But wasn't the original reason why hunters had to be out by noon due to turkeys roosting early and preventing hunters from shooting them out of trees? Wasn't the noon rule a week longer in years past? I'm not attaching youth hunting, have they always been able to hunt all day? I am genuinely asking, has the science changed (admitting the noon roost theory is b.s) and the state is just limiting adult access to maintain the population? Only reason I ask, students and I were talking turkeys and looking at pics, one boy has them coming out at 3 p.m and he didnt think he could hunt after noon, another student said you could, we looked it up, it made his day and he will probably kill a thunder chicken by 315 p.m tommorow. Hunter recruitment and retention debate/argument is whole other can worms that is better saved for a camp fire during a gathering.
As @Sgt Fury said, the noon rule was implemented primarily to prevent hens from being disturbed on the nest. It's illegal to shoot them off the roost regardless of shooting times, so that has nothing to do with hunting hours. For decades, we could only hunt until noon and it wasn't until recent years that they extended the hours for the last two weeks. The youth season is only 2 days that takes place two full weeks before the main season, which typically, is well before egg-laying and nesting are in full swing. Again, I've never heard of the noon roost theory and if that was even a thing, it remains illegal to kill them in the tree even if it's during legal hours.
I don’t think they want to make the woods off limits to everyone (like they do on certain beaches when the piping plovers are nesting), but want to limit the chances of hunters stomping through the woods and bumping the hens off of the nests. It makes it vulnerable to predators such as crows, and also the egg temps could drop if she takes too long getting back. When she lays the eggs, they can get cold but once she starts to sit, they need to stay warm as the chicks are now starting to develop. She will wait until she gathers a clutch so that all of the chicks will hatch out at the same time…so once she decides to start sitting, anything that can be done to diminish the chances of a nest failure is a good thing.
Yeah I understand all of that. I also understand that predators are more detrimental to nesting than everything else combined. Until the state promotes predator control anything else they do is just to pat themselves on the back and say look what we did. It’s not going to make a difference.
It's not like the state has a great record of giving two shits about a quality hunting experience.
What county are you hunting in? Asking for an Amish friend.
But have they done ANYTHING to address them?
Wild turkey hens can store sperm from the Tom and only need to be bred once or twice although they sometimes breed more often. One Tom can service a lot of hens over the course of a breeding season.
