WildTurkey_LockedGate_Dickson_James_RustonLA_19February2024_Reel4191.wav

Jim Dickson [00:00:00] I was involved in evaluating some of the restoration areas and the populations there. It was in the '70s.

Jim Dickson [00:00:08] You know, I was a middle-aged man when I saw my first turkey. But, you know, it was pretty exciting for me to see turkey.

Jim Dickson [00:00:17] But I went around. There was 30 relief sites that Wildlife and Fisheries had done in the States. So, I went around and assessed as best we could in how those turkeys were doing.

Jim Dickson [00:00:29] And there, the main thing we found out: they're doing well where you got a locked gate, you know, where you don't have competitive hunting and "get it before somebody else does" mentality, where you get a long-term perspective. It worked out better.

Jim Dickson [00:00:45] And one thing that's really helped out - in Louisiana and East Texas, it was pretty open country there. And so, it was competitive hunting - a lot of people there, and a lot of people there a lot of, a lot of times of the year, so there was a lot of pressure on these populations, deer and turkey.

Jim Dickson [00:01:02] With the ownership taking more control of the land, and leasing the land to hunters, and putting up locked gates where it's not open to the public, the deer population expanded and the turkey population expanded. You know, just some protection helped.

Jim Dickson [00:01:18] See, in most of the Rio Grande turkey's range in central Texas, up into Oklahoma, there's landowner control. They've always had control of that land. And leasing is in place in those areas.

Jim Dickson [00:01:32] So, you know, if you don't shoot it now, you got a chance to hunt it in the spring or next spring. So, there's a longer term conservation perspective about those species and a protection of the species. You know, it's not competitive huntnig.

Jim Dickson [00:01:48] Where you get public access and lots of hunters, they're going to shoot what they can shoot.

Jim Dickson [00:01:53] And even sometimes even, you know, illegal things. There's studies, early studies, that show that in a gobblers-only hunt, you know, 30% of the hens disappeared.

Jim Dickson [00:02:06] It's just a slob hunt sometimes.