Outdoors Turkey numbers look good for spring gobbler season

May 2—A mild winter and a great mast crop from this past autumn have set the stage for a promising spring gobbler season, which begins statewide Saturday.

"The breeding is right on schedule," Pennsylvania Game Commission wild turkey biologist Mary Jo Casalena said. "Males and females are in good body condition because they weren't stressed over the winter. There was ample food supply, so the breeding and the nesting season currently is just phenomenal."

Each year, opening day is set for the Saturday that falls closest to May 1, with mentored youth season offered on the Saturday before. This year, it comes in a tad late due only to the calendar.

"What we hope for is about 50% of the hens incubating their first nest attempts by the time the season opens," Casalena said.

Turkey hunters champing at the bit to get after birds in the peak mating season voice their frustration to the game commission each year, especially this one when opening day falls four days into May.

"Well, it's not late," Casalena said. "It's biologically timed. It's perfect from a biological standpoint. You have to let the breeding occur. We need to minimize hen disturbance. The amount of hunters has declined in Pennsylvania, but we still have almost 172,000 spring turkey hunters on average in the last five years. That's substantial compared to other states."

Populations have benefited from changes to the fall season in 2021, when the season length was decreased in 14 wildlife management units and dropped in WMU 5A. The use of rifles was banned. Fall harvest rates dropped by 18%, and are now less than 10,000 statewide. Over 65% of those birds were females.

Casalena is in her third year of a four-year hen study that focuses on habitat, disease, hen movement, predation, survival and productivity. A two-year gobbler study being conducted with Penn State University is now in its second year.

Changes in weather patterns have made winters easier on turkeys, but cool and wet springs have had an adverse effect on newly hatched poults that are vulnerable to hypothermia and predation.

"Habitat management is so much more important now than it ever was," said Casalena, who explained there is currently a lack of good habitat due to factors such as deer over-browsing and forest maturation. "Turkeys need secure nesting habitat and thick cover so that they can get out of the weather. So that they don't get as soaked as they normally do during an all-day rain event, and then be really smelly so that any predator can find them without a problem."

The gobbler study not only considers annual survival rates, but survival from trapping and leg-banding in January, February and March, to the start of hunting season in May.

"We know that there is some mortality of gobblers before the season starts because they are displaying before the hunting season begins," Casalena said. "Loud gobbling and highly visible strutting attract willing hens, but also attract predators. That's really risky behavior. The highest mortality of adult males is during the spring mating season."

The study includes a hunter survey that helps assess crippling loss — that is, survival after a non-fatal wound.

"We want to see if crippling loss is significant enough to add it as a variable in our population model," Casalena said.

Overall, she is looking at long-term turkey populations. Reproduction fluctuates greatly due to many factors such as weather and quality habitat. The good news for hunters in the southwest portion of the state is that turkey numbers are up.

"Last year's reproductive success was a little bit above average, so there's a lot of Jakes around, but the reproductive output in 2022 and 2021 were excellent, so there's a lot of 2-year-old and 3-year-old birds in the population," Casalena said. "That translates into a lot of gobbling."

Casalena explained that 2-year-old birds are the most vocal, as Jakes still lack the testosterone and strong desire to mate and claim their dominance in the pecking order. Three-year-olds have the experience to know that gobbling attracts predators.

"On average, 3-year-old-plus gobblers do not gobble as much as your 2-year-old birds," Casalena said. "Your 2-year-old birds are the ones that are gobbling any time of the day. They'll shock-gobble the most. They're just a lot of fun to hunt."

Casalena explained that there are two distinct peaks in gobbling. The first is the most intense and occurs just before and during the peak of mating in mid to late April. Once the bulk of the hens are bred and are incubating, there's a less intense peak.

"They still do begin to gobble more even as the number of hens that are incubating increases," Casalena said.

Hunters are front-line conservationists. Casalena says that one way they can fulfill that role is to not knowingly harvest bearded hens.

"The regulations state any bearded bird is legal, but bearded hens are adult birds," Casalena said. "By the time they've grown a beard, they've already survived at least a year, so they have a high probability of being successful nesters because it's the adult hens that have the highest reproductive success."

The other thing she suggested is that accomplished turkey hunters try and harvest adult birds, and leave the Jakes for junior hunters or beginners. Since adult birds are more vocal and display more, their survival rates are less than those of Jakes.

"Those Jakes have that very high probability of surviving to become those fun 2-year old birds that we like to hunt."

Casalena also encourages hunters who harvest a leg-banded bird to report it.

"We let them keep the band, and then we also let that person know where and when that bird was banded," Casalena said. "So it's great information for the hunter and it's important information for us for our population model."

Those who've reported banded birds have learned some interesting information. In one case, an immature gobbler traveled 25 miles during the same year that it was banded.

Turkey movement is a factor that hunters should understand when taking to the woods this Saturday.

"Where you see turkeys in the fall and winter isn't necessarily where you're going to see them in the spring," Casalena said.

Legal shooting hours go through noon until May 20, when they extend to 30 minutes after sunset. Casalena advises what veterans have already learned.

"If you can't get out there first thing in the morning for when they're gobbling on the roost, don't worry about it," Casalena said. "If you can, go out at mid-morning. If you have the whole day, then don't leave the woods at 9 o'clock."

Etiquette goes hand-in-hand with safety in the spring woods. Vocal and openly displaying gobblers draw much attention, and the unwritten law of first-come, first-serve applies to avoid confrontations and possible accidental shootings. Gobbler activity decreases as human presence increases. Casalena explained that crossing open fields while exiting the woods shuts down gobbler activity for everybody.

"Even when you're done hunting, don't walk through the fields," Casalena said. "That's where you're most visible. You don't want to ruin it for other people, and you also don't want to ruin it for yourself for the next day."

Game warden Bill Brehun said hunters can avoid conflict by simply seeking their own places to hunt.

"If you see a vehicle parked, give that person space," Brehun said. "It's a long season and there's plenty of time to get out there and harvest a bird. Do your scouting and you'll find an area that works well for you."

Those who cannot avoid the temptation of hunting a chunk of woods despite the presence of a parked vehicle are not only risking confrontation, but danger. Even when hunters think they have a spot to themselves, it is wise to assume other hunters are about.

"Be cautious of the color choice in the equipment that you're taking with you," Brehun said. "Just as we teach in hunter eduction, try to avoid red, black and blue."

Brehun added that hunters need to be especially safety-minded if using a decoy, in the event another hunter approaches and mistakes it for a live bird. He stressed the importance of having a safe setup.

"Whenever you're setting up to call, try to have a large object like a log, stump or tree to your back to protect you and your movement from any approaching hunters from the rear," Brehun said. "Even though orange is not required, it's always safe to be seen."

Stalking turkeys is illegal, and Brehun said to practice a patient and safe approach to the sport.

"One of the most important things is to remember that the birds are spread out," Brehun said. "It is never a good thing to stalk turkey calls or sounds, so get out, set up, let the birds come to you naturally."

As for turkey numbers, Brehun said they are good in his coverage area.

"From what I'm seeing in the northern part of Westmoreland and southern Indiana counties, is that the turkey population is plentiful," Brehun said. "There's a lot of birds out there. We're seeing a lot of activity — birds strutting out in fields. A lot of flocks have now broken up sporadically."

A turkey hunter as well, Brehun reminded hunters that it's not all about successfully harvesting a gobbler. Spring hunters experience something much different than the long shadows, cold and quiet of the autumn woods.

"To me, it's getting out there before the hours of daylight and just hearing the woods come to life," Brehun said.