So far, every eastern state that has reported their 2004 harvest numbers are showing a significant drop from 2003.

The list at present is:

RI
NJ
PA
OH
KY
WV
MD
VA
NC
SC

Further west, some states are showing slight increases.

Hal

Hopefully the hatch was good in NJ because we could use the birds.

I think this is due to a wet spring last year. I think we did better this spring.

Had some of that spring turkey last night. Hmmm good.

IL shot approx 1000 more in 04 than 03.interested to hear from some of the guys that hunt in these states why the harvest has dropped.

I'd hazard a guess to say the decline in the mid-Atlantic states is likely to be due to three years in a row of sub-par hatches - weather related.

Hal

Year before last the number were slightly above average, and 04 just plain out sucked[:'(] 2005 spring should be a shoe-in, all counties in ohio have had good hatches, atleast two or three.

Here's the latest 2004 tally:

VT - 23% down (1st two weeks only)
RI - 20% down
VA - 20% down
OH - 20% down
NJ - 18% down
WV - 16.5% down
MD - 12% down
NC - 10% down
PA - 7% down
SC - 5% down
KY - 4% down
UT - 1/2 of 1% down

TN - 1/10 of 1% up
IL - 3% up
MO - 4% up
IN - 4% up
MN - 8% up (increase in tags apparently the reason for increase)
WI - 9% up (no change in hunter success rate - increase in tags accounted for the increase)

Hal

i took my only 2 spring birds in 03 and 04 so far! lol.....really i think its the weather the last few springs....i remember one day mid may we drive to the mountains..get there..it gets windy...cold started spitting rain....we were walking across a clear cut and watched the rain turn to snow....weve had very wet springs for a while now....i learned to do it right when you can.....both my birds were taken within the first week...last year it was the second day of the season...last nice day all season i do believe.....then this year it was the first thursday.....beautiful morning i didnt have to work and we got out of school ealry so i went hunting....but thats how im doing it for now on...this spring weather is crazy.....gota do it when you can.....guys that only hunt weekends ect arent scoring becuase it rains alot of days...if you cant go when its nice your chances are down...