Fall turkey season opens Pennsylvania
October 26th, 2005 by Administrator
Fall turkey season opens Saturday - Wildlife experts predict good hunting opportunities statewide Bagging a fall turkey is no easy task, but hunters who participate in Saturday’s season opener should at least find plenty of birds to pursue.
About 95 percent of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Wildlife Conservation Officers and Land Management Group Supervisors rate hunting prospects as good for this fall.
”Many field officers reported seeing large flocks of birds and better…poult production in their work areas,” said Vern Ross, the commission’s executive director.
Turkey populations appear especially robust across the Lehigh Valley, where many sportsmen have noticed large flocks of birds feeding in recently harvested corn fields and gleaning insects from grassy meadows on warm autumn afternoons.
”A good number of nests were successful, and turkeys are being sighted throughout this area in good numbers,” Berks County WCO Bob Prall said.
Wildlife officials credit relatively dry spring weather for helping to improve turkey nesting success and increasing the numbers of birds in the woods this fall. Although some young turkeys were killed by rainstorms early in late May and early June, numerous sightings of young turkeys in September indicate that many adult hens successfully re-nested.
”Hunters should expect to find increased age diversity among wild turkeys for the fall season, unlike 2004, when several consecutive years of reduced poult production led to reductions in local populations statewide,” Ross said.
Despite a relatively good breeding season, Pennsylvania’s total wild turkey population was estimated at 323,500 this spring, down 6 percent from the previous seven-year average of 345,700 and 21 percent lower than the all-time high of 410,000 in 2001.
The commission estimates that turkey hunters harvested 28,800 birds last fall, which was 16.8 percent below the fall 2003 harvest of 31,100 birds, and 34.8 percent below the previous five-year average of 39,679.
However, Mary Jo Casalena, the commission’s wild turkey biologist, said the decline was largely the result of declining fall turkey hunter participation and shorter fall season lengths, which were reduced to offset the impact of lower turkey breeding success.
”Shortened fall seasons allow a higher population to enter the next breeding season, which should aid in quickly increasing wild turkey populations,” Casalena said.
Although turkey season opens Saturday statewide, closing dates vary by Wildlife Management Unit. WMUs 5C and 5D, which include much of the Lehigh Valley, have the shortest fall season in the state. Turkey hunting in those units ends Nov. 4 and is limited to shotguns and archery only.
Fall turkey season continues through Nov. 12 in WMUs 1A and 1B (shotgun and archery only), 2C, 2E, 4A, 4B, and 4D and through Nov. 19 in WMUs 2A and 2B (shotgun and archery only), 2D, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4C and 4E. WMUs 5A and 5B are closed to fall turkey hunting.
The daily and season bag limit is one bird of either sex.
Hunting techniques
Although fall turkey numbers are good across the region, that doesn’t mean finding them will be simple. Commission officials say an abundance mast crop this means there are plenty of acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts and other foods available. Because of that, daily turkey travels may be more limited, and scouting will play a key role in determining hunter success.
”Finding and using trails that are free of dry, fallen leaves may help you move quietly through the woods and improve your scouting success,” Casalena said. ”First, find the food. Then you will find the turkeys. If nuts are plentiful, turkeys will be dispersed throughout these areas. But they can be patterned. Patterning a flock should take about a week of daily monitoring.”
In late October, with the abundant nuts, grapes and other foods on top of the leaf litter, turkeys do not need to scratch the ground in search of food. So, Casalena suggests looking for sign other than scratchings such as droppings, feathers and tracks.
Once turkeys are located, the most effective fall turkey-hunting technique is to scatter the flock by startling them and running after them to send birds running in two or more directions. You can then set up against a tree and take advantage of the birds’ desire to regroup by making an occasional series of turkey calls.
Sometimes, turkeys will return to the area where they were chases almost immediately. However, experts generally suggest waiting 10 to 15 minutes before calling. Another good tip is to listen to the sounds the turkeys are making and trying to imitate them.
By Christian Berg
Of The Morning Call