5 new WMUs for wild turkey

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Originally Posted by maplevizsla

Should be TD.....I should get BS to dig up the pic of me and his cousin a few feet from those dodo birds, we were gobbling as best as a human can vocally do it and the boys were in full display going nuts. :-)

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lmao . Sounds like you and the cuz will make good decoys . Win ,win for Blasted Sabre and Pete . LOL

TD

You guys in 47 and 49 better invest in a Therma Cell. Good luck.

Hi guys. I was referred to this board by a guy in the office next door and have enjoyed lurking for past number of months but wanted to chime in on this. I live in South River so you might think I'd be excited but I am going to say this is BAD for the long term of Northern turkey hunters. It seems on the surface like a good thing but here's why I think this is another example of a poor idea by MNR

1. Back when we were trying to get turkeys trap and transferred up here when the population was exploding down south the MNR suspended that program. Their rationale was that turkeys were never native to up here and therefore they were satisfied that the birds were fully populated in their native range. Even when groups offered to fund this 100% they were told no approval to trap and transfer. So you see the MNR does not think they should be here!
2. Further to this they have not instituted any tag limits in these new wmu's. Man all I have been reading on these boards is all about how some of the past few years has been hard on the birds. I have heard some suggest in pockets down south that there should be a tag reduction to only one spring gobbler. I hear guys think the fall hunt and killing hens is bad as well.
3. The birds have made their way north through their own migration and search for new habitat. They have been able to do this by being left alone. It wasn't until there was a very healthy population in Bracebridge area until we saw a full hunt there. You cannot tell me that North Bay is at the same population desnity as Bracebridge was when a hunt was introduced! I work up there and while we see turkeys more regularily it is more down where I live and certainly not around NB.

I don't know too much about 42 but can anyone around Sudbury tell me they see a regular healthy population of turkeys west of Sudbury? Man I hear of the odd sighting but I spoke with some farmers from Verner on the moose hunt and asked them if they see turkeys. The one guy thought he might of seen the odd one but most said they weren't really there. That is the nice farm country of 42 area and farmers aren't seeing them. Does that sound like it's ready for a hunt?

I think the MNR doesn't care if they are north as they feel they are not native to this area. So what they have decided is to open up a season which they think everybody will think is great (apparently they are right) and if the turkeys barely thrive adding hunting to the mix then so be it.

We have been able to hunt in 48 for awhile but guys like myself have made a point of not hunting them in this part of the wmu. We still go down south for now. We want the northern population to continue to grow and get healthy. It is happening slower than down south but coming along. It needs more time and this is awful news.

It will be great to spread out the turkey hunting. Too crowded down south for sure. Too hard to get properties and so if we get a healthy population up north it will sure be better for hunting I agree. It's just not ready and MNR motives are not the same as ours.

What do you think?

Thank. Great site by the way. Enjoyed reading things and I guess I now am gald to get in the game. :)

Gern

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Originally Posted by Gern1980

Hi guys. I was referred to this board by a guy in the office next door and have enjoyed lurking for past number of months but wanted to chime in on this. I live in South River so you might think I'd be excited but I am going to say this is BAD for the long term of Northern turkey hunters. It seems on the surface like a good thing but here's why I think this is another example of a poor idea by MNR

1. Back when we were trying to get turkeys trap and transferred up here when the population was exploding down south the MNR suspended that program. Their rationale was that turkeys were never native to up here and therefore they were satisfied that the birds were fully populated in their native range. Even when groups offered to fund this 100% they were told no approval to trap and transfer. So you see the MNR does not think they should be here!
2. Further to this they have not instituted any tag limits in these new wmu's. Man all I have been reading on these boards is all about how some of the past few years has been hard on the birds. I have heard some suggest in pockets down south that there should be a tag reduction to only one spring gobbler. I hear guys think the fall hunt and killing hens is bad as well.
3. The birds have made their way north through their own migration and search for new habitat. They have been able to do this by being left alone. It wasn't until there was a very healthy population in Bracebridge area until we saw a full hunt there. You cannot tell me that North Bay is at the same population desnity as Bracebridge was when a hunt was introduced! I work up there and while we see turkeys more regularily it is more down where I live and certainly not around NB.

I don't know too much about 42 but can anyone around Sudbury tell me they see a regular healthy population of turkeys west of Sudbury? Man I hear of the odd sighting but I spoke with some farmers from Verner on the moose hunt and asked them if they see turkeys. The one guy thought he might of seen the odd one but most said they weren't really there. That is the nice farm country of 42 area and farmers aren't seeing them. Does that sound like it's ready for a hunt?

I think the MNR doesn't care if they are north as they feel they are not native to this area. So what they have decided is to open up a season which they think everybody will think is great (apparently they are right) and if the turkeys barely thrive adding hunting to the mix then so be it.

We have been able to hunt in 48 for awhile but guys like myself have made a point of not hunting them in this part of the wmu. We still go down south for now. We want the northern population to continue to grow and get healthy. It is happening slower than down south but coming along. It needs more time and this is awful news.

It will be great to spread out the turkey hunting. Too crowded down south for sure. Too hard to get properties and so if we get a healthy population up north it will sure be better for hunting I agree. It's just not ready and MNR motives are not the same as ours.

What do you think?

Thank. Great site by the way. Enjoyed reading things and I guess I now am gald to get in the game. :)

Gern

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Especially with this bad winter, I can't imagine this spring would be a good time to open those WMU up but (what do I know) I live in southern Ontario where birds are plentiful and winters (even though this was the worst one in 20 years) aren't too bad.
Good luck with the birds