Turkey numbers

[Hardcorehunter]

I hunt Davis and Boone Counties and the turkey hunting numbers are VERY LOW. I blame it on the lack of trappers(due to low fur prices), as Raccoons, and possums are thick, the huge Bird of prey population, and Bobcats in Davis and Boone County. A couple of years ago, I drilled a turkey with my bow, right at sunset while deer hunting. The bird fell over a small ridge, and by the time I got down, 6 raccoons were there and scarfed half of my bird!!

 

[6x6]

The population here in my part of western Iowa,Monona county, seems to grow every year.I saw lots of large broods last year and wintered 200-300 birds, despite the wet spring and more bobcats,coyotes and coon than ever. We do have real good nesting habitat in the loess hills so that may be the reason. I always find alot of kills under the roost trees, probably bobcats and raptors. As far a diseases, coccidiosis can break when they group up or are stressed. There are several chicken diseases that they carry with no signs ,but when wild birds get it wipes them out, and spreads rapidly, we always just called it chicken disease.

 

[AZHunter]

There are a ton of diseases that can severely impact wild bird populations (all kinds of birds), including West Nile Virus, Avian Influenza, Trichomonas, etc. Without a necropsy, these are all hard to confirm, but they are common and spread rapidly. If you throw the disease factor in cumulatively with heavy, wet springs, and nest predation, it will certainly wreak havoc on local populations. As birds flock, whether at natural or man-made feeders, diseases spread that much quicker. There are tons of scientific literature documenting this and the declines of bird populations. With enough time, I can dig through my literature collection or get enough from my avian ecologist friends.

When I was back in Central Iowa last week, I was surprised at how many turkeys I saw. When I grew up there, I had to go to southern Iowa to turkey hunt, including Davis County where they were everywhere (last bird was in 1997 before I moved).