Wildlife - Wild Turkeys

2009 Summer Turkey Brood Survey

Wild Turkey Reproduction Down Again This Summer

After increasing slightly in 2008, reproduction by wild turkeys decreased once again in 2009 based on a S.C. Department of Natural Resources survey.

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.

Although wild turkeys nest primarily in April and May in South Carolina, the survey does not take place until late summer, according to Charles Ruth, DNR Deer and Turkey Project supervisor. 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 this year with hens averaging 3.7 poults, 54 percent of hens observed had no poults at all by late summer leading to a total recruitment ratio of 1.8. Recruitment ratio is a measure of young entering the population based on the number of hens in the population. Both of these statistics were lower than biologists would like to see and continue the recent trend in poor reproduction by turkeys in the state. Reproduction in turkeys has been poor to only fair across most of the state 6 out of the last 7 years and after a small increase in 2008, reproduction appears to have fallen again in 2009.

"At the regional level it appears that reproduction improved somewhat in the piedmont and mountains, however, the figures were not as encouraging in the coastal plain and midlands. "In the Southeast," Ruth said, "Mother Nature often plays a big role in turkey populations with heavy rainfall coupled with cool temperatures during the spring nesting and brood rearing season leading to poor reproductive success." There was much more widespread thunderstorm activity which produced significant rainfall across the lower half of the state which may have caused problems in that region. On the other hand, it was much drier in the upstate and reproduction tended to be a little better. In both cases it makes sense, Ruth said.

"Another thing to consider is the notion that 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. We have seen a decline in the deer population in most areas in the last 6-8 years and this is likely linked to the amount of habitat in pine plantations that are greater than 10 years old. This type of habitat simply does not have high productivity and it may be playing a role in turkey reproduction.

What does poor reproduction in 2009 mean for the spring turkey hunter? Ruth indicated, "Harvest trends have followed the trend in poor reproduction in recent years and we have seen about a 30 percent decline in harvest since 2002. This trend is expected to continue. The number of mature gobblers (2 years and older) available during the spring of 2010 should be about the same as in 2009 if not lower across most of the state. The number of jakes (immature gobblers) should also be somewhat lower than hunters like to see. This is significant because jakes can make up 25 percent of the spring harvest following years of good reproduction." On a positive note, the gobbler to hen ratio remains relatively good with a statewide average of 0.66 gobblers to each hen. The exception was in the piedmont and midlands were the gobbler to hen ratio was less than 0.4. Many experts believe that when gobbler to hen ratios get below 0.5, the quality of hunting can be impacted because hens are extremely available which affects gobbling and responsiveness to calling by hunters.

"The bottom line," Ruth said, "is that it will likely take a couple of years of better reproduction to overcome less than desirable reproduction the last six years." That is the nice thing about turkeys though; given the right conditions they can naturally bounce back in a short period of time.

"Anyone interested in participating in the annual Summer Turkey Brood Survey is encouraged to sign-up", said Ruth. The survey period is July 1-August 29 annually and folks who participate typically spend some reasonable amount of time outdoors during that time period. Cooperators obviously must be able to identify wild turkeys and must be comfortable in telling the difference between hens, poults, and gobbers. Cooperators are provided with survey forms prior to the survey and a reporting notice and postage paid envelop at the end of the survey period. If you would like to participate in the survey, send your name and address to Turkey Brood Survey, P.O. Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202. You will be added to the cooperator list and receive materials at the end of June annually.

Figure 1. Map of physiographic regions for 2009 Summer Turkey Survey.

Map of physiographic regions for 2005 Summer Turkey Survey.

Table 1. Summary of reproductive data for 2009 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
0.39
362
277 (43)
1,516
4.2
2.4
Midlands
0.33
123
158 (56)
465
3.8
1.7
Northern Coastal
0.67
194
307 (61)
695
3.6
1.4
Southern Coastal
0.85
617
757 (55)
2,213
3.6
1.6
Statewide
0.66
1,296
1,499 (54)
4,889
3.7
1.8

Table 2. Statewide Summer Turkey Survey reproductive data 2004-2009.

Year Gobbler
Hen
Ratio
No. Hens
w/Poults
No. Hens w/o
Poults (%)
No.
Poults
Average
Brood
Size
Total
Recruitment
Ratio
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
2007
0.77
904
1,269 (58)
3,240
3.6
1.5
2008
0.71
1,504
1,446 (49)
6,336
4.2
2.1
2009
0.66
1,296
1,499 (54)
4,889
3.7
1.8
Average
0.69
1,146
1,125 (50)
4,340
3.7
2.0

2009 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 Observed
Abbeville
11
25
5
9
14
64
10
0
49
Aiken
74
76
24
82
106
77
30
17
229
Allendale
16
14
6
12
18
67
47
14
93
Anderson
13
44
13
4
17
24
22
2
85
Bamberg
63
475
109
76
185
41
116
29
805
Barnwell
139
135
61
127
188
68
173
22
518
Beaufort
47
241
74
166
240
69
176
0
657
Berkeley
244
732
202
163
365
45
413
58
1568
Calhoun
10
59
19
5
24
21
3
0
86
Charleston
37
52
16
38
54
70
35
8
149
Cherokee
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Chester
22
172
37
17
54
31
16
4
246
Chesterfield
33
139
33
16
49
33
16
29
233
Clarendon
20
32
9
29
38
76
31
43
144
Colleton
45
137
41
43
84
51
68
17
306
Darlington
6
10
3
5
8
63
8
0
26
Dillon
9
21
10
6
16
38
8
10
55
Dorchester
7
41
8
4
12
33
6
4
63
Edgefield
15
49
9
7
16
44
6
5
76
Fairfield
27
67
16
26
42
62
27
19
155
Florence
30
67
16
12
28
43
42
41
178
Georgetown
74
198
64
114
178
64
115
0
491
Greenville
8
77
13
2
15
13
3
0
95
Greenwood
26
51
21
29
50
58
9
0
110
Hampton
47
233
71
78
149
52
106
17
505
Horry
10
17
2
7
9
78
3
31
60
Jasper
19
44
11
25
36
69
15
6
101
Kershaw
8
4
2
24
26
92
9
0
39
Lancaster
8
40
9
6
15
40
0
0
55
Laurens
14
46
15
4
19
21
9
2
76
Lee
8
10
6
18
24
75
7
6
47
Lexington
3
5
1
2
3
67
0
0
8
McCormick
57
143
34
38
72
53
38
20
273
Marion
23
112
31
21
52
40
44
0
208
Marlboro
9
23
8
2
10
20
4
2
39
Newberry
45
204
40
25
65
38
24
42
335
Oconee
19
91
21
16
37
43
7
3
138
Orangeburg
17
109
18
25
43
58
23
2
177
Pickens
46
171
59
22
81
27
39
8
299
Richland
30
144
32
19
51
37
20
10
225
Saluda
13
22
5
20
25
80
9
5
61
Spartanburg
15
81
14
7
21
33
10
15
127
Sumter
8
38
12
10
22
45
16
8
84
Union
29
132
27
30
57
53
7
6
202
Williamsburg
55
205
45
93
138
67
75
93
511
York
29
101
24
15
39
38
13
0
153
State Total
1,488
4,889
1296
1,499
2,795
54
1858
598
10,140

The 2009 Summer Turkey Brood Survey above is provided in Adobe® Acrobat® (PDF) format. Adobe® Reader® is required to open this file and is available as a free download from the Adobe® Web site.
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