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John's Journal... Entry 236, Day 5

THE TURKEY HATCH FOR 2004

See Turkey Hatch Reports from Several States

Editor's Note: Long rainy periods impacted the turkey hatch in various parts of the country last year. However, most sections of the Midwest experienced a positive turkey hatch. Several western states, including Arizona, California and New Mexico reported good turkey hatches. But if you want to know what you can expect this year when you go into the woods to hunt spring turkeys, check out each state's predictions in the Hatch Report this week.

Rhode Island:
Rhode Island biologist Brian Tefft reported a fair hatch in 2003, which didn't compare favorably to the 2002 spring wild turkey hatch. Cool, damp weather during June influenced the nesting season and poult survival, making the hatch conditions the same statewide. Tefft couldn't determine a particular area with the best or the worst hatch. Rhode Island estimated that the state should have 1300 harvestable birds for the 2004 season.

South Carolina:
South Carolina had a poor hatch in 2003, which made it worse than the 2002 harvest. Fifty-two percent of hens didn't have poults. According to Dave Baumann, a state wildlife biologist, South Carolina had excessive rains throughout the nesting and brooding seasons, which contributed to the poor quality of the hatch. While the western Piedmont region had the best hatch, though only 50 percent of hens in that region had poults, the mountain region had the most-unsuccessful hatch in the state. "Because of our average to above average recruitment in 2001 and 2002, South Carolina should have good numbers of 2- to 3-year-old gobblers for 2004," Baumann mentions.

South Dakota:
Ted Benzon from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks rated the 2003 hatch as excellent, better than the hatch reported in 2002. Good weather conditions affected the quality of the 2002 hatch. The west river area had the most-productive hatch in the state. The east-river area had a good hatch, but the bird numbers remained small in the eastern region of the state. Benzon believed 2004 would see an increased number of 2-year-old gobblers since turkey populations had increased in the western part of South Dakota.

Tennessee:
Tabitha Lavacot of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency reported that Tennessee had a fair 2003 turkey hatch. The 2003 hatch numbers decreased from the hatch in 2002, mainly because Tennessee experienced a very wet late spring and a dry summer. According to Lavacot, the regions with the best and worst hatches varied across the state. Exceptional rainfall and flooding occurred during the 2003 hatch season, which contributed to the decline, but some birds re-nested. "Although the brood production was down, there is a significant population that should produce good numbers in 2004, however we may not break last year's record," Lavacot reports.

Texas:
Statewide, Texas experienced variable hatch, depending on the location. John Burk, wildlife biologist for the state reported that South Texas, the Northern Rolling Plains and the Trans Pecos had an excellent hatch for 2003. The Gulf Coastal Prairies, the Coastal Sand Plains region, the Post Oak Savannah region and the Blackland Prairies had a fair hatch. Sections with a poor 2003 hatch included the Cross Timbers region, Edwards Plateau and the Southern Rolling Plains. "Statewide, the numbers look slightly better than the 2002 harvest," Burk explains. "Where we have timely winter and spring rains, the production is good, and where it is dry, obviously, we have poorer productivity." Burk named South Texas as the area with the best hatch in 2003, and the Southern Rolling Plains and the Edwards Plateau as the regions with the poorest hatches. "2004 should have a good hatch statewide, including the easterns," Burk comments.

Utah:
Utah had a fair-to-good hatch in 2003, despite the fact that the state experienced its fifth year of extreme drought, which negatively impacted turkey-poult survival and recruitment. Dean Mitchell, upland-game program coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, reported the state's 2003 hatch similar to the 2002 hatch. Although the hatch, poult survival and recruitment numbers for 2003 ranked fair statewide, northern Utah had the best hatch, while the southern and southeastern regions of the state had poorer hatches. Because Utah has limited turkey-hunting opportunity and only a spring season, hunters have to draw permits to hunt. Turkey permits will decrease 10 percent in 2004 from 2003, which meant the harvest of fewer turkeys.

