Crop production uses 85% of our land in the river counties but we still have over 7600 acres of public hunting land beside private land used for hunting.  Landowners want a balance of wildlife with minimum damage to crops. Due to a decline in harvest numbers of turkey and increased problems with predator animal’s agriculture agents in Carlisle, Hickman and Fulton County decided to host a wildlife meeting to address these concerns.  Zak Danks with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources along with Micah Seavers were contacted to discuss the problems.  Zak talked about research with the decline in turkey harvest numbers stating that it is not just one particular item causing the decline.  The harvest number in 2022 in Carlisle was 264 birds, 147 in Fulton and 201 turkey in Hickman County. The record number for Kentucky is 36,000.   Today that number is 26,862. The research is ongoing to see what farmers and landowners can do to help.  Micah Seavers a professional trapper talked about homeowner and farmer problems with predator animals.  Micah demonstrated several different traps and gave helpful hints with what people do wrong.  He also brought several different traps, bait and lures for door prizes.  100 % of the clients said they were very satisfied with both speakers.  100% rated the session time has just right.  87% of those attending said they were very capable of making good choices and being accountable and using the information presented.  67% said the meeting was great while 33% said they were very satisfied with the meeting.

Zak Danks-KDFWR-Wild Turkey Update   

Micah Seavers- Nest Predator Trapping