Wildlife - Wild Turkeys

2006 Summer Turkey Brood Survey

Wild Turkey Reproduction in State Poor this Summer

Based on a S.C. Department of Natural Resources survey, reproduction by wild turkeys was poor for the second year in a row, according to a state wildlife biologist.

Annually since the early 1980’s, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conducts a Summer Turkey Brood Survey to estimate reproduction and recruitment of turkeys in South Carolina. The survey involves agency wildlife biologists, technicians and conservation officers, as well as many volunteers from other natural resource agencies and the general public.

As was the case last year, it appears that wild turkey reproduction was poor to very poor in most regions and statewide, according to Charles Ruth, DNR Deer and Turkey Project supervisor. Although wild turkeys nest primarily in April and May in South Carolina, the survey does not take place until late summer. Therefore, the survey statistics document poults (young turkeys) that actually survived and entered the population going into the fall. Although average brood size was good with hens averaging 3.4 poults, 50 percent of hens observed had no poults at all by late summer leading to a total recruitment ratio of 1.7. Recruitment ratio is a measure of young entering the population based on the number of hens in the population.

"In the Southeast," Ruth said, "Mother Nature often plays a big role in turkey populations with heavy rainfall and/or cool temperatures during the spring nesting and brood rearing season leading to poor reproductive success." However, that does not appear to be the case in 2006. Comparing climatic data from this year with historic data indicates that temperatures were at or above normal and rainfall was below normal during the nesting and brood rearing period. In other words, environmental conditions were such that reproduction in turkeys should have been better. "Perhaps we have reached a point in time where the relationship between the turkey population and habitat is simply not as good as it was when turkeys were expanding across the state", said Ruth.

According to the survey, the Northern Coastal Plain experienced the best reproduction in 2006, with counties including Berkeley, Clarendon, and Williamsburg fairing better than most other parts of the state.

What does poor reproduction by turkeys for two consecutive years mean for the spring turkey hunter? Ruth indicated, "With poor reproduction the last two years the number of mature gobblers (2 years and older) available during the spring of 2007 will likely be low across most of the state. Reproduction was good in 2004, but birds produced then have been subjected to two hunting seasons in addition to other mortality factors. Not only is the number of adult gobblers expected to be down in 2007, the survey results indicate that the number of jakes (immature gobblers) will be low as well. This is significant because jakes can make up 25 percent of the spring harvest following years of good reproduction." The statewide turkey population is estimated at 90,000 birds which is good, but with two years of poor reproduction this figure is the lowest in recent years.

"The bottom line," Ruth said, "is that it will likely take a couple of years of better reproduction to overcome poor reproduction the last two years." Hunters often wonder why DNR does not promote or schedule a fall turkey season, and although there are a number of considerations, poor reproduction like that experienced the past two springs is a very important factor. "Bear in mind that hunting turkeys in the fall differs drastically from spring gobbler hunting, which is familiar to most hunters," Ruth said. "Not only do hunting and calling techniques differ, fall seasons typically allow hunters to take hens or gobblers. Although DNR monitors turkey reproduction annually, the information is not available until about the same time a fall turkey season would be underway, so it is too late to schedule a fall season based on reproductive success or sound biology. DNR could simply schedule a fall season without regard to reproductive data, but harvesting hens following a summer with poor reproduction would further depress the number of hens potentially leading to a rapid decline in turkeys."

Approximately 45,000 hunters participate in the spring turkey season contributing around $16 million to the state’s economy annually.

Figure 1. Map of physiographic regions for 2006 Summer Turkey Survey.

Map of physiographic regions for 2005 Summer Turkey Survey.

Summary of reproductive data for 2006 Summer Turkey Survey by region.

Region Gobbler
Hen
Ratio
No. Hens
w/Poults
No. Hens w/o
Poults (%)
No.
Poults
Average
Brood
Size
Total
Recruitment
Ratio
Piedmont 0.43 377 346 (48) 1,183 3.1 1.6
Midlands 0.65 114 130 (53) 432 3.8 1.8
Northern Coastal 0.71 197 164 (45) 751 3.8 2.1
Southern Coastal 0.71 390 438 (53) 1,293 3.3 1.6
Statewide 0.61 1,078 1,078 (50) 3,659 3.4 1.7

Statewide Summer Turkey Survey reproductive data 2001-2006.

