If you stop and think about it…

[Gut_Pile]

And since the turkey doc and these new theories based on research findings have come about, I have always thought the birds in the southern part of the state have done better due to their breeding starting earlier than the birds in middle and north GA
I do think the state should have different season dates based on location.

 

[buckpasser]

To answer your question, I have hunted south, middle, north, east, and west GA and all of them more than once. I consistently see/hear more turkeys in the southern portion of the state than others.

This map isn’t super fresh, but if the theory were true, it would still be reflected (2014). Notice, no noticeable gradient in GA, AL, or even N Florida just south of GA where season traditionally opened 1 week earlier. It’s bull Sir.

 

[Gut_Pile]

You and I agree on a lot of things. I too believe habitat is the #1 reason turkeys have struggled. But the state can’t make private land owners improve habitat. Habitat is going to be the #1 struggle for turkeys moving forward as human encroachment continues throughout the SE. Maybe this season change doesn’t work, but if it does get more hens nesting at the same time, and makes it tougher on predators to predate nests, then I’m good to give it a try. I’ll take 4 weeks of awesome hunting over 8 weeks of decent hunting.
I was wary of some of these theory’s at first as well, but after spending three days in turkey camp with Chamberlain I fully believe he is a knowledgeable person that is suggesting changes based on research. The knowledge he has around these birds is incredible. And the real time knowledge of gps’d birds and what they are doing at that exact moment is fascinating to me. Mainly bc I got to see him getting real time info from across the SE right in front of my eyes.
Hes a turkey hunter first just like you and I, and while you believe he is a crock, I think different.
We, as hunters, should hope he’s right.

 

[herb mcclure]

Why does our stubborn opinions mean so much about season change? When changing the season date has been done in good faith, to try to help our dwindling wild turkeys population. No one knows for sure that it will help anything , or that it could make a difference in their population for the better.

From the pounding most public land and some hunt clubs get, why not let the turkeys have a go at their breeding before all of us start killing and disturbing.
If the population keeps going down, I for one, are in favor of closing the season altogether, to see if it will make a difference then.Of course, habitat and predators work, will still need to be done were one hunts.

Yes, the state of Georgia needs should have an earlier opener in the Southern part of the state, than the Northern part. But, unfortunately Georgia does not have that.

Something else I have learned, and it was not from the "turkey docs" either, which I have been accused of learning from. Older turkey hens mate first, and then the younger hens from last season are the last hens mating in the Spring, which is nature's way to help when something may have went wrong in the early season. Therefore, it is not all just re-nesting old hens when you see extra young poults in mid-Summer.

 

[Phillip Thurmond]

I used to bush hog my club land every April thinking I was keeping the food plots low and nice for the turkeys. What I found was turkey nest that I would run over and bust or expose to predators. So I had to start that process much sooner before they chose the grown up fields for nesting or delay it until after hatch. I bet I killed lots of turkeys until I realized this and stopped