SHOOTING HENS IN THE SPRING SEASON?

[turkey junky]

hey guys just looking at the SD rules & regs as im thinking of applying for a prairie unit hunt "thanks everybody for all the great info lol?" but any way i was just wondering what everybodys thought/feelings on the south dakota backwords law that lets you shoot 2 OF ANY WILD TURKEY that includes 2 HENS if you want it to be???

im still old school & dont even like folks shooting hens in the fall season wear its excepted that its OK to do so??? but i do not understand in any way shape or form why any state would allow you to harvest 2 HENS during the spring season??? & on top of that you can use a rifle or slug to kill your trophy HEN turkey???

is it that there is a bunch of yahoo locals that are extremely lazy & just want to shoot a turkey??? hen or tom??? or do they have a over population of turkey so its ok to blast a hen on the nest??? & then to be able to use a rifle on top of that??? man i really think the SD game & fish has this rule way way wrong in so many ways!!! but thats my thoughts what are your guys feelings on the sub ject??? everything i have learned in my yrs of hunting turkeys says this is way bad for the spring season!!!

[Gopherlongbeards]

In most of the prairie units turkeys are looked at as a type of pest. For the most part they are non-native subspecies (historically, Easterns were the only turkeys present in the state, and only in some of the river drainages in the eastern half of the state), with high populations in areas where they are not hunted much. Hen harvest is a tool used to control populations. If SDGF&P allows hen harvest during the spring (I did not know they did this?) then they want populations reduced. People in that part of the state are typically not interested in turkey hunting. Big game and pheasants are what pay the bills.

[turkey junky]

but they love there pheasants in SD a non native species that makes the $$$???

i have been get n the SD spring turkey paper application since roughly 2008-2009 the hole prairie units being able to harvest hens has been that way since then if not been that way forever???

for the most part the units that allow you to take 2 turkeys allow you to harvest 2 OF ANY WILD TURKEY that includes hens not cool...

the prairie units that only allow you to harvest 1 turkey mostly all say you can only harvest 1 male turkey...

so like you said gopher it must be a tool the SD GAME & FISH use to try & control the population in the area/units???

oh how things are different in other states in many states out west EXCEPT SD I GUESS many ranchers & or locals like if not love wild turkeys or they at least love to see them on there land??? they will let u hunt if u ask but they will say just dont shoot the 1s the wife looks at??? if you ask the wife if you can hunt she says heck no they are like my pets lol

in SD they want the turkeys dead & gone i guess??? or they really just dont care there??? if they really want all there birds dead they should just lower the coast of tags to the same as a resident... 25.$$$ 100$$$ non resident???

[WillowRidgeCalls]

It may be a waste permit? If you shot a turkey with a rifle, the turkey isn't going to stop a bullet, and with a pass through, a hen might be hit? To keep the bird going to waste they allow you to take either or? A lot of other states have the same law, as long as the bird has a beard it's legal to take, hen or toms.

[turkey junky]

it may be a waste tag??? that is not mentioned in any rule or reg as being the reason??? & being able to shoot any bird with a visible beard is a way way different law then being able to gun down hens in the spring season with no visible beard...???

i am not aware of any other state wear you can harvest hens out write with no visible beard in the spring season??? maybe WI in them crop damage areas of the state wear landowners open up there land to hunters you can shoot hens??? but im not sure on that???

i was always under the impression that your not supposed to shoot hens in the spring time for very obvious reason its nesting time???

[Treerooster]

They want to reduce the population, simple as that, and maybe satisfy some farmers & ranchers at the same time.

Most landowners I talk to out west don't like turkeys too much.

Turkeys can be a problem out west in the winter as they flock up in big numbers and can cause problems for farmers and ranchers.

Colo just came out with a late season in Dec on the eastern plains because of landowner complaints. The tags are good for 2 beardless birds on private land only. You can't shoot a tom or jake.

I have also heard of tukeys causing problems in MT and WY.

SD just handles it a different way. Maybe that is how they keep the landowners happy and the alternative would be to eliminate the turkey population altogether.

If you don't want to shoot a hen then don't.

[ylpnfol]

If you don't want to shoot a hen then don't.

and that my friends, is it in a nutshell.....too many turkeys eh, what a great problem to have.....

