# Turkey poop causes millions $ damage in Mendon



## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Just found out that the boys at the DWR caught and transplanted over 200 birds from *public land*...at least the birds would be on public land come the hunting season...to the Chalk Creek area that has virtually no public access. 
I mean really, hundreds of thousands of public, huntable, good turkey habitable land out there and they chose to put them there. Why?? 
I would like to thank those two or three residents of Mendon that have hounded the DWR to get rid of these terrible creatures...what narrow minded, selfish morons.


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## ram2h2o (Sep 11, 2007)

*Re: Turkey poop causes millions $ damand in Mendon*

BPturkeys is guess it's like the saying goes " Money Talks"! They used to have a pretty good population of turkeys in the Chalk Creek area until about 5 years ago. then they just vanished. Not sure if it was disease,hard winters or predation.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

*Re: Turkey poop causes millions $ damand in Mendon*

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

*Re: Turkey poop causes millions $ damand in Mendon*

I think a large percentage that were transplanted were toms and jakes


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

Now the idiots have Representative Rhonda Menlove on their side. She has crafted a bill to exterminate the wild turkey population and in her words "eliminate the controversy".

http://utahwildlife.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=55729

Here are two better solutions for the landowners who hate the turkeys:

1. Buy a dog.

2. Instead of posting No Trespassing signs all over the place (and they have), invite people to hunt some turkeys on your land each spring.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

BirdDogger said:


> Now the idiots have Representative Rhonda Menlove on their side. She has crafted a bill to exterminate the wild turkey population and in her words "eliminate the controversy".
> 
> http://utahwildlife.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=55729


This is why we will never have quality wildlife populations in this state. Instead of letting wildlife officials work with private landowners and the local gov't to come up with a solution, lets just "legislate" the problem away. This is a DWR issue and NOT a legislative issue. You can't always just pass a law and fix everything in this world but that is the politician's answer for everything in this world. I am not thrilled about catching and transplanting tons of turkeys away from the area but this should be handled by the DWR and NOT the legislature because it will set precedence for any wildlife problem to be circumvented around the DWR and will strip them of their responsibility to manage wildlife. I think the legislature is good at keeping the state running and not letting us go into the red with our budget like almost all other states have done BUT wildlife management should be left to wildlife officials. This is where the state legislature should just stick to what they know and leave these kinds of issues to the agency in charge of managing them.


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

Now I just took a picture a couple of minutes ago of about 25 turkeys in my neighbor's yard. Now he isn't complaining to the DNR and neither am I.
He does own 4 dogs and I own 2, now Birddogger, if you are saying that dwr needs to supply fences to all of the residents of Mendon so we can have our dogs running around our property at all times that sounds great. I can also assure you that nobody is complaining about the turkeys during hunting season. So letting people hunt also isn't a viable solution. You probably shouldn't call people idiots when you come up with solutions like that.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

There sure are a bunch of idiots in the state legislature and over in Mendon. Allegedly there is also one in my recliner right now. :roll: 

Can you come up with something better than "Shoot them on sight"? Until then, I stand by the idiots comment, Chuck.


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

Well, the problem is there are a lot of aging folks in Mendon(to put it nicely) who have nothing else to do than watch and manicure their property. When DWR introduces a non native species into an environment and it starts doing damage to people's property then DWR are the ones who should be held responsible for the damage caused by that introduced species plain and simple. As far as shoot on sight, I would love it and I'll invite you right now to come shoot one in my yard. We could have a few beers and then we wouldn't have to deal with the 800 idiots that swarm here come general turkey hunt.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

So because some old rich people don't like having turkeys in their yard in Mendon, the most rational solution we can come up with is to attempt to eliminate the species statewide? 

Really??? 

There are literally millions of acres where these nuisance turkeys could be transplanted for future generations to enjoy. Has the NWTF been asked to help? Is there a stop-gap solution possible that does not affect turkey populations statewide, but helps to alleviate the Mendonites' problems? These questions need to be asked. Instead the proposed solution is akin to swatting a fly with a bulldozer.


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## katorade (Sep 23, 2007)

Yes Turkeys winter in Mendon, Yes there is more and more, why because there is people !FEEDING! them every morning! 


A lot of birds still but, erase the feeding and it will erase some of the problem.


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

Birddogger, I agree with you, the transplanting and the proposed legislation is a joke. 

