The only thing I'm surprised at is the number of birds taken off public land. Has the number of public land birds always been that small of a percentage of the total harvest?
The public land total surprised me as well (7.5% of total harvest) but after a little digging, this is apparently on par with previous years.
The following is an excerpt from the
2022 Wild Turkey Status Report:
"
Harvest on public lands and WMAs where harvest is tracked separately was 2,188, a decrease of 5% from last year, but essentially unchanged (1% greater) from the previous 5-yearaverage of 2,157."
So this year's reported public land harvest (
2,227) was within 40 birds of 2022 (
2,188). Fewer than 2021 (
2,417), but still above the 5-year average.
