Ever had someone come up to you and say “there’s good news and bad news?”
For more than a quarter century, turkey hunters rarely had to deal with that.
There were about 1.3 million turkeys in the United States in 1973 when the National Wild Turkey Federation was formed. By the early 2000s, says the group, the population hit a historic high of nearly seven million.
There seemed no end to where the numbers might go.
No longer.
While the birds aren’t exactly struggling, populations seem to have settled into a new, lower, normal in many places.
Pennsylvania, for example, had an estimated 280,000 turkeys at its peak in the early 2000s, according to the Game Commission. The population dropped to fewer than 200,000, then rebounded.
But it hasn’t come all the way back, fluctuating between 204,000 and 234,000 since 2011.
With the fall turkey seasons here, it looks to be more of the same this year.
Summer sighting surveys indicate that turkey numbers are comparable – neither significantly higher nor lower – to last year.
Pennsylvania’s 2016 survey revealed an average of 2.37 poults, or newborn birds, per hen. This year, said the commission, the statewide average was 2.28.
Things varied widely, though.
Unit 4A had 4.62 poults per hen this year. No other unit performed better. But in unit 2A, there were just 0.92. No unit did worse.
“Turkey reproduction this summer varied across the state with above average recruitment in some wildlife management units, but below average in neighboring ones, so it’s best to get out and see for yourself what the reproduction was like in your area,” said Mary Jo Casalena, the commission’s turkey biologist.
Lest Keystone State hunters feel too bad, though, they can at least take some level of comfort in two things.
First, it’s not just here.
Turkey populations are struggling to some degree in other states, too.
The summer turkey sighting survey done by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources revealed 2.3 poults per adult hen. That’s a little better than last year’s 2.0, but still below the 15-year average of 3.
That’s “less than ideal,” admitted Paul Peditto, the agency’s wildlife and heritage service director.
New York is seeing much the same thing.
According to that state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, this year’s summer turkey sighting survey found 2.5 poults per adult hen. That’s down from 2.8 a year ago and the lowest recorded since 2009.
“Reproductive success gradually improved from the low observed in 2009 through 2015, but the past two years have been below the 10-year average,” the agency noted.
Second, the hunting can still be good.
In Maryland, Peditto said, while it’s true that populations are down, they’re down from a big peak, so plenty of birds remain.
The same is true in Pennsylvania, Casalena added.
Spring gobbler hunters this year killed an estimated 38,101 birds. That was 6 percent more than 2016, so turkeys remain available, she said.
That’s true even as fall harvests are trending downward.
Last year’s was 10,844. That was down 35 percent over the previous three-year average of 16,688.
Casalena attributed that to a variety of factors, from decreasing fall hunting participation to below-average turkey reproduction to shorter seasons.
Time remains for hunters to do better this fall. The first phase of hunting has closed in some wildlife management units, but continues in others. And there’s still the statewide three-day season that starts on Thanksgiving. That’s a big one; about 18 percent of the fall harvest occurs then.
To find birds, Casalena suggests looking for food first.
The abundance of food, from acorn, beech and cherry production to soft mast – think apples and grapes – varies pretty widely by region.
The birds will be around food, of course. But how much food is available to them can determine, in part, hunter success.
Areas with abundant food sources tend to make the flocks more nomadic and therefore harder to find, Casalena said. The birds could be anywhere at any time.
Areas with less food, by comparison, tends to keep flocks congregated, making them easier to find, she said.
Handling turkeys with an attitude
Every farmer, suburban homeowner and motorist who lives in white-tailed deer country can tell you about how the animals, though beautiful, can sometimes cause problems.
But turkeys?
Yep. Increasingly, in many northeastern states, wild turkeys are going on the offensive.
“Wild turkeys that become used to being fed and seeing people are likely to become aggressive toward people. These turkeys react to people (and sometimes pets) as they would a rival turkey,” reads information on the website wildlifehelp.org.
That site – supported by wildlife management agencies in the Northeast – said the answer is to be “bold with the offending turkeys and encourage other adults in your neighborhood to do the same.”
The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife this fall offered some other advice.
- Don’t feed turkeys. Feeding, whether direct or indirect, can cause turkeys to act tame and may lead to bold and aggressive behavior that’s very difficult to change.
- Remove bird feeders: Turkeys are attracted to them. If the birds become problematic, remove the feeders and clean up spilled seed.
- Don’t let turkeys intimidate you. Residents can threaten an aggressive turkey by making loud noises, swatting it with a broom, spraying water from a hose or putting a leashed dog out.
- Cover reflective objects. Because wild turkeys have a pecking order, they may attack shiny objects, thinking their own reflection as an intruder. Cover windows, automobile mirrors or reflections in shiny surfaces, like polished car doors, if need be.
If none of that works, call for reinforcements.
“Turkeys that repeatedly challenge or attack people or threaten public safety should be reported to the state wildlife agency for possible removal and destruction,” says wildlifehelp.org. “Capturing, moving, and releasing turkeys displaying this type of behavior often simply transfers the problem to another property owner.”
And if you get the chance to see turkeys that aren’t a problem, enjoy it. They’re interesting birds.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, turkeys have 5,000 to 6,000 feathers on their body. They’re surprisingly fast runners, too, sprinting as fast at 12 miles per hour.
No less than Benjamin Franklin was a fan. He called them a “bird of courage” and thought they would make a better national symbol than the bald eagle.
