Turkey Plan Revision Survey Results

[charlie elk]

I think Charlie you nailed it by comparing it to peoples fears of what happened to the deer population.

Actually I can't take credit for this point, willowridge brought it up.
But the view from my deer stand does not indicate there has been any decrease in the deer herd. (but that debate is for another board)

No matter what we hunt, we all see a reality from our turkey setup or deer stand; I think your east / west analysis is right on the mark. There are some thoughts floating around about breaking the state into north / south zones for management purposes, maybe an east/ west is a better idea.

Because those zone 2, 5, & 7 tags are harder to come by I leave them for you guys, especially since for the time being there are unlimited tags here.

There are stocked pheasant areas (put & take) where special tags are issued for hen and rooster shooting. These are the old hens that have laid all the eggs they can and are put out as targets. In these areas it is more a like a shoot than a hunt.

[turkey junky]

And TJ, no you can not shoot hens pheasants, and yes birds are raised and released every year before hunting season. Most fall to predators or don't make it through the winter, and a lot get hit by cars as the get grit along side the roads.

and tickleishtompro i really think you should look up that you cant shoot hen pheasants in WI comment as i only hunted WI for turkey 1 season & i read my WI hunter handbook & seen you are WRONG & charlie elk & i are 100% correct on that YES PEOPLE CAN SHOOT HEN PHEASANTS IN CERTIN AREAS OF YOUR STATE OF WISCONSIN!!! its sad that a out of stater knows that B4 a resident...??? yes charlie i figured they were released birds & wanted them culled for what ever reason... i do know some areas experimented with releaseing hens in the spring of the yr to try & help the wild pheasant population in the area but if these are just old hens & basicly put out in the fields to be killed by hunters thats kind of LAME like i said prior they have been releaseing pheasants in prime SD pheasant hunting areas for yrs to keep the bird numbers high & they still call them birds wild??? but you cant shoot the hens in SD... i think IA & WI were the only places i have ever seen a wild or supposed wild pheasant hens killed in the fileds not on private huntings preserves...
they dont all die off from preditors & or weather or cars... ever been through SD in the spring??? wild pheasants also get hit by cars while pick n grit & while chase n each other around while in breeding mode!!!

any way thanks charlie for spreading some lite on this hen pheasant thing for others you rock...

[dewey]

And TJ, no you can not shoot hens pheasants, and yes birds are raised and released every year before hunting season. Most fall to predators or don't make it through the winter, and a lot get hit by cars as the get grit along side the roads.

and tickleishtompro i really think you should look up that you cant shoot hen pheasants in WI comment as i only hunted WI for turkey 1 season & i read my WI hunter handbook & seen you are WRONG & charlie elk & i are 100% correct on that YES PEOPLE CAN SHOOT HEN PHEASANTS IN CERTIN AREAS OF YOUR STATE OF WISCONSIN!!! its sad that a out of stater knows that B4 a resident...???

It may been beneficaial to provide a link to the regulations you are referencing so that everyone can see.

Dewey

[charlie elk]

If a guy does not hunt pheasants then there is no reason for him to know the fine details of the pheasant regulations. I think WDNR stocks pheasants in this manner in only 2 or 3 obscure areas. Its paid for with pheasant stamp money so I see nothing wrong with it, something needs to be done with the unneeded birds. A lot guys go to these areas for teaching kids and dogs. ticklishpro is correct in other areas healthy young pheasants are released for stocking purposes and many do die before the next year. It is rooster only hunting.

But this is a turkey forum..

So back to the turkey plan revisions if any.
There is an all day task force meeting I'll be attending at the end of the month. Should be interesting, so stay tune for more info.

[ticklishtompro]

And TJ, no you can not shoot hens pheasants, and yes birds are raised and released every year before hunting season. Most fall to predators or don't make it through the winter, and a lot get hit by cars as the get grit along side the roads.

and tickleishtompro i really think you should look up that you cant shoot hen pheasants in WI comment as i only hunted WI for turkey 1 season & i read my WI hunter handbook & seen you are WRONG & charlie elk & i are 100% correct on that YES PEOPLE CAN SHOOT HEN PHEASANTS IN CERTIN AREAS OF YOUR STATE OF WISCONSIN!!! its sad that a out of stater knows that B4 a resident...??? yes charlie i figured they were released birds & wanted them culled for what ever reason... i do know some areas experimented with releaseing hens in the spring of the yr to try & help the wild pheasant population in the area but if these are just old hens & basicly put out in the fields to be killed by hunters thats kind of LAME like i said prior they have been releaseing pheasants in prime SD pheasant hunting areas for yrs to keep the bird numbers high & they still call them birds wild??? but you cant shoot the hens in SD... i think IA & WI were the only places i have ever seen a wild or supposed wild pheasant hens killed in the fileds not on private huntings preserves...
they dont all die off from preditors & or weather or cars... ever been through SD in the spring??? wild pheasants also get hit by cars while pick n grit & while chase n each other around while in breeding mode!!!

