Fisher Cats...

[blackbeltbill]

 Today,I had a good conversation  with Stan/76- a Antique Dealer to keep busy.

  Turns out he is a veteran Spring Turkey Hunter of many Decades . Well-- you know he spent an extra 15 minutes with me today.

   Stan told me that this was his absolute  worst Spring ever. He did not Fill any Tag.

   He lives in the Pine Bush,NY area. Not all that far from me. He and a good number of his Close Turkey Hunting Buddies from his area- and he named Scotchtown, up past Middletown, up past Newburgh all agreed-- Where are the Turkeys??!

  That is when the talk shifted to- Fisher Cats. He told me one of his old friends Trapped 8 of them. His primary target as the Turkey Population  is plummeting from what it was.

   Personally, I have never yet seen a Fisher Cat. I am a good 18 miles from the Jersey Border.  Stan told me- you soon will.

   The talk shifted to Wild Turkeys getting killed on their Winter Roosts by climbing  Fishers at Night.

  I hope that is not all that common. You guys up North and further West would know.

 And Mature Gobblers are on the list too. Stan and his buddies no longer bag any 3 to 5 year old mature Gobblers.

   Well down here where,I am- it is Black Bear Country. All over the place. And,I carry when,I Hike because of their numbers.  The only time,I carry.

  Damn- now another Predator  makes the scene  down here in South Orange County...

  Between the Black Bears sniffing out Turkey Nests and now Night time Climbing  Fishers  - and a bunch of other Predators- it does not look good for the Wild Turkey.

[G-man]

1 minute ago, blackbeltbill said:

 Today,I had a good conversation  with Stan/76- a Antique Dealer to keep busy.

  Turns out he is a veteran Spring Turkey Hunter of many Decades . Well-- you know he spent an extra 15 minutes with me today.

   Stan told me that this was his absolute  worst Spring ever. He did not Fill any Tag.

   He lives in the Pine Bush,NY area. Not all that far from me. He and a good number of his Close Turkey Hunting Buddies from his area- and he named Scotchtown, up past Middletown, up past Newburgh all agreed-- Where are the Turkeys??!

  That is when the talk shifted to- Fisher Cats. He told me one of his old friends Trapped 8 of them. His primary target as the Turkey Population  is plummeting from what it was.

   Personally, I have never yet seen a Fisher Cat. I am a good 18 miles from the Jersey Border.  Stan told me- you soon will.

   The talk shifted to Wild Turkeys getting killed on their Winter Roosts by climbing  Fishers at Night.

  I hope that is not all that common. You guys up North and further West would know.

 And Mature Gobblers are on the list too. Stan and his buddies no longer bag any 3 to 5 year old mature Gobblers.

   Well down here where,I am- it is Black Bear Country. All over the place. And,I carry when,I Hike because of their numbers.  The only time,I carry.

  Damn- now another Predator  makes the scene  down here in South Orange County...

  Between the Black Bears sniffing out Turkey Nests and now Night time Climbing  Fishers  - and a bunch of other Predators- it does not look good for the Wild Turkey.

I have 3 breeding pairs according to dec camera survey  here and still have turkey..  the co existed  for melinnia before whiteman came to the americas.. habitat ( hay is mowed very early now for silage ,compared for july square bales) and poor spring weather are much bigger factors.. 

[mowin]

We've had fishers in our area for yrs.  Usually get multiple pics every yr.  

Yes they will take a turkey off the roost, and I've witnessed a fisher stalking tom on roost gobbling. He failed.  

We've always had a good number of turkeys. This yr was different, and I really think that mid April 3' of snow had something to do with it, as I had been seeing lots of birds before that storm. 

[maddie]

i get pictures of fishers on every trail cam i have out in the finger lks. haven't seen a poult yet!

[blackbeltbill]

Stan and,I also agreed that while Gobbler numbers are down-- Hen Wild Turkey  numbers are up- way up.

