Since I’m new to turkeys. What’s the reason behind not shooting them in the fall
Ron,
Hunting fall turkeys in San Diego used be outlawed (the only county in California that had this law)...Then turkeys were transplanted from mostly Kansas to SoCal (San Berdo & San Diego counties) in 1993...The no fall hunting in San Diego continued for several more years...San Bernardino Co. did not have this law and after a few years, the turkeys were gone...While the San Diego original 289 birds did great...Like has been mentioned, the population peaked about 8-10 years ago...At about this time, DFW took off the no fall hunting in San Diego Co. status...It also coincided with a prolonged drought...Our turkey numbers dropped dramatically (we probably have less than 25% of the birds we once had).
NWTF has a Spring Turkey Tune-Up at Lake Sutherland...We have a drawing for hunts on the City of San Diego property...We also used to have a fall hunt...We discontinued that for the betterment of our turkey population.
Is it LEGAL to shoot a turkey in the fall?...Yes, it is...But, if we ever lose our turkeys, we will never have turkey hunting again...DFW has quit transplanting birds after being sued by the Bug Society and the Plant Society...Truth be known, people that work for this wonderful state don't want them here because of their non-native status.
If you live in San Diego Co...I suggest you attend a NWTF meeting (next Tuesday, Oct. 22nd)...If you don't live in the county or it's too far...Try to attend out turkey tune-up (Feb. 22nd)...We will try to help you the best we can, so you can shoot a spring gobbler.
Thank you for understanding that we must police ourselves...Lord knows, DFW isn't doing it.