Wisconsin Wild Turkey Management Plan Survey Part 2

You can see the survey in its entirety by clicking on the link below.

Public Input Survey – Summary of Results

Fall Wild Turkey Hunting Season Survey 66.1% of responding turkey hunters also hunt turkeys in the fall.
By the zones Wisconsin fall turkey hunters hunt:

WI wild turkey off a snowshoe hunt

• 26.1% responded “Zone 1”
• 25.5% responded “Zone 2”
•  23.5% responded “Zone 3”
• 11.7% responded “Zone 4”
• 7.0% responded “Zone 5”
•  3.5% responded “Zone 6”
• 2.7% responded “Zone 7”

63% would like the fall season to open on the same time as it does now and 55% would have it stay the same length of time. Only 10% would like the season extended into January.

Currently a drawing is conducted to issue hunters their first permit.  Many wonder why when there are tens of thousands of permits leftover for over the counter purchase.  Hunters can buy one permit per day until they are sold out. By season’s end there are still thousands left unsold.   Many dedicated turkey hunters buy extra permits they have no intention of filling just to support Wisconsin’s turkey management efforts.

A good sum of money would be saved by eliminating the fall drawing.  56% favor eliminating it.

If Wisconsin eliminated the fall permit drawing, what would you like the fall season bag limit
(total turkeys  allowed for the entire season) to be? Assume that any hunter wishing to purchase a fall turkey
license would be able to do so. Please answer this question for the zone in which you typically
hunt during the fall turkey season.

•  50.5% responded “1 turkey”
•   29.7% responded “2 turkeys”
•   2.9% responded “3 turkeys”
•   1.2% responded “4 turkeys”
•   6.2% responded “unlimited with a tag”
• 9.4% responded “unsure/not applicable”

Again, like with the spring question I do not understand this correlation of answers if the drawing is eliminated then 80% want a one or two bird limit.  But if the drawing continues the limit will continue to be “unlimited with a tag”.

I don’t understand the logic here.

In the big picture Wisconsin has very few dedicated fall turkey hunters, most fall turkeys are killed incidentally while hunting

another species, mainly deer.   Perhaps the archers who shoot their turkey or 2 while on stand consider that’s enough and would like all other hunters out of woods by “rut time”.   As a long time archery deer hunter I hate to admit the treatment directed by some archers at me while I was turkey hunting was very disrespectful.  If I were a weaker personality I would have considered it intimidating.    It was quite apparent they considered me a trespasser on their piece of public land.