[turkey junky]

i have herd of turkeys wrecking & eating pheasant nest from the same farmers that say the turkeys are a problem to them in the winter???

i have talked to many wild life biologist out west that say the same thing about the farmers not liking the turkeys... they also said that is basicly B/S its just that the farmers dont the turkeys tearing into there hay bails because they rip open when they go to give them to the cows thats why they dont like turkeys he said what a stupid reason to want them dead??? biologist words...

SD is $$$ hungry when it comes to there wildlife they will sell it for $$$ so i doubt they will ever go as far to re-exterminate the wild turkeys from there state... they sell many turkey tags & make plenty of $$$ off us out of state hunters each year they wont kill all there tuyrkeys off

that stupid hen killing law is as back-words as it gets in the eyes of many!!! just watched a NWTF show wear they were so concerned with hen being killed on accident & the population being effected from that they recommend setting the season to go later into the spring so that all the hens are on nests...???

but or course im wrong or the bad guy for wanting to protect hens & calling out the very confused SD GAME & FISH on this dumb law...

if you want to shoot hens go ahead it dose not make it write just cuz its legal on the books!!! 46-48 other states must be wrong...???

i feel no need to protect that game law in SD & start things with others on the forum i was just asking if any others feel the same as i do as far as the spring season goes... sorry to offend the SD GAME & FISH lovers out there... lol

[Cut N Run]

It is hard to imagine having too many turkeys. That's not a problem around here. It seems that with a bunch of extra turkeys around, some could be trapped to restock other areas.

It must be in my DNA to let the egg layers live. A few years ago, we had an experimental Fall season in 5 counties, which took place this time of year and hens were legal game. I saw hens when I was hunting, but never shot any & just let 'em pass. It would have cost me one of the two tags we get each year. I love hunting spring gobblers too much to spend a tag on a bird that only weighs half as much & doesn't gobble or strut like a spring gobbler. Since then the Fall season was eliminated and probably won't be reinstated.

Jim

[Gopherlongbeards]

Different strokes for different folks. When turkey populations are below desired levels it makes sense to protect hens during the hunting seasons. Turkey pops in many Midwestern states, including SD are are very high right now and in many cases still expanding. As long as populations and harvest levels are properly managed, there is no reason why people who wish to shouldn't be allowed to harvest female birds. The issue of whether or not hens should be legal targets seems to me to be more of a social regulation. The fall hunting tradition (where female birds are fair game) seems to be more accepted in the northern states, while southern states seem to be opposed to the idea. This may be a reflection of turkey history in these areas? Southern hunters may remember the "lean times" when it was rare to hear a gobble, let alone kill a bird (maybe it IS in your DNA CutNRun, or more accurately in your hunting heritage). Many hunters in the Midwest never experienced this, as there were no turkeys to hunt during this period, all they've ever really known are rapidly expanding populations.

The idea that killing an "egg layer" is sacrilege has become ingrained in the hunting culture. It makes sense to hunters that more hens = more eggs laid = more turkeys. While sometimes this is true, in many cases reality is much more complicated. The number of breeding age hens in a population is rarely the bottleneck for game bird recruitment (not to pick on you TJ, but in this respect the SD regulation is probably more FORWARD thinking than backwards). Habitat, predation, and weather typically play a more important role. In some cases more breeding hens can lead to lower recruitment through competition for quality nesting sites and food resources, as well as supporting larger predator populations.

There are many other examples of social regulations. Doesn't Mississippi prohibit the harvest of jakes during the spring season? Hen pheasants are another good example, there is little if any biological support that protecting pheasant hens during the hunting season leads to higher pheasant populations in following years. It wasn't too long ago that people thought shooting does was about the worst thing going for deer herd management. Popular opinion changes slowly on these issues.

My point is there are many different ways to successfully manage a turkey population, depending on the particular goals of the state and agency responsible for that management. Protecting hens during all seasons is a perfectly legitimate regulation if it is supported by the hunting community that regulation impacts. By the same token, if the people of SD want to be able to shoot hens in the springtime, GF&P can figure out an acceptable harvest level and let them have at it. I think respect for the hunting heritages and traditions of all is always a good idea. When in Rome...