knew about 35000 being killed in 2013, without reporting.

It's all so confusing

Thunder Head · Apr 12, 2016

I could be wrong, but I think a lot of people overestimate the number of people who break the law when it comes to limits.
Maybe its just me. Out of all the people ive got to know over the years that hunt, only 2 of them are those type. That's probably 2 out of 60 -70 hunters that I know fairly well.

Though you wouldn't know it from my season so far, the hens should start going on the nest. This will make the older age class birds easier to kill. So I would say the harvest will continue to rise for the next 2-3 weeks.

ChattNFHunter · Apr 12, 2016

Not being reported. Law breakers are law breakers and they aren't gonna follow any rules. I have been assuming that all numbers from the current data should be multiplied by 1.5 if not 2.

kevincox · Apr 12, 2016

I travel all over south and middle ga with work and I have not seen a turkey in a field for weeks. Seems strange

mattech · Apr 12, 2016

kevincox said:
I travel all over south and middle ga with work and I have not seen a turkey in a field for weeks. Seems strange

Same with me.

cowhornedspike · Apr 13, 2016

I'd doubt if the reporting is even 50% based on those I know who turkey hunt and report (or don't). This being the first year, many don't even know there is a reporting system in place and won't realize it until the fall when they take a deer to the processor. Probably will have better participation next year.

Not so much about being unlawful as temporarily ignorant of the reporting system...and nobody takes a turkey to a processor.

PappyHoel · Apr 13, 2016

Well since the consensus is that 50% of ga turkey hunters are law breakers and not reporting their kills, we need to assume that more birds are being killed than reported. Therefore we need to limit the amount of birds taken to 1 per hunter. I will petition my state rep.

We need to be conservative since 50% of turkey hunters are ignorant (of the law) and wouldn't report their kills anyway.

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