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Spring Turkey Take by County

As described in DEC's Wild Turkey Management Plan (290 kb pdf), DEC has changed the way that seasonal turkey harvest is reported. In the past, DEC only summarized the number of birds actually reported by hunters. Now, the Department reports an estimated total turkey harvest based on surveys of approximately 12,000 turkey permit holders after the close of the hunting season. This results in a calculated harvest based on estimated reporting rates. This provides a more accurate harvest estimate and a more realistic assessment of the status of New York's wild turkey populations.

Estimated wild turkey harvest during spring 2009 was 34,600 birds, close to the 10-year average (about 35,000). This is an increase of about 5% from spring 2008 and may be a result of a good nesting season during summer 2007. An above-average number of poults per hen in 2007 translated into a greater proportion of 2 year-old gobblers available to hunters in spring 2009 and likely contributed to the increase in the harvest.

The top five counties for estimated harvest were Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Steuben, Oneida, and Otsego (see table below). This is similar to last spring, with the exception of Erie County which fell from fourth in spring 2008 to 16th in 2009. We observed an increase in estimated harvest in roughly 64% of the counties in the state, a decrease in harvest in 24%, and about 13% of the counties were similar to last spring. We observed the greatest increases in harvest in east-central and northern New York (DEC Regions 4, 5, and 6). Most decreases in harvest from 2008 to 2009 were observed in western New York (DEC Regions 8 and 9).

As mentioned above, based on above-average production in summer 2007 and slightly below-average production in 2008, there was a smaller proportion of jakes (juvenile male turkeys) in the harvest this spring than last year. About 32% of the birds reported in 2009 were jakes. This is down from 2008 when about 40% of the birds reported were jakes.

Youth Turkey Hunt 2009 - the sixth annual Youth Turkey Hunt was held April 25-26, and was once again greeted with enthusiasm by young hunters and their adult mentors. Roughly 9,700 junior hunters harvested about 1,700 birds, a decrease in harvest of about 23% from the previous year. This decline may be related to several factors including fewer jakes available to hunters due to below-average production during summer 2008, and unseasonably warm weather in many regions during the two-day hunt.