Apr 9, 2006 9 min read

HARRISBURG – Although there has been plenty of wild turkey calling going on recently in the mountains and woodlots throughout Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials believe the upcoming spring gobbler seasons aren’t expected to be as rewarding to hunters as those over the past few years. “It stands to reason – and we surely expected – that wild turkey hunter success was going to fall off some because of the below-average reproduction turkeys have endured for the past three springs in Pennsylvania,” explained Mary Jo Casalena, Game Commission wild turkey biologist. “Three consecutive years of below-average reproduction, a hard winter in 2002, and below-average mast production in some areas have conspired to stem the ability of some segments of the Pennsylvania wild turkey population to offset annual losses to fall hunting and other limiting factors with recruitment.

“But what has occurred isn’t unnatural, won’t ruin Pennsylvania’s wild turkey hunting and surely will change just as soon as a warm, dry spring paves the way for increased turkey reproduction. For now, hunters can expect this spring’s gobbler hunting to be similar to last year’s – good, but challenging.”

The state’s one-day youth spring gobbler hunt will be April 22; the general spring gobbler season will run from April 29 to May 27. In both seasons, shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise until noon.

Casalena emphasized that hunters should find strong wild turkey populations in most mountainous areas and in woodlots bordering agricultural areas.

“Wild turkeys have experienced some tough springs in recent years and their overall numbers are down somewhat,” Casalena said. “However, many flocks have been insulated from loss by the difficulties many hunters have encountered trying to find birds, particularly last fall when the increased availability of mast made patterning flock movements – and even locating birds – difficult at best.

“We believe the wild turkey population has dropped over the past few years, and that it is below the five-year-average we measure it against to keep population trends in perspective. Saying that, however, it is important to point out that turkey populations in many Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) remain at or above long-term population trends. Turkey hunting may not be better than ever in Pennsylvania, but for those who put in the preseason work and make in-season adjustments, there should be plenty of excitement.”

The statewide preliminary 2005 fall turkey harvest was about 23,300. It marks the third consecutive year the fall harvest has dropped; 25,868 in 2004; and 27,400 in 2003. However, some of this decrease was the result of shorter fall seasons in eight of the state’s 22 WMUs over the past two years. The preliminary spring gobbler harvest – 38,820 – also documents a drop for the third consecutive year. The spring harvest in 2004 was 41,017; 2003, 43,900.

“With below average recruitment over the past three springs, hunting prospects in many WMUs also will be below average,” Casalena explained.

“Pennsylvania is a diverse state and hunting will vary depending on your locale. Hunters may find that the responses to their calls vary greatly from WMU to WMU, possibly even from ridge to ridge. Some areas will have good numbers of vocal two-year-old and older gobblers, others won’t. One-year-old jakes likely will come readily – albeit quietly – to your calls. But there are plenty of birds afield. Just remain flexible and willing. The rest is up to the gobblers.

Hunters are discouraged from using turkey calls to locate gobblers prior to the start of season, because it can educate birds and cause them to be less inclined to respond to the early-morning calls of hunters in season.

“If you’re trying to locate a gobbler, it’s best to head out at first light to listen for calls,” Casalena advised. “Now is a great time! On a still morning, a gobbler’s call often can be detected up to a half-mile away by a person.

“Don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear gobblers every day. With fewer gobblers in local populations, hunters should probably expect less calling. Remember, you also can locate gobblers by searching for strutting areas along the edges of fields, woods, roads and small openings in wooded areas.”

The largest harvests in the 2005 spring gobbler season occurred in WMU 2D, where hunters took 3,006 turkeys (4,004 in 2004); WMU 4C, 2,831 (2,629); and WMU 4E, 2,508 (2,332). The largest fall harvests occurred in WMU 2G, where hunters took 2,257 turkeys (1,933 in 2004); WMU 2D 1,952 (2,246); and WMU 3B, 1,567 (1,671).

For the first time since Pennsylvania established a spring gobbler season in 1968, hunters were allowed to submit an application for the “special wild turkey license” for the 2006 spring gobbler season. It entitles the holder to take a second spring gobbler in any Wildlife Management Unit. The cost was $21 for residents, $41 for nonresidents. The agency had received more than 7,600 second spring gobbler tags as of April 1, which was the deadline for receiving applications.