 This would concur  with my own personal  up close  observations.    This past year,I had 8 Hens and 3 Jakes. As some here might know,I have been feeding Generations  of Turkeys  for 12 years now. 

[blackbeltbill]

47 minutes ago, G-man said:

I have 3 breeding pairs according to dec camera survey  here and still have turkey..  the co existed  for melinnia before whiteman came to the americas.. habitat ( hay is mowed very early now for silage ,compared for july square bales) and poor spring weather are much bigger factors.. 

  Keep in mind also that a major Predator  of the Wild Turkey has numbers that are increasing greatly every Spring .

  That would be us. At least on Public from my yearly observations. 

[mowin]

1 hour ago, blackbeltbill said:

  Keep in mind also that a major Predator  of the Wild Turkey has numbers that are increasing greatly every Spring .

  That would be us. At least on Public from my yearly observations. 

Sorry, but I don't agree. The amount of privet acreage far exceeds public.  While the public might, but probably not, be over hunted, the private acreage far outweighs public, and the amount of acreage that is strictly off limits to hunters is staggering. 

Are fishers the ultimate culprit for the decline of turkeys? Doubtful. 

[blackbeltbill]

27 minutes ago, mowin said:

Sorry, but I don't agree. The amount of privet acreage far exceeds public.  While the public might, but probably not, be over hunted, the private acreage far outweighs public, and the amount of acreage that is strictly off limits to hunters is staggering. 

Are fishers the ultimate culprit for the decline of turkeys? Doubtful. 

I don't  agree with everything  you wrote above..

[mowin]

1 hour ago, blackbeltbill said:

I don't  agree with everything  you wrote above..

Ok. . 

I don't agree with everything you posted.  

Edited June 29 by mowin

[blackbeltbill]

8 minutes ago, mowin said:

Ok. . 

I don't agree with everything you posted.  

I have known that for years- lol..

[grampy]

Here in the hilltowns of Albany County, we've had fishers for a long time. Saw my first one about 30 years ago. Not uncommon at all to see them here. They are an efficient predator. They are omnivorous. They primarily feed on small rodents, squirrels, rabbits, birds, eggs, fruit, and carrion. They will also kill and eat porcupines! They really are an amazing animal. But to solely blame fishers for a decline in the wild turkey population, is somewhat foolish. There are way too many other variables, contributing to localized wild turkey populations. Both good and bad.  Some of those variables have already been mentioned in this thread. And any localized reduction in turkey numbers is most likely a combination of many factors. Not fishers.

[lucky118]

Lots of fishers, yotes, foxes, owls, hawks, skunks, coons, and turkey hunters in Broome cnty. Lots of turkeys too.

[blackbeltbill]

2 hours ago, grampy said:

Here in the hilltowns of Albany County, we've had fishers for a long time. Saw my first one about 30 years ago. Not uncommon at all to see them here. They are an efficient predator. They are omnivorous. They primarily feed on small rodents, squirrels, rabbits, birds, eggs, fruit, and carrion. They will also kill and eat porcupines! They really are an amazing animal. But to solely blame fishers for a decline in the wild turkey population, is somewhat foolish. There are way too many other variables, contributing to localized wild turkey populations. Both good and bad.  Some of those variables have already been mentioned in this thread. And any localized reduction in turkey numbers is most likely a combination of many factors. Not fishers.

Just relating what Stan told me regarding Fishers.. As,I wrote,I have never seen one.

  As far as the number of Black Bears in North New Jersey and up into Tuxedo,Warwick,etc- I stand by that.   North New Jersey has Few Wild Turkeys and a Tremendous  Black Bear Population.  A nest of Turkey eggs would be just a Snack and less painful then Yellow Jacket Larvae. 

[Spysar]

They aren't cats! Just fisher, no cat in there. We have lots of them at my house and I have a decent amount of turkeys. 

[Big Paul]

I know I've posted these pics before. This fisher wiped out a nest. If not him there are many others that would, such as raccoons.