2018 MT Turkey Regs

[Doublecluck]

It would Appear Fwp has extended their war on wildlife (as some claim) to turkeys.

I am no expert, But I have lived and hunted in areas with much better turkey habitat and populations. To me the regulations don't seem sustainable, but What do I know.. Maybe just not that many turkey hunters here..

12 tags possible a year now?

looks like we can use a general tag now in region 3... which I like...

http://fwp.mt.gov/fwpDoc.html?id=84655

Either way I cant wait.. longbeards in the decoys.. wouldn't feel right about shootin more than 2, but me and the girls will put some down.. that's a fact...

 

[406LIFE]

There are currently 3.2 Billion turkeys in the Bitterroot alone. So take that I to account.

As for sustainable: turkey populations are doing really well across the board. And remember, they are not a native species. If the slaughter of turkeys grew to a point that numbers would decline, they could always bein us back to onevird statewide.

I don't think they are in danger, however. Spring bear is much more popular than turkeys. And in the fall you probably can't find 5 people to accurately describe a turkey.

I have shot multiple birds a year since the regs allowed it, people look at me crazyeyed.


(FWP war on wildlife is a pejorative term, and not really helpful to the convo.)

 

[Pagosa]

I don’t think many hunters will harvest over 3-5 birds a year, due to time and other commitments. I got three toms last year and my 10 year old son killed another tom. Lots of turkeys in western Montana seem to reside on non-huntable private lands. The travel distances between regions greatly limit most turkey hunters. And if I wasn’t working in southeastern Montana I wouldn’t probably make the effort to hunt there due too fuel costs and drive time.

 

[406LIFE]

Lots of turkeys in western Montana seem to reside on non-huntable private lands.

This is one of the main reasons for the increased tags.

 

[Big Sky]

I doubt it will hurt the population at all. It has already been stated that many of them live on non-huntable private land. Two years ago I was in the Graves Creek area of northwest Montana during the fall turkey season. Conservatively I saw a couple hundred turkeys. Big flocks, and a number of those flocks were just big toms with no hens or jakes. It was a sight to behold. Not a single one of those turkeys ever stepped off private land. There is a lot a public land in the area, but those birds seemed to know exactly where the boundaries were. I kept hoping one would slip up, but it never happened while I was there.

 

[Doublecluck]

I guess what I envision is the turkeys on public land getting hammered. Then again we hunt about 50/50 public private and permission is relatively easy to obtain. Up until now most of my time was spent in 3,5,7 which hasn’t changed other than the no more draw for 3.. This year we will be heading west as well since I work state wide now. I didn’t realize there were 3.2b over there, guess that warrants shooting 700,000 hens in the fall.. lol...yea this season is going to be epic.. gonna have to ask the turkey gods for forgiveness at the end..

 

[----]

I doubt it will hurt the population at all. It has already been stated that many of them live on non-huntable private land. Two years ago I was in the Graves Creek area of northwest Montana during the fall turkey season. Conservatively I saw a couple hundred turkeys. Big flocks, and a number of those flocks were just big toms with no hens or jakes. It was a sight to behold. Not a single one of those turkeys ever stepped off private land. There is a lot a public land in the area, but those birds seemed to know exactly where the boundaries were. I kept hoping one would slip up, but it never happened while I was there.

Exactly.

FWP doesn't control turkey populations in Western Montana, landowners do. It's the same thing as what we're dealing with on elk.

When Missoula County was permit only we had turkeys on public land, now that it's general they're all on private. I've been hunting a public land flock in Mineral County the last couple years. It'll be shot out with these new regulations.

I'm indifferent, as I see turkeys as more of a novelty than wildlife, but that's the truth of the matter.

 

[mtmuley]

Exactly.

FWP doesn't control turkey populations in Western Montana, landowners do.

Yep, especially in the Root. I really don't think the additional opportunity will make a dent in the poulation here. I really don't think there is a lot of people in my area that hunt them hard. Me, I can take it or leave it. I'd rather hunt bears. mtmuley

 

[Clawsar]

I’ve only tried going out for turkeys once two years ago but plan to give it a go again this season here in the northwest corner. While I’d prefer public land, the posts here align with what I hear from others that private is where the birds are.

Is there any system set up that would allow landowners to connect with hunters when they want to target specific game on their property? I don’t know if FWP does something or if there is any other site, app, etc?

 

[406LIFE]

I’ve only tried going out for turkeys once two years ago but plan to give it a go again this season here in the northwest corner. While I’d prefer public land, the posts here align with what I hear from others that private is where the birds are.

Is there any system set up that would allow landowners to connect with hunters when they want to target specific game on their property? I don’t know if FWP does something or if there is any other site, app, etc?

You could contact a R1 biologist and see if there are any turkey complaints. They maybe able to get you in touch. I did that in R2, got bow only access to places.

 

[Doublecluck]

I’ve only tried going out for turkeys once two years ago but plan to give it a go again this season here in the northwest corner. While I’d prefer public land, the posts here align with what I hear from others that private is where the birds are.

Is there any system set up that would allow landowners to connect with hunters when they want to target specific game on their property? I don’t know if FWP does something or if there is any other site, app, etc?

Sent you a pm

 

[Clawsar]

Thanks everyone!

 

[MontanaHunter222]

To me the regulations don't seem sustainable, but What do I know.. Maybe just not that many turkey hunters here...12 tags possible a year now?

I'm in Region 1 (Flathead Valley/Kalispell area) and there are SO MANY TURKEYS around here. It's true that a lot of them are on private land. I've seen 50 or more at a time on pieces of private land that are just a few acres. A lot of the private land owners are overrun by them. So I think part of the reason FWP is issuing more licenses is so that some of these landowners can legally "thin the herd" and get their land back. I have one family friend who begs me to get as many as I can because they are a nuisance (pooping all around the house, chasing kids, destroying gardens, attracting predators, etc.).

If you can get access to hunt on private land, especially in the fall, hunting turkeys becomes a much more viable option for actually filling the freezer, because, once you find one turkey, you've probably found a LOT of them, and you can harvest a significant amount of meat in a single hunting trip. For me, this makes it far more worth my time, rather than giving up a whole day...or week...for one bird. But three or more birds makes it much more worth my time. That's just my 2 cents.