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For Release: Thursday, April 16, 2009

Spring Turkey Season Opens May 1

DEC Studies Suggest a Mixed Forecast

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today reminded hunters that the 2009 spring turkey season opens on May 1, with the annual special Youth Turkey Hunting Weekend set for April 25-26.

"Turkey hunting is a challenging and exciting activity that is enjoyed by thousands of residents and visitors each spring and fall," Commissioner Grannis said. "Along with trying to provide a quality hunting experience, DEC in recent years has launched several studies on these important game birds, collecting a large amount of useful data that have helped give us a greater understanding of our wild turkey population. We intend to continue this work in 2009 with the continued support of the public."

The spring and fall 2008 turkey seasons saw slight declines in harvest from the previous year, accompanied by a large variation in nest and brood success due to wide dissimilarities in spring rainfall in different regions of the state. In winter 2009, DEC staff implemented the first standardized winter flock survey after a three-year pilot program, and completed a four-year banding study designed to assess turkey survival and harvest rates.

Highlights of 2008 wild turkey research and management and a forecast for the spring 2009 season are outlined below.

Winter Turkey Survey

In January 2009, DEC began an expanded winter turkey survey. Like the spring and early summer where weather can have significant impacts on turkey production and poult survival, winter conditions (temperature, snowfall) can limit turkey survival, particularly for juvenile birds. The goal of the survey is to use DEC staff and volunteers to conduct a harvest-independent survey to help determine long-term trends in turkey populations.

DEC received a lot of interest in this survey from the public; by the end of March '09, the Department received more than 500 reports from 50 counties. The survey period ended March 31, but data from the winter can still be submitted to Turkey Survey, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754. DEC staff greatly appreciates help from the public and hopes to have a summary of the results of this survey available within the next few weeks.

Wild Turkey Banding Study

In January 2006, DEC began a four-year wild turkey banding project designed to estimate harvest and survival rates of male wild turkeys ("gobblers") in New York. This study is being done in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, researchers from Pennsylvania State University, and the National Wild Turkey Federation.

This winter marked the final field season for capture and marking, and data on band returns will be collected through summer of 2009. DEC staff banded an additional 300 gobblers this winter, bringing the four-year total to more than 1,300 gobblers in 54 of the 55 counties in upstate New York (north of the Bronx-Westchester border). Preliminary results already have yielded useful information on age-specific harvest and survival rates. Later this year, estimated harvest rates, survival rates, and harvest reporting rates will be completed for each state. Final results will be used to assess current hunting season configurations to ensure the long-term welfare of wild turkeys in New York.

DEC thanks all of the volunteers and cooperating landowners for their invaluable assistance in the field. This project would not have been possible without them.

Spring Harvest 2008

Estimated wild turkey harvest during spring 2008 was 32,900 birds, slightly below the 10-year average (about 36,000). This is a decrease of about 8 percent from spring 2007 and might be the result of a poor nesting season during summer 2006. Poor poult numbers in 2006 translated into fewer two-year-old gobblers available to hunters in spring 2008.

Harvest was down from 2007 in most counties (see table below), with the greatest decreases observed in DEC Regions 3, 4, and 5 (DEC region descriptions can be found on the DEC website.) There was little to no change in the harvest in 13 percent of counties with spring hunting, and an increase in harvest in 18 percent of counties. Most increases occurred in DEC Regions 8 and 9.

Youth Turkey Hunt 2008

DEC established a youth hunt for turkeys in 2004. On average, more than 8,000 junior hunters participate with their adult companions to take advantage of this event. In 2008, there was an increase in participation and harvest, with roughly 12,000 junior hunters taking approximately 2,200 birds. Excellent weather on both days of the youth hunt and increased awareness of this special hunting opportunity likely were responsible for the increases.

Summer Productivity 2008

DEC conducts a wild turkey sighting survey annually in August to estimate the average number of wild turkey poults (young of the year) per hen statewide and among major geographic regions of the state. This index allows DEC to gauge reproductive success in a given year and to predict fall harvest potential.

Reproductive success from the 2008 survey was about 3.1 poults/hen. This is a decrease of about 11 percent from 2007 (3.5 poults/hen) and is slightly below the 10-year average for this index (3.2 poults/hen). About 66 percent of the birds observed were young of the year. This is a decrease from 2007 (69 percent), but is higher than in 2006 (60 percent). There was a wide variation in precipitation across the state this spring, with northern New York (Adirondacks, St. Lawrence Valley, Champlain Valley in DEC Regions 5 and 6) receiving more rainfall than southern portions of the state, possibly negatively impacting nest and brood success.

Fall Harvest 2008

Estimated wild turkey harvest during fall 2008 was 11,600 birds, an 9 percent decrease from fall 2007, and slightly below the 20-year average for fall harvests (about 13,000 from 1988-2007).

