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November 8, 2008
Wild turkey harvest in S.C. down this spring
Nearly 50,000 turkey hunters take to the woods annually in South
Carolina with hopes of harvesting a wily gobbler and the 2008 spring
turkey season was no exception.
With a harvest of 17,304 birds, the spring turkey harvest was down
about 9 percent from 2007 and down approximately 32 percent from the
record harvest established in 2002, according to Charles Ruth, DNR
Deer and Turkey Project supervisor. This year's reduction in harvest
is likely due to poor reproduction by turkeys 5 out of the last six
summers.
South Carolina's spring wild turkey season opens April 1 and closes
May 1 in most areas of the state and on all public lands with turkey
hunting. The season opens March 15 on private lands in 12 Lowcountry
counties in the state. Annually, spring turkey hunters contribute
more than $30 million in direct expenditures to South Carolina's
economy.
Results of the (Pdf file)
2008
Spring Turkey Season >>>
Each summer, DNR wildlife biologists, technicians, conservation
officers, and private cooperators participate in an annual turkey
brood survey. Survey results have indicated poor reproduction in
wild turkeys 5 out of the last 6 summers. Going into this season,
most hunters anticipated tough hunting because the success of spring
hunters is typically linked to turkey reproductive success the
previous year.
Information on the
2008 Summer Turkey Survey >>>
Top counties for total turkey harvest were Berkeley, Colleton,
Williamsburg, Orangeburg, and Fairfield. However, because counties
vary in size, a better method of comparing harvests between counties
is the harvest per unit area, for example turkeys harvested per
square mile. Using this method top counties were Bamberg, Pickens,
York, Cherokee, McCormick, and Chester.
With the elimination of the check-in requirement for turkeys,
hunters may wonder how turkey harvest figures are now derived.
According to Ruth, "We are now using a Turkey Hunter Survey to
estimate the harvest and the survey provides a more accurate
estimate of the actual total harvest of birds in the state. Check
stations worked well in the early years of turkey hunting but they
only provided a minimum count of harvested birds. The decision to
eliminate the check-in requirement was made due to shortcomings of
the system including deterioration of compliance with the check-in
requirement, complaints from hunters regarding the inconvenience of
check stations, and costs associated with the check station system."
Prior to eliminating the check-in requirement, DNR conducted surveys
in order to document the rate of noncompliance, as well as, to
determine the relationship between harvest figures obtained from
check stations and those obtained from surveys. As would be
expected, harvest figures obtained from surveys are higher than
those from check stations due to lack of compliance with the
check-in requirement."
Other statistics from this year’s survey indicate that there were
approximately 43,365 turkey hunters with the average hunter spending
about 5 days in the field. Total effort expended by all hunters was
approximately 227,034 days in 2008. The success rate was about 30
percent in harvesting at least one gobbler and the week of the
season during which the most turkeys were harvested was the first
week in April.
"Another interesting finding from this year’s survey was that 73
percent of turkey hunters supported the idea of paying a $5 fee to
administer a new method of issuing turkey tags", said Ruth.
"Historically tags were only available at Big Game Check Stations
and the tags were handwritten for each hunter. This method of
issuing tags required turkey hunters to make a special trip to a
check station to get their tags just prior to the turkey season
which involves time and travel expenses. Additionally, supplying
check stations involves effort and expense on the part of DNR,
particularly considering that there are/were over 300 stations
statewide. Beginning in 2006, a form containing tags was developed
that can be printed and mailed in an automated fashion, thereby
removing the burden from both hunters and DNR staff. However, the
forms and postage associated with mailing tags to hunters has an
obvious cost.
DNR’s Wild Turkey Research and Management Project receives no state
funding. Not only is there no funding for the new type of tags,
there is and never has been a dedicated state funding source for
research and management activities related to wild turkeys in South
Carolina." Ruth said, "I am encouraged by hunter’s indication of
support for generating funds related to the state’s wild turkey
resource. Not only is mailing tags to hunters practical but we
should be conducting research related to turkey biology here in
South Carolina, particularly given the declining trend that we have
seen in recent years. For example, DNR’s deer tag program funds are
earmarked for deer research and management. We have done a number of
major movement and mortality studies on deer and currently, we are
involved in a major study looking at the effects of coyotes on fawn
survival. Behind deer, turkeys are the number two game species in
the state, however, we are simply not able to conduct any research
because there is no funding mechanism like there is with deer.
DNR protects and manages South Carolina's natural resources by
making wise and balanced decisions for the benefit of the state's
natural resources and its people.
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