Rem1100

since there's no topic on WV, I'll get one started.... when I began hunting Gobblers back in 1981, we had gobblers everywhere. it was possible to hear a dozen gobblers in the local public hunting area. if ya messed up on one, you went on to the next one. it was a great environment to learn to hunt spring toms. shoot, you even had the jakes sounding of like they were big shots!!! over the past 10 or so years, it's gone downhill. now mind you, I don't hunt as hard as I once did, due to just plain getting older. the mountains are steeper these days. but when I do venture out, I hear less gobbling from the few I might hear. predation? maybe.... a learned trait not to gobble? possibly.... less birds? no doubt... I did a 10 yr compilation of kills from 1999 thru 2009... the average kills dropped from approx 13K, down to under 10K.... I'm betting this year will be under 10K easily, due to many factors. I'm not complaining, because I've killed my share, but am worried about the future of the sport, when it comes to introducing the youth to it. I didn't see many camo'd teenagers this year... most hunters looked to be in their 30s. I'm truely concerned about the future, as just like Pa deer hunters vs. PGC, I'm hearinmg a LOT of "the season starts too late"....well, I know back when I started, it was winter woods..no foilage. now, it's nearly full foilage when the openning bell rings... so I dunno. I wanted to get the Grandson involved, but it's hard to convince him that it's better than video games...esecially when the birds aren't cooperating. at 7, the joy of witnessing the birth of a new day, isn't that appealing....i'm truely concerned.

Pro-Line

Rem...I'm a fellow WV gobbler chaser and I've been noticing the same trend for years. The gobblers DO NOT GOBBLE on my farm anymore. Exactly like you said...In the early 80's there were gobbles everywhere. Now it's silent. The birds are still there. I still kill my share. The difference is that now I do it like coyote hunting...I call and then I wait. About 1 out of 3 every 10 sets will produce a gobbler coming in silently. I think there are 2 huge factors for this.

#1...The introduction of the 4-wheeler to hunting. Turkeys aren't idiots. If they hear a quad followed by calling 5 years in a row, they will eventually associate that quad with a hunter. In my area, I've heard several guys ride 1/4 mile then call....ride 1/4 mile then call. It just stands to reason that calling will eventually become less appealing to the birds.

#2...The complete idiocy of the opening dates. It is consistently 1-2 weeks AFTER Ohio's opening and in northern Ohio we are weeks behind WV in terms of gobbling. The heat of the WV mating season for turkeys is in March...yet the season starts the last week of April. I've seen hens with poults several times during the third week of the season. That tells me that the season is too late. I talked to a DNR officer in WV and he said that if the season were earlier that many hens would be called in and they were worried about the illegal killing of hens. What???????

I also think that this video game generation will be the end of hunting as we know it. It's sad, and my boys are interested...but they are only 3 and 6. Hopefully they someday share my passion.

sixgunluvr

I've done well the past three years.

Rem1100

I got 5 bucks that says you're west of I-79... wanna bet???

jalvja

Rem,I coulda wrote that post myself.Cept I'm in Pa. In the early 70's we had few birds and even fewer hunters.In the 80's and 90's the #'s of both increased drastically.Over the past 10 yrs the #'s of both have dropped more and more each year.

sixgunluvr

Ding Ding! Always within a mile or two of the Ohio River on the WV side....for sure west of I-79. Are there no turkeys east of I-79?

Pro-Line

My farm is basically ON 79...being about 2 miles to the west in Braxton county. We've had both worlds.

We still see game, but it's not what it was by any stretch. It seems that the predators (bears, coyotes and bobcats) have quadrupled in the past 10 years, while the other game has gone down. I realize that land will only support a limited amount of game, but I cannot figure out why 79 is such a line of distinction.

Rem1100

not very many... too many developments, too many people, too much loss of habitat... you have what we had 20 + yrs ago... same for deer. The DNR knows that District 1 and District 2 have had decreases in kills over the past 5-10 years, but refuse to do anything about it...as long as the majority of the state does well, oh well....besides, more people are buying hunting lic down your way than here..why pay for empty tags ???? Berkeley County killed 89 Gobblers...Mason killed over 500...BUT, we are # 12 in personal income, and #1 in foreclosures in the state... what was once farmns/orchards, are now housing developments.... the wildlife suffered as much as the locals did.

Rem1100

that's easy... less people, less loss of habitat...and not as harsh winters... we had more snow over the past winter, than the rest of the state had in 10...we had over 10 FEET of snowfall, and that makes it hard on turkeys...and deer...

sixgunluvr

Man.....that sucks! I feel for you guys in the east. I always thought it was less populated over there. No bears or bobcats here but the coyotes are definately making a showing. Still LOTS! of deer around here though. It's hard to even drive around the area where I hunt at night without hitting a deer!