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Sportsman Outdoors

Turkeys are declining!

Jack Danchak
Posted 5/27/22

Over the last few years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has tackled the turkey population decline by changing the fall season. In most places, the fall season length has been significantly reduced, …

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Sportsman Outdoors

Turkeys are declining!

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Over the last few years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has tackled the turkey population decline by changing the fall season. In most places, the fall season length has been significantly reduced, and last year the Game Commission prohibited the use of rifles in the fall to cut the turkey harvest. If the population of any game species is declining, you decrease the time, and the means, allowed to hunt that species and, as a result, reduce the harvest. Shorter time afield coupled with fewer firearm choices equals fewer turkeys harvested.

This year, the commission board granted preliminary approval to remove single projectile muzzleloaders and handguns from the mix, with the hope of restricting the fall harvest even more.

When it comes to turkeys, a lot of states are looking at changes to the spring season as a way to protect and bring back turkey numbers.

Ohio officials have noted the turkey population in their state is dropping, just like it is elsewhere. But how did the Ohio Wildlife officials address the problem? They didn't cut back the fall season, which traditionally opens the second Saturday of October to the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving in most of the state. Instead, Ohio game officials reduced the bag limit for the spring season from two to one turkey.

Kentucky is expected to take a similar approach. Pending legislative approval, the bag limit for gobblers in that state will be lowered from two to one beginning with next year's season. Kentucky is also expected to significantly change its fall season by restricting harvest to bearded birds only.

Other states are also changing their spring gobbler seasons as a result of declining turkey numbers. Prior to the 2021 season, Tennessee reduced its spring season bag limit from 4 to 3. Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia have also cut their bag limits.

In Oklahoma, the spring gobbler bag limit was cut from three to one to protect Toms, and in South Carolina it's now illegal to kill two gobblers in the same day. In that state, spring hunters can harvest one gobbler during the first 10 days of the season, and two more can be taken during the remainder of the season.

A lot of these Southern States don't have a fall season, so they have no choice but to make changes to spring hunting. Still, the biologist must believe that spring gobbler hunting does have an impact on the overall turkey population. If it did not, they would not change it.

After all is said and done, it's possible that the moves made by other states to change their spring turkey seasons will not do anything to help turkey numbers. However, Pennsylvania has enacted numerous cuts to the fall season over the last several years and, accordingly to the Game Commission, turkey numbers continue to trend below the population goal in 17 of the 23 Wildlife Management Units. When it comes to addressing wild turkey numbers, it's time to take a hard look at the spring season, and this may be the right direction to go.

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