BSmaster

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today adopted new regulations to shorten fall turkey hunting seasons in New York State due to a declining turkey population across the state. The new fall seasons are two weeks long with a statewide season bag limit of one bird of either fun loving. Season dates vary regionally with the season in the Northern Zone running October 1-14, the Southern Zone running October 17-30, and Suffolk County (Long Island) running November 21-December 4. "Declining wild turkey populations across the state make it necessary to shorten the hunting season," DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said. "It is important to responsibly manage New York's wild turkey populations to ensure that future generations of hunters have the opportunity to go afield." DEC received approximately 120 comments on the regulatory proposal. Almost all of the comments received expressed concern over the decline in wild turkey populations over the past 15 years, and many were supportive of DEC's efforts to modify the fall hunting season to accommodate changing turkey populations and environmental conditions. The new regulations are part of a multi-year study to understand and respond to long-term declines in turkey populations and to ensure that harvest opportunities are sustainable. The new fall hunting season structure is based on the results of research conducted by DEC and its partners on ecological and social factors that influence turkey populations and turkey management. This included: a study of how weather and landscape-scale habitat features interact and influence the number of turkeys found in different parts of the state; surveys of turkey hunters to identify what they value in terms of turkey populations, a high-quality hunting experience, and the trade-offs they are willing to make between hunting opportunity and turkey abundance; and field research where more than 450 hen turkeys are banded annually, some with satellite radios, so biologists can determine their survival and fall harvest rates. Based on those studies, DEC concluded that the best way to enhance turkey populations while maintaining some fall hunting opportunity was to offer a two-week season in all areas of the state, with a seasonal limit of one bird of either fun loving. Season dates are staggered among three broad regions, which will provide more avid hunters the chance to hunt turkeys for more than just two weeks. This represents a reduced season length in most of the state and a modest increase in season length for Long Island. The new fall hunting season changes will be evaluated as part of a four-year research program. DEC staff continues to band and track hens in 2015 and 2016 to help evaluate the effects of fall season changes on hen harvest and survival. This information will be used along with information on turkey abundance, productivity, and hunter activity and harvest data collected annually to determine future fall harvest opportunities that are sustainable under current environmental conditions and trends in turkey populations. The Notice of Adoption for this regulation is published in issue 29 of the New York State Register, dated July 22, 2015. For more information about the new fall turkey hunting regulations, visit the DEC website.

Pap, That is happening everywhere and with many species. That is why "sustainable" has become such a big word associated with conservation.

August will be better and September better yet. I am thinking that the fall bite will be spectacular - which means I will have decisions to make. Keep at it. If it was easy it would be called "getting" instead of "fishing". Those fish will eat anything so the trick is to find out what they want and when they want it.

I took a big skunk with an 0 for 4 on opening day. It was very humbling. I have not dialed them in yet but I have noticed that a lot of the areas I fished are in transition. Some were prespawn, and some were post spawn. I took a day off work 2 weeks ago and two of us caught 58 according to my ticker. nothing over 17" but only a few dinks. I was using soft plastics (finesse worm rigs) and color, weight, and size mattered. It has been different everytime I have been out. Black is a staple, but putting blue or purple in the mix is helping. They haven't seemed to want the 4inch either so I have been catching everything on 6-7 inch. Last year I caught most of my quality fish on 4in black and this year is a big zero. I don't know but I am assuming it is a transitional thing and will get better if the summer ever decides to get hot.

I thought about it some more and I would say that it would take between 3-4 hrs for me to get my boat wet in LO. Figuring time and money investment, I would most likely keep a limit (if I caught one) regardless of their size. But I have released fish in my own back yard that were legal. I guess it depends on whether you are an ambassador to that body of water or if you are only going to visit it once versus continually. I still say that it is up to the individual. Walleye is both challenging and rewarding. Like Justin said, I know a lot of guys who want to be spoonfed because they don't have the patience for it. This is why the 90/10 rule applies. 90% of the fish are caught by 10% of the fisherman. Since walleye are hard to catch they aren't usually targeted by fair weather fisherman. I mentioned this before. Allowing the spawning fish to do there thing without being snagged or netted is probably going to do the most benefit for the future generations.

Balance

Fishing techniques have improved over the decades. For there to be a next generation, you have to take the current generation into account. I think you have answered your own question. I was invited to goto Canada a few years back and after reading up on the regs decided to save my money and fish locally. My impression is that Canada had pimped out its natural resource and realized they needed to step back and let it replenish itself. Yes, The states stock fish to supplement or maintain balance in populations. I agree with what you said about keeping the little guys. I like 2ft walleye. Like I said before, everyone has to answer that question for themselves, but I think it is good that you asked it because it may get others to think about it also. The rivers I fish are not stocked either so I am conscious about it. I treat every hole in the river like it is a separate body of water and don't over fish it. Put and take lakes - it doesn't matter much.

I agree that if it is legal than it is ok. this is a question to be answered by the individual. Put and take fisheries, it doesn't matter but it can be a good ethical argument for natural reproduction areas. I personally think that the efforts of the DEC in April has been better for the success of the fishery.

Do a charter and save yourselves some gas and time. They will educate you and you will get hooked up.

Reduce the hook count down to 5 and it will be alright. They work good for herring/alewives in the hudson.