Pa. Wild Turkey Management Plan is a monumental step forward

August, 2006

Updated research data will help turkeys prosper

Don Heckman, PA Chapter NWTF Executive Officer,

Wild Turkey Management Committee Chairman

Over the past four decades wild turkey management has been making important strides towards managing the resource based on "in the ground/on the ground data" collected by our Pennsylvania Game Commission wild turkey biologists and wildlife conservation officers.

The updated soon-to-be-signed 2006 revised PGC Management Plan For Wild Turkeys in Pennsylvania -- 2006-2015 -- indices documented on various charts and graphs indicate wild turkey management continues to move forward in the proper direction. The future of wild turkey management and turkey hunting remains exceptional as long as objectives, strategies, principles outline in the management plan are followed.

Wild turkey populations are managed by biologists, PGC executive staff, and commissioner's adhering to objectives, strategies, principles outlined in the PGC Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania.  With reasonable wintering conditions, good thermal cover, satisfactory spring hatch results, improving habitat, with continued conservative fall and spring season lengths and bag limits, these next 15 years could be the best growth expansion in Pennsylvania's history, surpassing 1985-2001.

The new revised management plan has several changes including TMA data converted to WMU data, and one of the most important improvements is wording for decision making criteria for setting fall turkey hunting seasons. Five management criteria will now be used for setting wild turkey fall hunting seasons. Review the revised wild turkey management plan for the details.

Jerry Wunz and Arnie Hayden, turkey biologists in the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's did several regional research projects on wild turkey restoration, behavior attributes, trap and transfer success, and various habitat studies. Wunz's research study on deer over browsing in his work "Habitat Management in Over Browsed Forests" presented in June 1987 is profound reading and is accurate even today.

Wunz's April 1978 Game News article "The Wild Turkey - Our All American Bird" is worth reading if you can find it. Also if you can find it, read NWTF Turkey Call July-August 1985 article "1985 - Pennsylvania's Year of the Turkey" to gain understanding of Jerry's famous 'Y' zone of wild turkey management.

Additional turkey biologist research studies back in those days include methods of creating long lasting forest clearings, spring seep ecology, population harvests, hen telemetry, and two dozen other wild turkey research projects. Most if not all these research projects were documented in "Game News" and NWTF "Turkey Call" magazines, and presented at wild turkey symposiums and wild turkey biologists conferences. These research projects were the fundamental data gathering requirements to support increased hunting opportunities and population growth from the 1960's-1970's levels to 2001 level.

Wunz and Hayden and their PGC team s created this research-based database of information in the 1960's-1980's and it is still serving the decision makers well. But that was the easy part. researching a wild turkey resource that was an estimate 100,000 -200,000 birds in Pennsylvania. In today’s world, wild turkey populations statewide conservatively number around 375,000, with 450,000-550,000 populations predictable, future turkey management decisions will be much more complex.

Recent wild turkey research completed was TMA 7B Research Project by biologist Mary Jo Casalena. Pennsylvania Chapter NWTF helped fund approximately $82,000 of the PGC TMA 7B Research Project. The research results have been documented, recommendations have been published, research paper has been presented at the 9 th Wild Turkey Symposium in December 2005, results are being measured. This management unit, now called WMU 5A, has a closed fall turkey hunting season.

Information on today's wild turkey management decisions have been published in PGC "Hunting and Trapping Digest", Hunting and Trapping Annual 2003-2004, page 64-65 ; 2004-2005 page 73 ; 2005-2006 page 68-69 , PGC "Game News", and PA Chapter NWTF newsletter "Turkey Talk". PGC Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania is on the PGC web site.

PGC Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania 7 objectives and 29 strategies need to be funded to ensure better data is collected for population, hunter and harvest densities, increased habitat improvements projects, improved hunter safety and ethics, and continued conservative hunting seasons, and bag limits are being tracked and measured. Funding is needed to help bring wild turkey management and turkey population model into the 21 st Century.

PA Chapter NWTF believes elimination of the turkey game farm, recommendations to improve and increase use of wild turkey trap and transfer, creating wild turkey management areas, coordinating seasons and bag limits when populations increased and reducing season lengths when populations declined, and funding habitat improvement projects has helped increase wild turkey population levels in the 1970's (estimated to be 100,000) to 2001 level estimated to be 410,000.

Along with PGC regulations weather conditions during winter months, with thermal cover, and spring hatch conditions are important factors in wild turkey population increases.

The NWTF, along with state wildlife agency cooperation a three-state gobbler leg band study, will provide future harvest data for better turkey management data. Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio are participating in this research study funded by NWTF. PGC state-wide gobbler leg band study will be a four-year research project collecting harvested gobbler leg band information to provide wildlife managers with better data for making future wild turkey management decisions.  PGC News Release #30 - 06 explains details of the research study. This first state-wide wild turkey research project in PGC history is a monumental step forward to begin updating research data collected from the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's.