First I just want to say TJ I answered a general question. The only place you can shoot hens are on certain DNR managed lands and you must have tags to put on them. More specifically leg bands that you get from the DNR. I know this cause I am given them every year with my liceanse purchase. This is only a few certain locations that I wouldn't expect an out of state hunter to know of. I am very well aware of the states rules reguarding pheasant hunting. Most birds are raised and released in the fall and not spring and the majority of it,at least in the eastern part of the state, is done by local conservation clubs. The state does raise and release birds, but that is mainly on state lands. Our club is very involved in our county's program and we release on private lands. Most have limited hunting and the populations have been rising, but pen raised birds are not as smart as wild birds and that is why more die to predation and cars.

Charlie is right and this is a turkey hunting forum and that is the last I will say about it. Next time I will be more specific when I answer a question about a state regulation, sorry for trying to help out!

[turkey junky]

i do beleave there was a few other fellows or fellow that was compairing turkeys numbers in WI to your deer & pheasant numbers in WI & thats wear the pheasants came in the forum & the talk of releaseing birds & wild birds & shooting of hens that lead to somebody saying somebody else was wrong & so fourth... had that not happened we all would still be talking about pheasants & turkey in WI but now everybody wants to point out this is a turkey forum??? lets do that every time somebody brings up any other game species....

also non residents & residents receive the same copy of the WI hunter handbook with the regulations when they purchase a license & i tend to like to read the state im hunting ins rules & reg B4 i hit the woods with a gun so thats how i found out...

if i was savy with a computer dewey i would love to help you out & post the rules & regs stateing what i already have read... i just thought somebody was saying what i know was correct & in the hand book was wrong sorry if i confused with being a non resident out of state hunter...???

i have thought of take n my dog over to some of these areas to train this fall??? hope not many others hit these areas very much i doubt they do by the sound of things...

[ticklishtompro]

i have thought of take n my dog over to some of these areas to train this fall??? hope not many others hit these areas very much i doubt they do by the sound of things...

Actually, at least over here, those are the most hunted areas and that is why I avoid them and don't recomend them to others, unless you like seeing lots of other hunters and their dogs all around you!

[turkey junky]

thanks for the heads up ticklishtompro i will avoid the hen areas lol...

sorry for any mis understanding i think some came from the ??? s & !!!s at the end of a few comments... i was wondering why the state of WI would allow hens to be harvested in certin areas & why they still released pen raised birds... i knew they did these things & was also i was calling it lame kind of hunt if u asked me sorry if i offended that was my point of view on things...

being a member of pheasants forever i do read a little on things concerning pheasants & quail & thats wear the issues of people still releaseing pen raised pheasants into areas instead of improveing habitat in that specific area for wild birds to nest/eat/hide ETC. comes from i tend to agree with them... like you said ticklishtompro pen raised hens are not the best mothers even if they do survive roads,preditors & weather a wild hen pheasant in a non drought areas tend to raise 4-6 poults on average to adulthood aka pheasant season opener... wear pen raised hens raise like 1-3 more like 1 poults to adulthood they said in a article i just re read that the released hens cant re produce enuff hens to make it worth while to keep a stocking effort in effect you need help from wild hens to boost a wild population of pheasants & turkeys for that matter...

[kygobbler]

As an outsider looking in I have some questions for you all that I don't understand. One is why is majority of the people against an open state wide hunting season compared to the zones. In my opinion, I believe I would like to be able to hunt any where in the state for an entire 6 weeks compared to the 1 week per zone. I am wondering if this is due more to tradition and the way it has always been more than compared to the love of the sport. If its more of tradition then why not break it down between the north and south ends of the state. The reason why I say this is because the turkeys on the north end of the state get hit harder in the winter than they do on the south end. Atleast that is what I gather from some of ya's info.

My second question is, why have a bird limit if the turkey population is around 350,000? I might be wrong on the number of the population but I think that was the estimate on the last state by state turkey pop. that I looked at which was done about 10 yrs ago.

Im rather impressed that ya are able to gather so much info about how the turkey season has went through the entire state and how detailed the info really is. I wish more states wildlife programs were like that without having to go through an act of congress.

[fallhunt]

When is WI fall season? Are bow and gun seasons different? What is the bag limit in fall? Are tags sold OTC? I looked on the WI web site but it kept running me around with a draw.