Thirty Years of Wild Turkey Management

By: Bob Eriksen, NWTF Regional Biologist and Mary Jo Casalena,

PGC Wild Turkey Biologist

April 1, 2005

Thirty years ago the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation was organized by a group of dedicated Keystone State turkey hunters. The National Wild Turkey Federation was just two years old at the time and just getting off the ground itself. Spring gobbler hunting in Pennsylvania had started only seven years earlier in 1968 and many turkey hunters had yet to try their hand at spring hunting. Two great names in wild turkey management, Jerry Wunz and Arnie Hayden were conducting field studies and writing articles designed to help turkey hunters better understand wild turkey behavior and population dynamics. There was much work left to be done when it came to wild turkey re-introduction. Then, as now, wild turkeys were a focal species for Keystone State hunters, though much of the attention on turkey hunting focused on the fall season.

The research that Wunz and Hayden conducted helped to build our library of knowledge concerning the eastern wild turkey. Jerry experimented with food plots, herbaceous openings and placing turkeys in areas of marginal habitat to determine how they would fare. Arnie developed summer turkey surveys and winter track counts to determine turkey population trends and conducted the first telemetry studies of wild turkey habitat use in Pennsylvania. These two researchers studied winter survival among turkeys, evaluated the success of releases of game farm turkeys and looked at the issue of winter feeding. Jerry developed innovative rocket-netting techniques which enabled the Game Commission to begin live-trapping and transfer on a bigger scale. Arnie was a pioneer in designing radio transmitters and harness materials with which the equipment could be placed on turkeys.

Based on the findings of research conducted in the 1970’s and the urging of the fledgling Pennsylvania Chapter, the Game Commission made the historic decision to phase out the practice of releasing pen-raised turkeys in 1980. For the next twenty-plus years, the Game Commission actively trapped and transferred wild turkeys, successfully restoring turkey flocks throughout the state. The state chapter helped by providing cardboard transport boxes for the safe shipment of turkeys across the state and donating needed money for creating and improving turkey habitat. The result of this work is the healthy, widespread turkey population we enjoy today.

Things have changed for the better for turkey hunters and wild turkeys in the past thirty years. Trap and transfers and a series of outstanding hatches helped the statewide turkey population to increase dramatically by the year 2000. Literally hundreds of habitat improvement projects financed through the PA-NWTF Wild Turkey Super Fund and planned by PGC Land Managers have provided better turkey habitat on thousands of acres of state game lands. Pennsylvania turkey hunters have been fortunate to have had highly motivated and professional biologists at the helm of wild turkey management for the fifty plus years. There are always challenges ahead, but we are definitely living in some of the golden years of turkey hunting in 2005!

Turkey hunting in the Keystone State is steeped in tradition. While other northeastern states lost their turkey populations in the 1800’s, a few thousand Pennsylvania wild turkeys managed to hang on in the rugged forested ridges of the central part of the Commonwealth. Hunters in other states lost the opportunity to turkey hunt in the early 1900’s but fall turkey hunting was available to Keystone State turkey hunters throughout the twentieth century. The Game Commission closed the turkey season in 1913, 1914 and 1926, but for the remainder of the century, fall hunting was allowed. Pennsylvanians retained their proud turkey hunting tradition and to this day, fall hunting remains a strong tradition in the Commonwealth. In fact, Pennsylvania typically has more fall turkey hunters than any other state. In 2003, 211,965 fall hunters took to the woods.

Believe it or not, in 1923 calling turkeys was illegal! Back in those days the statewide fall turkey seasons started on November 1. In the 1940’s the most common method of fall turkey hunting was by chance- selecting a place where turkeys might be expected to feed and waiting the birds out. According to a report by Edward L. Kozicky, a famous wildlife biologist who studied turkeys as a graduate student in Pennsylvania in the 1940’s few hunters back then used the popular fall hunting technique of scattering a flock and calling the birds back. Hunting strategies sure have changed! Calling turkeys has become the accepted practice for successful and safe turkey hunting. The state chapter encourages and hosts turkey calling contests around the commonwealth and a number of Pennsylvania natives have become World Champion Turkey Callers.

Today fall turkey hunting seasons still open around November 1, but the season length varies according to turkey population densities from one unit to another. Fall harvests are controlled by regulating the season length in wildlife management units. Fall seasons vary from a closed season in WMUs 5A and 5B to three weeks in some other WMUs. The daily and season limit for fall hunting remains one bird. In many years the Pennsylvania fall turkey harvest exceeds 40,000 birds, with more than 225,000 hunters participating. Extensive analysis of harvest figures in Pennsylvania and research projects conducted around the country have shown that fall harvest can impact turkey numbers. Biologists generally agree that fall either-sex turkey seasons can affect population growth, that turkey populations naturally fluctuate on an annual basis and that the vulnerability of wild turkeys to fall hunting increases in years of poor mast production (fruits, acorns and other nuts). Most also believe that fall hunting mortality occurs in addition to natural mortality, not instead of natural mortality. Therefore, adjusting fall seasons is the best way to manage turkey populations. At times, it may be necessary to reduce fall seasons to allow populations to grow. In the worst case scenario, fall seasons occasionally may be closed. But in good times, fall hunting opportunities are expanded.

The current goal of wild turkey management in Pennsylvania is to maintain and improve wild turkey populations. In many wildlife management units, that can be accomplished with a fall season in place. Longer fall seasons and more liberal fall bag limits may not be achievable with current hunter numbers and the high interest in fall turkey hunting in the Commonwealth. Keystone State turkey hunters are enjoying “the good old days.” Our hunters can enjoy golden days in the autumn woods for up to three weeks in some units. The air is crisp, the scenery ablaze with color and fall hunting is great exercise!

As the turkey population and our understanding of the birds grew, traditions began to change. Spring turkey hunting was reinstated in 1968 after being closed since 1873. However, unlike the earlier seasons, the modern spring season protected hens by restricting the harvest to bearded birds only. Timing the spring season to open after the peak of breeding has allowed gobblers to be harvested annually without affecting the hatch. Modern research has shown that spring gobbler hunting can provide maximum recreational opportunity to hunters with little impact on the turkey population, as long as the season opens after the peak of turkey breeding, which it does in Pennsylvania. Spring hunting hours have been increased from a 10 o’clock closure to 11 o’clock to the current noon closing time. From a short season structure early in the history of modern spring hunting, the season length has been four weeks since 1984. Right now regulation changes are being considered to increase the spring bag limit from one to two gobblers. This change would align Pennsylvania more closely with harvest regulations in adjacent states where multiple gobbler limits are the norm. With the increased interest in the gobbler season and the ability for hunters to harvest gobblers without impacting overall population levels, this additional hunting opportunity is being praised by many turkey hunters.

For thirty years, the Pennsylvania Chapter and the Pennsylvania Game Commission have worked together, benefiting wild turkeys, turkey hunters and all wildlife. We are privileged to be able to enjoy both spring and fall turkey hunting in this state. To continue to have the outstanding hunting we have come to expect, harvests are carefully monitored and population trends are closely watched. Traditions continue to change. More people are discovering the joys of spring gobbler hunting. Since 2000, the number of spring turkey hunters (246,821 in 2003) has exceeded that of fall turkey hunters in Pennsylvania (211,965 in 2003). According to estimates from the National Wild Turley Federation, this not is only the result of fall hunters switching to spring hunting, but also an influx of new hunters who hunt only in the spring. With more spring gobbler hunters than any other state and a harvest of more than 40,000 gobblers, Pennsylvania definitely remains a keystone turkey state!