Harvest was down from fall 2007 in most counties (see table below), with the greatest decreases occurring in DEC Regions 5 and 6 (northern NY), and portions of Region 3 (Ulster and Dutchess counties), Region 4 (Montgomery, Schenectady, Albany, and Rensselaer counties) and Region 8 (Genesee, Monroe, Wayne, and Seneca counties). The decrease was likely a result of both below-average production during spring 2008 and good mast production (e.g., acorns, beech nuts, berries, etc.). In years where there is abundant hard and soft mast, turkeys do not have to roam as far to locate food, thus they are less vulnerable to harvest.

Some of the biggest increases in harvest in fall 2008 occurred in parts of Region 3 (Orange and Putnam counties), Region 4 (Delaware, Schoharie, Greene, and Columbia counties) and Region 8 (Livingston, Yates, Steuben, and Chemung counties). The number of fall turkey hunters was up 15 percent from last year, but participation remains about 14 percent below the ten-year average. Despite this decline in participation in recent years, the hunter success rate has remained relatively stable at about 3 birds per 100 days of effort.

Youth Turkey Hunt Spring 2009

The sixth annual Youth Turkey Hunt will be held on April 25-26, 2009. This is an excellent opportunity for youths ages 12-15 to spend time afield with experienced adult hunters gaining the necessary knowledge and skills to become safe and responsible members of the hunting community. Other important details of the youth turkey hunting weekend include:

• Eligible hunters are youth 12-15 years of age, holding a junior hunting license and a turkey permit.
• Youth 12-13 years of age must be accompanied by a parent, legal guardian or relative over 21 years of age, with written permission from their parent or legal guardian. Youth 14-15 years of age must be accompanied by a parent, legal guardian or an adult over 18 years of age, with written permission from their parent or legal guardian.
• The accompanying adult must have a current hunting license and turkey permit. The adult may assist the youth hunter (including calling), but may not carry a firearm or bow, or kill or attempt to kill a wild turkey during the youth hunt.
• Shooting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise to noon each day.
• The bag limit for the youth weekend is one bearded bird. This bird becomes part of the youth's regular season bag limit of 2 bearded birds. A second bird may be taken beginning May 1.
• All other wild turkey hunting regulations are in effect.

Spring 2009 Forecast

Based on brood surveys the last two years and harvest data, the spring 2009 season has the potential to be about the same as 2008 and close to the five-year average spring harvest (about 29,500 birds). An above-average 2007 hatch combined with a decent late-season hatch in 2008 should provide hunters with opportunities to harvest two-year-old birds as well as quite a few jakes. There is a lot of variation among regions of the state and even within a region. Northern New York, in particular, received above-average spring rainfall in 2008, so production was worse there than in other parts of the state. Unfortunately, that's two straight seasons with poor production in DEC Region 6, likely driving down spring harvest there. DEC Regions 4 and 7 have had consistently good production the past few years, so harvest should be similar to or slightly better than last year with both young birds and adult birds available. The rest of the state may be similar to, or slightly below last year's harvest.

The regular spring season opens on Friday, May 1, and continues through Sunday, May 31. Important details of the 2009 spring turkey hunting season include:

• Hunting is permitted in most areas of the state, except for New York City and Long Island.
• Hunters must have a turkey hunting permit in addition to their small game hunting or sportsman license.
• Shooting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise to noon each day.
• Hunters may take 2 bearded turkeys during the spring season, but only 1 bird per day.
• Hunters may not use rifles or handguns. Hunters may hunt only with a shotgun and shot sizes no larger than # 2 or smaller than # 8, or with a bow and arrow.
• Successful hunters must fill out the tag which comes with their turkey permit and immediately attach it to any turkey harvested.
• Successful hunters must report their harvest within 48 hours of taking a bird. Call 1-866-426-3778 (1-866 GAMERPT) or report harvest online.
• Hunters who take a bird with a leg band, in addition to reporting their harvest via phone or Internet, are encouraged to call the "800" number listed on the band. The information help DEC staff better manage the wild turkey resource.

Turkey Hunter Safety

New York has an extremely safety-conscious generation of hunters, largely due to the annual efforts of over 3,000 dedicated volunteer Sportsman Education instructors. With 27 hunting-related shooting incidents, 2008 was the safest year since such records have been maintained. Of this total, three were related to turkey hunting (all from the spring season). This is below the 10-year average for both spring turkey hunting (six incidents/year) and fall turkey hunting (two incidents/year). However, it is a reminder that even one incident is too many, so be sure to follow the cardinal rules of hunting safety: (1) assume every gun is loaded; (2) control the muzzle; (3) keep you finger off the trigger until ready to shoot; (4) be sure of your target and beyond; and (5) Don't stalk! Set-up with your back against a large tree and call birds to you.

For more information about turkey hunting in New York, see the 2008-09 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Guide or visit the "Turkey Hunting" pages of the DEC website.

To participate in our Summer Wild Turkey Sighting Survey or Winter Wild Turkey Flock Survey, visit the "Citizen Science" page of the DEC website.

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