Year Gobbler
Hen
Ratio
No. Hens
w/Poults
No. Hens w/o
Poults (%)
No.
Poults
Average
Brood
Size
Total
Recruitment
Ratio
2001
0.62
2,027
965 (32)
8,236
3.9
2.8
2002
0.64
1,608
1,397 (46)
4,877
2.9
1.6
2003
0.63
933
994 (52)
3,253
3.3
1.7
2004
0.62
1,159
447 (28)
4,854
4.1
3.0
2005
0.77
936
989 (51)
3,066
3.3
1.6
2006
0.61
1,078
1,078 (50)
3,659
3.4
1.7
Average
0.62
1,394
958 (41)
5,143
3.5
2.2

2006 Summer Turkey Survey Results

County No. Observ. No. Poults No. Hens
w/ Poults
No. Hens
w/o Poults
No. Hens % Hens
w/o
Poults
No. Gobblers No. Unid. Total Turkeys
Abbeville
24
74
18
13
31
42
17
21
143
Aiken
68
163
36
46
82
56
71
18
334
Allendale
5
2
1
3
4
75
7
2
15
Anderson
37
126
57
61
118
52
23
0
267
Bamberg
34
169
46
38
84
45
25
9
287
Barnwell
121
89
31
88
119
74
159
18
385
Beaufort
8
46
10
9
19
47
11
0
76
Berkeley
131
444
127
118
245
48
233
35
957
Calhoun
13
19
6
14
20
70
13
2
54
Charleston
29
163
37
15
52
29
23
40
278
Cherokee
15
54
11
7
18
39
12
0
84
Chester
24
65
14
20
34
59
37
6
142
Chesterfield
33
82
25
34
59
58
29
7
177
Clarendon
33
276
54
13
67
19
70
42
455
Colleton
43
160
48
46
94
49
38
29
321
Darlington
12
36
13
12
25
48
18
7
86
Dillon
11
41
10
3
13
23
6
4
64
Dorchester
16
0
1
9
10
90
22
2
34
Edgefield
7
2
2
1
3
33
4
0
9
Fairfield
43
104
34
36
70
51
18
1
193
Florence
24
63
19
22
41
54
18
2
124
Georgetown
60
156
50
82
132
62
83
86
457
Greenville
5
25
4
7
11
64
5
5
46
Greenwood
24
65
20
20
40
50
14
12
131
Hampton
13
27
8
23
31
74
30
0
88
Horry
11
30
7
2
9
22
8
38
85
Jasper
7
30
6
11
17
65
9
0
56
Kershaw
3
11
4
0
4
0
3
0
18
Lancaster
17
10
12
21
33
64
7
6
56
Laurens
15
47
18
8
26
31
12
11
96
Lee
2
11
2
0
2
0
4
0
17
Lexington
2
4
1
4
5
80
0
0
9
McCormick
78
206
62
56
118
47
34
31
389
Marion
27
60
30
26
56
46
56
0
172
Marlboro
6
24
7
1
8
13
8
0
40
Newberry
38
104
33
19
52
37
26
6
188
Oconee
30
68
17
16
33
48
21
11
133
Orangeburg
16
37
18
17
35
49
11
9
92
Pickens
27
92
30
23
53
43
24
6
175
Richland
14
48
10
4
14
29
12
0
74
Saluda
18
46
21
12
33
36
5
39
123
Spartanburg
11
36
9
5
14
36
2
10
62
Sumter
14
34
10
15
25
60
1
0
60
Union
56
140
50
50
100
50
64
73
377
Williamsburg
24
125
27
16
43
37
16
20
204
York
22
45
22
32
54
59
10
0
109
State Total
1271
3659
1078
1078
2156
50
1319
608
7742

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