Research has shown that properly timed and implemented multiple-bird spring bag limits have not caused population declines in other states, according to Casalena. To monitor hunter success, all hunters who receive the special spring gobbler license are required to submit a report, regardless of whether they harvest a second spring gobbler.

Each year, more than 230,000 hunters – or about 20 percent of the state’s licensed hunters -head afield to participate in the spring gobbler season. The season is considered a challenging affair because it requires a hunter to place himself or herself in a position within calling distance of a gobbler – preferably still roosting – and then call the bird within shooting range using a mouth, box or slate call. Since wild turkeys have keen eyesight and hearing, the slightest slipup by the hunter will send an approaching bird scurrying in the opposite direction.

“Calling in and taking a spring gobbler is not something that you accomplish by simply putting in your time afield,” Casalena emphasized. “If you cough, sneeze, move or blink at the wrong time, that gobbler will be heading in another direction, or off the mountain! Tricking an old tom isn’t easy, as many hunters can attest. But when you pull it off, the experience is incredibly satisfying and surely will be something you’ll share with others.”

Hunters are reminded that it is illegal to stalk turkeys or turkey sounds in the spring gobbler season. Given the wild turkey’s keen senses, it’s not a wise move anyway, but more importantly, it makes a tremendous difference for the personal safety of everyone afield. Over the years, many hunters have been shot for game while approaching a hunter calling for turkeys, and many callers have been shot in mistake for game by stalking hunters.

In 2005, eight hunters were shot – none fatally – by other hunters during the spring season. In all but one case, the offender failed to properly identify his target. Two victims were shot by offenders who were less than 30 yards away. This compares with nine non-fatal hunting-related shooting incidents in the 2004 spring gobbler season (all mistaken for game).

“Safety should be the foremost consideration of every turkey hunter,” emphasized Keith Snyder, Game Commission Hunter-Trapper Education chief. “If every hunter followed the state’s hunting regulations and positively identified his or her target as legal game before squeezing the trigger, hunters wouldn’t be shooting other hunters. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way.

“The Pennsylvania Game Commission encourages all spring gobbler hunters to hunt safely and defensively. Consider wearing fluorescent orange clothing at all times – not just while moving as required by law – and treat every sound and movement in the forest as if it is another hunter until you can positively confirm it is a legal turkey. Wait until the bird is fully and plainly visible before you pull the trigger.”

Legal sporting arms are: shotguns plugged to three-shell capacity in the chamber and magazine combined; muzzleloading shotguns; and bows with broadhead arrows of cutting-edge design. Crossbows may not be used unless a hunter has a permit to use a crossbow instead of a bow.

Shot size can be no larger than No. 4 lead, bismuth-tin and tungsten-iron, or No. 2 steel. Rifle-shotgun combinations also may be used, but no single-projectile ammunition may be used or carried.

The use of blinds is legal so long as it is an “artificial or manufactured turkey blind consisting of all manmade materials of sufficient density to block the detection of movement within the blind.”

Hunters are required to wear a minimum of 100 square inches of fluorescent orange material on the head (a hat) when moving through the woods. The orange may be removed when a hunter reaches his or her calling destination. While not required by law, agency officials recommend that hunters wrap an orange alert band around a nearby tree when stationary, especially when calling and/or using decoys.

Successful hunters must properly tag harvested turkeys and report their harvests to the Game Commission within 10 days, using the postage-paid report card provided when they purchased their hunting license. Hunters are reminded that if they can’t find one of the harvest report cards that came with their license, they can tear out and use the harvest report card found on page 33 of the Pennsylvania Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations.

Young hunters who participate in the youth spring gobbler season are required to have a junior hunting license. Juniors under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult, who cannot carry a sporting arm. Accompanying adults may only provide guidance, such as calling or scouting. All other hunting regulations are the same as those for the general spring gobbler season, including the hunting hours of one-half hour before sunrise until noon and only bearded turkeys may be taken.

Coyotes may be harvested by turkey hunters. However, turkey hunters who have harvested a spring gobbler may not hunt coyotes or woodchucks (groundhogs) prior to noon Monday through Saturday during the spring gobbler season.