2023 Wild Turkey Status Report

[Southern Sportsman]

This normally comes out earlier in the year, and it bothers me that it wasn't published before the public comment period and voting on regulations for '25-'26. However, here is the 2023 Wild Turkey Status Report from TWRA Wild Turkey Management Program Coordinator, Roger Shield's office.

Poult production numbers look pretty good for West (river counties) and "Mid-West" counties. Middle TN looks ok. East TN, especially the northern portion, is still struggling though. Here are a few of the main sections:

If you want to compare to prior years, those reports are available here under "Biological Technical Reports."

 

[Bgoodman30]

Woof... There you have it. Below the 2.2 PPH average from 2 prior years. The delay certainly didn't serve its intended purpose of increasing production.. That's a shame..

 

[bowhunterfanatic]

Woof... There you have it. Below the 2.2 PPH average from 2 prior years. The delay certainly didn't serve its intended purpose of increasing production.. That's a shame..

I only ask this because I don't know the answer...how did the late spring / early summer weather compare to the 2 previous years? I know you understand this, but that delay was only one small factor in the grand scheme of things when looking at reproductive success. I know the spring / summer weather was great for nesting hens the two previous cycles. While I think you are probably right that it does not make much of a difference, I'm not sure one years worth of data is enough to show that unless all the other factors can be normalized to ensure it's an apples to apples comparison.

 

[Bgoodman30]

I only ask this because I don't know the answer...how did the late spring / early summer weather compare to the 2 previous years? I know you understand this, but that delay was only one small factor in the grand scheme of things when looking at reproductive success. I know the spring / summer weather was great for nesting hens the two previous cycles. While I think you are probably right that it does not make much of a difference, I'm not sure one years worth of data is enough to show that unless all the other factors can be normalized to ensure it's an apples to apples comparison.

Good some places poor others. I know seasonal flooding has come during some unseasonal times in areas. We had a lot of late summer rains which may have caused a lot of poult mortality?

We can speculate but I think God may the only who can answer what it truly did to wild turkey survival.

 

[Southern Sportsman]

Woof... There you have it. Below the 2.2 PPH average from 2 prior years. The delay certainly didn't serve its intended purpose of increasing production.. That's a shame..

If you just look at the statewide average, then yes, 2023 PPH was 2.17. But that doesn't prove that the delay provided no benefit, especially after only one year. PPH is evaluated around August. The delay could logically provide some benefit in terms of nesting success (i.e., a higher percentage of nests successfully hatching poults). But other factors — poorly timed burns, weather, predation, disease, etc., etc.—could result in high attrition, leaving low PPH numbers despite a few more hatching to begin with. I think everyone agrees that there are many different factors at play.

I primarily hunt west TN, so that's where I have firsthand knowledge. Here, the delay seems to have helped. I'm not saying it's the only, or even the primary reason, but there are noticeably more turkeys here than there were two years ago. Maybe someone from the east has opinions about why their poult recruitment numbers are considerably worse, but the rest of the state saw clear improvement.

For ease of reference:

2020

2021

2022

2023

 

[Bgoodman30]

I had a good convo with a commissioner last night. We all want the same things and that's more turkeys for our youth. His reasoning mimic a lot of y'all's on here which is the delays may not be the fix but it can't hurt. Also the hatch was better in his region to the west. Statewide it's down. I said my area last years numbers looking bad and he said with 2 birds more carryover for next year. I feel little bit better and hope production increases in 2024. Hate I am writing this from my house and not the woods though…