Vermont:
Doug Blodgett with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, explained that Vermont conducted surveys on a statewide basis and not by region. He didn't have all of the information. However, based on incomplete data, the 2003 hatch looked surprisingly good, despite the very-wet spring-nesting conditions. Blodgett couldn't make predictions for the best and worst areas of the state or the number of harvestable gobblers available for the 2004 season.

Virginia:
"Virginia's turkey brood observations were up slightly last year, which sounds encouraging, but last year's numbers were record lows," Gary Norman state turkey biologist, says. "In general, brood production appears below average, which can probably be attributed to poor weather conditions during the nesting season. We've discovered a strong correlation between recruitment and May weather. Wetter weather during nesting season seems to increase nest predation rates. Virginia also had a poor oak mast crop, which has more influence on the turkey harvest than recruitment does." Norman predicted the 2004 turkey harvest should remain about the same or may decrease slightly due to poor recruitment and the effects of Hurricane Isabel.

Washington:
Mick Cope, upland-game section manager for Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife, advised that Washington's hatch ranged from good to excellent, depending on the location. The 2003 hatch increased slightly from the 2002 hatch. This increase more than likely resulted from the expanding breeding populations and conducive weather conditions. Northeastern Washington had the best hatch, while the western section had the worst hatch. Washington does not conduct surveys that allow a prediction of the number of harvestable gobblers for upcoming seasons. However, harvest trends tend to show a rapid increase in turkey populations without any sign of tapering off in 2004.

West Virginia:
West Virginia's hatch ranked as fair in 2003, with 12,535 turkeys harvested-6-percent lower from 13,385 recorded in 2002. "The frequent rainfall that took place during this year's spring season reduced gobbling activity and affected hunter participation," Jim Pack, a biologist for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, explains. "The large amount of rain during May made it more difficult for hunters to hear and harder for them to stay afield." Some hunters and biologists expressed concern about the impact of the severe weather on the spring harvest in the eastern mountains. However, the turkey harvest in the mountain counties didn't decline significantly compared to other areas of the state. For two consecutive years, the counties with the best and the worst hunting remained the same. In 2003, Mason County, located in the western part of the state, had 475 turkeys harvested, and Jefferson County, located in the eastern panhandle, only had 33 turkeys harvested. Pack expects a lower 2004 hatch for the state, mainly due to two years of bad production, which means fewer harvestable turkeys.

Wisconsin:
According to Assistant Upland Wildlife Ecologist Andrea Mezera, Wisconsin had an excellent brood hatch in 2003, with numbers well above the long-term average and the most broods seen ever. However, the size of the broods observed had fallen from 2002. Overall this past spring and summer, the mild weather, average temperatures and slightly-below-average precipitation had a positive influence on the brood hatch. The 2003 hatch fared better than the 2002 hatch. Mexera couldn't choose any special region of the state with the best and the worst hatches at the time of publication. "Wisconsin plans to increase the number of permits by over 30,000 in the spring of 2004, so we definitely expect an increase in the overall harvest," Mezera reports.

Wyoming:
Wyoming's hatch, rated as good, had a 2003 hatch that resembled the hatch in 2002. Northeastern Wyoming experienced the best hatch in 2003, but biologists didn't have the information needed to determine the region with the worst hatch statewide. Wyoming had no data on which to base 2004 estimates for harvestable gobblers.

To learn addresses and websites where you can learn more about each state's turkey hunting seasons, go to www.nighthawkpublications.com/freetips/freetips18.htm.

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about THE TURKEY HATCH FOR 2004 ...

Day 1 - The Spring Forecast
Day 2 - What to Expect This Spring for Spring Turkey Hunting
Day 3 - More States' Spring Forecast for Turkey Hunting
Day 4 - Learn More About How States' Spring Turkey Hunting Will Fare
Day 5 - See Turkey Hatch Reports from Several States


John's Journal