Turkey hunt harvest declines Wiscons
June 23rd, 2005 by Administrator
Turkey hunt harvest declines - If your harvest tag was filled and counted along with those of other hunters who registered a bird during Wisconsin’s recently-closed spring wild-turkey hunting season, consider yourself lucky.
According to preliminary figures released last week by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), turkey hunters harvested 45,485 birds during the 2005 spring hunt, down 1,992 from the 2004 spring season - a 4-percent decline, but only a 1-percent drop, from 25 to 24 percent, in the statewide hunter success rate.
“The weather was good the first two hunting periods; the remaining time periods saw cooler-than-normal temperatures, and some rain and wind, which resulted in decreased success during those periods,” said Andrea Mezera, the state DNR’s upland wildlife ecologist.
“The percentage of adults in the spring harvest was 87 percent … one of the highest ever,” he added. “Hunters saw and harvested fewer jakes this spring. This can be attributed to below-average brood production in 2004 because of the cool, wet weather.”
Here in Lake Country, very few hunters killed jakes (juvenile male birds). Most hunters reported seeing no jakes at all while actually hunting, and most of those they did see were often severely harassed by the boss toms guarding hens.
According to the DNR, a total of 193,316 kill permits were issued throughout the 43 turkey management units and 15 state parks open for the 2005 spring turkey-hunting season. Once again, zones 22 and 23 appear to have produced the highest overall turkey harvests, at 4,865 and 2,606 respectively.
This year about 34,254 second permits were issued, more than were issued for the spring 2004 season.
Mezera said the success rates among second permit holders is generally lower than for the first permits.
Permit numbers are evenly distributed throughout the six-time periods to provide a quality hunting experience, he added. Interference rates and hunter satisfaction data are gathered from annual hunter surveys sent out to 10,000 hunters after the spring season.
The 2005 fall turkey-hunting season will run Oct. 1 through Nov. 9. At this time, it appears that about 83,600 permits will be available.
“Looking ahead to the fall hunt, it is difficult to predict fall hunting conditions until poult, or turkey young of the year, counts are completed in August,” said Mezera.
Hunters who plan to apply for a fall turkey-hunting permit should note that the application deadline has been changed from Aug. 10 to Aug. 1. Application forms are available at any DNR service center, ALIS licensing agent or from the License, Permits and Registrations page of the DNR Web site.