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How many of you guys have taken up varmint hunting? When I was a kid, I had never seen a coyote. Back then, night-time raccoon hunting with dogs was a activity that many hunters engaged in -- not so much anymore.
Things have changed and I'm wondering if these predators (bobcats, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, etc) are the root of declining turkey stocks.
Do any of you varmint hunt? If so, what do you use (game calls, decoys, etc)?
I use to hunt coon every night, it almost caused a divorce, she said that I had to make a choice. I cut back on the coon huntin'. My best year was in the early 60's when I got 108 coon and got $56 a piece for the pelts. Those days are gone. Coon are worth $5 - $8 in the Fall when the pelts are prime. A yote pelt might bring you $10 in MN. Put a decent bounty on coon, coyotes and owls and watch the turkey population go up.
I just hunt pigs. Not really a varmint or predator but a nuisance none the less. We hear the coyotes all the time when I'm out there.
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Originally Posted by flyguy
You bring up a great point! We think mostly about predation being initiated at ground level and that if we decimate that threat, turkey stocks will improve. Part of the problem is habitat! Here's an except from an article I wrote on declining grouse habitat in West Virginia. It addresses habitat restoration as a way of improving the population of game birds there. The idea of a protective understory is applicable to turkey hatchlings, too.
["Although owls and hawks both target the ruffed grouse, the enabler topredatory opportunities is lack of cover, due to the large, canopy ofmature trees. Imagine a great horned owl sitting high on the limb ofa tree in a mature forest. With no midstory or understory, there isno place for the prey species to hide. In this instance, thehorned owl can swoop in, unobstructed by small limbs. It is theequivalent of fast food for raptors! This is the present state of thewoodlands of West Virginia. Contrast that scene with thesame horned owl sitting on a high limb and trying to keep his eye ona grouse that is under the cover of the limbs and leaves of smalltrees. The flight path is obstructed, so the owl, seeking to improvehis position, flies in closer. He is detected and the grouse is ableto escape to cover that is more dense. These branches, leaves andlimbs of the understory are the friend of the grouse. This is theprotection that the grouse needs. Unfortunately, though, thisadjacent cover is badly missing, due to poor forestrymanagement practices."]
My point in the article was to say that predator/varmint control is a tool, but not the only tool in the game manager's toolbox. In the case of owls and hawks, those species are largely protected, so that they are a constant and not a varible. What one can do, as a good land-managment practice is to select-cut large trees, encouraging a midstory and understory to flourish. This will provide a degree of protection from raptors. So while raccoons, foxes, bobcats, and coyotes can be partially controlled by hunters, another critical part of the equation is habitat restoration.
Recently read an article dealing with Bobwhite quail . It stated that the two biggest predators where not hawks or raccoons ,but house cats and snakes .
I think that just further points to the need for restoring habitat. True, feral cats would wreak havoc on bobwhite chicks. So would snakes, but snakes have to be regarded as a constant in this equation. I'd shoot a feral cat, but -- I've never seen one in the hunting woods! Bobcats, yes, feral cats/domestic cats - no. I've never seen one in the woods/fields.Quote:
Originally Posted by usa
I once saw a feral cat put the sneak on a grouse that was eating bird seed from below my feeder. He got lead poisoning before he reached the grouse but he did have big ideas.
So true, that is why a turkey always roost close to the trunk of the tree.Quote:
Originally Posted by eym_sirius
To be sure, if a hog comes upon eggs laid by a ground-nesting bird -- he'll eat every one of them! They'll eat anything!Quote:
Originally Posted by SNAKE
Even deer will eat quail eggs. Quail are like the shrimp of the grasslands. My wife and I watched crows eating quail biddies and leopard frogs behind the house some years back. it was the last year that we saw quail here.
INTERESTING , Good Day , learned something newQuote:
Originally Posted by bodebum
When I was a . young lad my dad had some really good bird dogs he trained himself. We grew up on quail and gravy and cathead biscuits. We had a covey cross the yard sometimes. Walking across the pasture could almost cause a dirty shot when they cameup under your feet. Been a while since I've seen any. Not sure why but we farm different grasses now.
Carolyn and I watched them move around here a lot, and the best times were when the hen and cock moved their brood from here to there. The hen always in the lead, low chirps and clucks, bringing the string along, the cock at rear guard. We miss them, greatly.
I don't doubt that predators eat some turkeys, but turkeys as a species have been dealing with predators for thousands of years. I think something else is responsible for their decline. I tend to suspect afla toxin poisoning from corn put out to bait deer, and I've read that the biologists blame changing weather patterns---we've been having chilly rains during hatching season. Probably a combination of things. We all want simple answers to complex problems, and that is something hard to come by. Turkeys are wonderfully adaptive and have learned to live and thrive, even in suburbia, along with urban coyotes and garbage raiding raccoons, so I hope they'll stage a comeback soon. I'm seeing so few turkeys on my ground right now, I doubt I'll be doing much hunting this spring. I'd hate to be the man who killed the last gobbler in the entire Township.
Yep I've read and heard they've really hurt quail and turkey numbers. They trample all over the eggs and drive away nesting hens.Quote:
Originally Posted by eym_sirius