Second spring gobbler tag has been regulated by PGC starting with 2006 spring gobbler season. Current PGC Hunting and Trapping Digest, 2005-2006 Hunting & Trapping Annual (page 68 and 69), explains the science and decision making supporting a second spring gobbler tag in Pennsylvania. PGC news release #144-05 explains details of the second spring gobbler tag and how to apply for the special tag. For 37 years Pennsylvania had a two-bird limit, one fall turkey, either sex, and one spring gobbler with visible beard. The year 2006 marks the beginning of a three turkey tag harvest in Pennsylvania. PGC harvest report card comes with the second spring gobbler tag and it is mandatory the report card be returned.

Capsule outline of wild turkey management in Pennsylvania from the PGC web site, Wild Turkey site link, Wild Turkey Management Plan, and PA Chapter NWTF web site:

By 1900, it is estimated only a few thousand wild turkeys remained in the state's 45,333 square miles, not even tracks were easy to find. Estimated population ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 birds left in early 1900's.

Wild turkey restoration and management keys from the early 1900's through 2005 have been documented. Wildlife managers with a vision on wild turkey restoration and improving habitat worked to bring the wild turkey back.

They closed fall turkey season in 1914-1915 and in 1926. Back in those days there was no spring gobbler season. From 1929 to mid 1950's closing certain counties to turkey hunting (that practice continues today with WMU 5A - WMU 5B).

In 1958, full-scale wild turkey trap and transfers started to repopulate turkeys within Pennsylvania. In 1960's, 70's, 80's wild turkey biologists designed research projects to collect field data and define new methods to collect field data and indices data.

Wild turkey biologists improved trap and transfer methods (trap and transfer has been used as late as 2003,)  In 1968, the first spring gobbler hunting season (one week long) was held. The season was expanded to two weeks in 1972. In 1975, a spring gobbler season expanded to three  weeks. In 1984, spring gobbler season expanded to its current four- week season.

In 1980-1981, PGC shut down game farm production of turkeys. In 1985, wild turkey biologists created nine turkey management areas.  Biologists, in the years 1985-2005, recommended continued use of conservative seasons and bag limits while monitoring winter and spring weather conditions, and management indices.

From 1996 to 2002, TMA 7B Wild Turkey Task Force was coordinated between PGC, DCNR, PANWTF to research causes and make recommend for a dramatic reduction in wild turkey populations. From 1999 to 2001 PGC completed TMA 7B (now WMU 5A) hen radio telemetry research project to determine causes of a suppressed turkey population.

In 1999, PGC Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania was written by wild turkey biologists and signed. From 1999 to 2005 wild turkey management plan objectives and strategies being followed - strategies being completed, lack of funding wild turkey management plan objectives and strategies impacting further completion.

In 2001, a record wild turkey population due to several consecutive mild winters with abundant fall food supplies.

From 2000 to 2003 wild turkey transfers into southeast Pennsylvania where habitat existed but population were lacking. 2003 PGC changed 9 TMAs to 22 WMUs - wildlife management units. 2003-2004-2005 reducing several WMU fall season lengths due to back to back harsh winters - extremely wet springs - poor spring hatches.

In 2005 approved the increase of a two-bird spring gobbler bag limit, with appropriate hunting license, to begin state-wide in spring 2006. Throughout 1975 to 2005 Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation recommended, supported, funded, aided, and in some cases helped develop recommendations for management decisions to turkey management questions and issues.

During 2006, PGC state-wide gobbler leg band research project was started with a four-year goal of trapping, banding and releasing 1,200 gobblers.

Revised PGC Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania will be signed. Wild turkey population model will be created and results released. Estimated 2001 state-wide turkey population 410,000, estimated 2005 state-wide turkey population 375,000.

PGC wild turkey restoration and management in Pennsylvania these past 106 years has been a successful model for all wildlife management.

PA Chapter NWTF position statements support wild turkey management, turkey hunting and calling, and turkey hunter safety and ethics.  These support statements have been presented to our members through various Turkey Talk, news releases, and articles over the last several years.

As part of wild turkey management the Pennsylvania Chapter NWTF supports:

1. PGC "Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania".
2. funding the PGC "Management Plan For Wild Turkeys In Pennsylvania".
3. turkey hunting license/stamp for a fee.
4. 2nd bird spring tag with a license/tag for a fee.

Twelve additional position statements are available on request or off the PA Chapter NWTF web site: www.panwtf.org .

"Resource First" is the primary reason why Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in June 1975, and will always be our number one goal.

NWTF, PA Chapter, Local Chapters have made significant contributions to wild turkey management and habitat improvement in Pennsylvania. As Rob Keck, NWTF CEO, often says, NWTF looks to Pennsylvania as a driver in helping spread the model for wild turkey conservation and our hunting heritage around the country, "We have answered the call".

For more information, contact: Bob Kasun, Pa. Chapter of National Wild Turkey Federation public relations, 814-942-3990, or bobkasun@winbeam.com.

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