THE FLIP SIDE: Sun Sets On Spring Gobblers, Hunters

OUTLOOK BRIGHTER FOR OZARKS’ WILD TURKEYS

When the sun sets on Sunday, the last day of spring turkey season, hunters may hear one last gobble from a wise old tom, strutting with its fanned tail in the evening glow.

That could be one more turkey than some hunters heard during an entire spring hunting season last year. Wild turkey numbers appear to be on the rebound after years of decline.

Hunters report seeing more wild turkeys this hunting season than the last few springs, said Brian McKinzie with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission.

He’s supervises the wildlife officers in all Northwest Arkansas counties.

“We’re seeing as many turkeys as we have in a long time,” McKinzie said Tuesday.

Nesting success last spring appears to be good, which is a good step in rebuilding turkey numbers.

There are several theories batted around about why turkeys declined in the first place. One is poor nesting success for several consecutive wet springs.

Another theory is an increased number of predators because fewer people trap furbearers now.

Ron Duncan, the Game & Fish commissioner from Springdale, said it well a few weeks ago. “If we knew exactly why the turkeys declined we’d all be rich men.”

Last spring may have been a lot of things, but wet it was not. Most of the canoeing streams in the Ozarks were too low to float a boat all during spring, it was that dry.

There’s been little rain until late winter of this year.

So a dry spring in 2012contributed to a good hatch of young turkeys. The hot summer could be a factor, too.

“The drought may have actually helped our wild turkeys,” McKinzie said.

“There were grasshoppers everywhere.” These were a hopping food feast for wild turkeys.

Reports from the field are that the toms were eager to gobble this hunting season.

Gobbling helps hunters locate and shoot the legal male turkeys.

Gobbling shut down for a spell after each of the cold fronts that occurred during the spring season, McKinzie said. Spring turkey season opened April 5 and closes 30 minutes after sunset on Sunday.

North central Arkansas leads the state in the turkey harvest this spring. Some counties, like Stone and Izard, are seeing harvests of more than 200 gobblers.

Newton County has been a turkey hot spot, with about 230 gobblers checked. Sharp County leads the state with 291 gobblers checked.

In Northwest Arkansas, Carroll and Madison counties lead harvest numbers with 98 and 118 gobblers respectively. This is because there is public land in Carroll and Madison counties for turkey hunting, McKinzie explained. In Benton County, where there is no public land open for spring turkey hunting, only seven gobblers have been killed. That’s according to the online harvest numbers on the Game & Fish website.

These north-central counties have ample public land for turkey hunting, mainly thousands of acres of Ozark National Forest.

Let’s hope the dire years of decline for our wild turkeys are over, and that more gobbling and good hunting are ahead.

FLIP PUTTHOFF IS OUTDOORS EDITOR FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS MEDIA. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER, TWITTER.COM/ NWAFLIP.

Outdoor, Pages 6 on 05/02/2013

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