Of course carrying capacity can change naturally or it can be manipulated by humans. You can increase the amount of cover available for nesting, thereby increasing the carrying capacity of that land for turkeys at that time. Factors that hold a piece of land below carrying capacity may be too little cover, food, or water, or a host of other things. If a piece of land is being intensively managed for a species and that land is still far below carrying capacity, then predators may be the primary decimating factor holding that population below carrying capacity. The true art in wildlife management comes in being able to identify the critical limiting or decimating factors that are suppressing a wildlife population.
Predators kill many turkeys throughout the year.
Whether or not this predation results in an actual reduction in the long-term turkey population depends on the factors outlined above. Another consideration when discussing predation on turkeys is the age of the turkeys and the time of the year. Turkeys may be vulnerable to predators at different stages of their lives. Adult gobblers rarely are killed by predators, however, they are more susceptible to predation during spring. During this time of year, gobblers are displaying in open areas and may be stalked by bobcats or coyotes.