Kade, Yeah there are people who feed them and It pisses a lot of us off. I think DNR should drive around and ticket people who do. But there are also lots of people who simply have bird-feeders out and the turkeys flock to them like mad. Honestly I like to have a bird feeder out. Once I had one out during winter and the turkeys came down and in a week they had tore up my lawn in a fifteen foot radius around the tree it was in.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

Well, it looks as if Rhonda has backed off the "shoot 'em on sight" provision of the bill. Now the proposal is a fall hunt to go with the spring hunt. That I can go for.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

the only question is are the turkeys in question on public land during the fall? I am all for more hunting opportunities but if these birds dont leave the city then hunting them wont do much since it sounds like the landowners aren't too thrilled about having hunters hunt on their land in the spring. i like the idea of a fall hunt as it would add a bit of a challenge since the birds aren't in breeding mode and tougher to track down. This whole scenario is a cookie cutter example of private vs. public rights and there is no clear cut answer to it. I would hate to see all the good work washed out on the turkey populations over the years but in the same time i can understand why landowners get so upset with such stuff. i saw it here with the snow geese as they were tearing up the winter wheat fields each spring. Personally I would love to have a ton of turkeys around my place but not everybody is an animal person and they do have the right to have a yard not being totally destroyed by wildlife. If people are feeding them then by all means they should get in trouble for that as a lot of wildlife damage comes from people attracting animals to feed thinking they live in a zoo. It's an interesting situation for sure and one that has two totally different points of view.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

coyotes. Cougars. Bobcats. Do I dare say: wolves?


If we continue to eliminate predators, then we're going to have to come up with better solutions to manage the prey....


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

PBH said:


> coyotes. Cougars. Bobcats. Do I dare say: wolves?
> 
> If we continue to eliminate predators, then we're going to have to come up with better solutions to manage the prey....


I'm sorry but what the hell do predators have to do with anything that has been said? It's a non native species, when you throw a non native species into an ecosystem you automatically have to manage it, regardless of predators. I believe the point is we are the predators now period. So yes we will have a discussion on how to manage them(not that it actually does any good). It's more about making money for the dwr than management.
I would like to see a report on the damage caused by turkeys to native species in the area, especially grouse populations. I think this issue should be looked at more than any other.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Chuck said:


> I'm sorry but what the hell do predators have to do with anything that has been said?


Well, let's see. Apparently there is a problem with too many turkeys. What eats turkeys? coyotes do. So do cougars.

So, while we're subsidizing the coyote and cougar programs (working to remove them) we're also having a problem with too many turkeys. So we'll subsidize that too.

Seems to me like maybe we just need to increase the number of predators in those areas where there is too much prey?

I'm all for another turkey hunt. I love hunting them. I just find it very ironic that while Don Peay is asking for additional funding from the State to fight against wolf reintroduction (not to mention increased cougar tags and coyote bounties), we have others asking the state to do something about damage to property caused by wild turkeys. Makes you go 'hmmmmm....'


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

i think the first thing that needs to be looked at is why these turkeys are in such huge numbers there.....is there something about the habitat that is helping them explode more so than other places? are people feeding them the point food is no longer a limiting factor? is there a lack of hunting pressure and a lack of natural predators that isnt keeping the population in check? there is a reason or multiple factors that is behind why the turkeys are in such great numbers there. This is where the DWR needs to be biologists and study the situation instead of just trap and relocate because if there is something unnatural that is giving the turkeys unusually favorable conditions like this then the problem will be back in a couple of years and we are back to square one. The DWR needs to get out and watch and study the situation and get a real handle on what is going on so they can try and fix the problem from the source instead of just put a band aid on it and temporarily please the landowners.


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

I like what your saying Sprig, I can tell you there is NO lack of hunting pressure though. There are so many guys up here during the turkey hunt it's ridiculous. General deer has nothing on the #'s during the turkey hunt. Yesterday when I pulled out of my driveway to go to work there were over 150 running down my road. I've never seen that many all together. But I only saw 2 toms and only a few jakes.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

[quote="Chuck" Yesterday when I pulled out of my driveway to go to work there were over 150 running down my road. I've never seen that many all together. But I only saw 2 toms and only a few jakes.[/quote]

Sounds like i need to get up there and do some photographing. could you point me in the right direction on where to go to get some good turkey shots and the best time of day? I have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to photographing birds. I have been up trying to find that **** snow owl this week with no luck so maybe getting some good turkey photos will make up for it. :mrgreen:


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

I'll absolutely show you where to go, send me a pm.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

PM sent. thanks


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

I have a 15 year old daughter that would LOVE to help with the population problems!


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## gpskid (Jul 24, 2012)

Yokes, couqars and wolves don't like turkeys, to many feathers, I would say skunks, raccoons hell on eggs, sometimes magpies and crows, then owls , hawks and eagles on the poults.
All protected so what can be done?????

DWR has the resources to trap and move, seems to be the only solution unless they alow a hen hunt.


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## Chuck (Mar 28, 2012)

sounds like we are going to get a fall hunt. Hopefully it will be like Idaho's and be either or.


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