Some thoughts on the South Carolina turkey hunting season

Posted

"I think we'll probably recommend an April 1 opening date, statewide for turkeys, after the three-year period," he said. I was stunned and disappointed. I couldn't believe that the head biologist was admitting this to me, and I was disheartened that a position had already been decided.

This was three years ago, and I had called to talk about the proposed changes to the turkey season. One of my biggest concerns was about the archery provision. I was worried that too many birds would be lost as cripples, to hunters that weren't regular bow hunters. He shared that same concern. Now, with this admission, my concern shifted.

Apparently, the Legislature had been thinking about making changes to the state's turkey hunting season for some time, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources had made some recommendations, which included a reduced limit, a later closing date and a bonus archery bird. The archery provision was later dropped.

The Lowcountry had enjoyed an earlier opening date and longer season than the rest of the state for years, and the proposed changes sought to make the turkey hunting season more consistent statewide.

The new season framework would set a uniform date for three years, which would give SCDNR a chance to look at the changes, make some studies and offer recommendations. If no recommendations were made at the end of three years, the season would automatically return to the original dates.

In an earlier conversation at his office, the biologist told me that there had been a slow decline in wild turkey numbers across the Southeast, for some time. When I asked if any studies had been made to determine a cause, he said that there had been none. Personally, I was puzzled and wondered out loud, "Why not?" The problem is funding. "Wildlife agencies just don't have the money," he offered.

Now, the guy at DNR that would be making the decisions was telling me on the phone, before the proposed changes were even passed, that he would prefer a later opening date than the one selected for the three-year period. When I asked why, he said, "I believe too many dominant gobblers are being taken in March, and the hens are laying infertile eggs." I disagreed and told him that wild turkey hens don't lay infertile eggs. He shot back, "You don't know that."

Actually, I do know that. I am an aviculturist, and I've raised wild game birds in captivity for more than 50 years. I've kept and raised wild ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, doves and wild turkeys - before laws were passed prohibiting wild turkey propagation in captivity. Domestic chickens will lay infertile eggs but not wild birds. Perhaps we shouldn't be making wildlife management decisions based on the common behavior of domestic chickens.

Wildlife biologist Lovett Williams conducted studies for years on wild turkey populations that were heavily hunted in northern Florida. Hundreds of turkey nests were located and studied. Infertile eggs were rare and almost never encountered. He published numerous books and was considered the authority on eastern wild turkeys. He found no significant decline in nesting success due to hunting.

And any good turkey hunter will know that a dominant gobbler with a harem of hens is one of the most difficult of birds to take. You can waste your entire season on that one gobbler. If you do happen to get lucky and take a dominant gobbler, another one will quickly take his place.

I think that the loss of habitat and pressure from an invasive predator, like the coyote, has made an impact on turkey numbers. Some serious studies and informed management decisions would be a good first step toward determining population dynamics.

Supporting DNR data at this point is from a small survey of turkey hunters and field reports collected by untrained observers on turkey production.

Let's not punish hunters with reduced opportunity. A slight decline in wild turkey numbers may be a correction or stabilization of the population after many years of rapid growth.

I realize that I'm speculating here, but I think it's likely that DNR will recommend to the Legislature more restrictions to the turkey hunting season, to include a later opening date. It's my opinion that a later opening date will offer no benefit to wild turkey management.

At this point, you might be wondering, why am I worried about the turkey season in mid-December. Well, with the three-year period over, DNR will make recommendations about the turkey season to the Legislature this coming session, which starts in early January. Our representatives and senators are home now, reading the local newspapers, and easily available to their constituency. They need to know the whole story.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.