Hunters can help the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission track hunting effort and success throughout turkey season this spring by signing up to be a part of the annual Spring Gobbler Hunting Survey.
It's free to participate, and responses will help shape wild turkey management in Arkansas.
Spring turkey season opens in most of Arkansas on April 13.
The spring turkey hunting survey has been in place since 2007 to gather information on hunter activity, gobbling activity, turkey observations and hunting success throughout turkey season. Volunteers record data from each hunt and send the results to be analyzed at the end of the hunting season.
Biologists then compile all the data to identify trends in hunter participation and satisfaction and provide a report for all hunters to compare notes.
Game and Fish has transitioned to a new system using a smartphone app called Survey123. The new app makes it easy to record and submit information at the conclusion of each hunt.
Warm weather has spurred many Arkansas turkey hunters to begin scouting for this year's longbeard, knowing it takes some legwork to be successful in the turkey woods. Jeremy Wood, turkey program coordinator for Game and Fish, said this scouting data is just as important to the survey as data recorded during hunting season.
"Monitoring hunter reports from throughout the state before and during the season really helps complete the picture of how turkeys respond to certain changes in temperature, weather and hunting pressure," Wood said. "We can track trends in gobbling activity, flock breakup and other factors that influence turkey hunting and turkey reproduction."
Visit www.agfc.com/turkeysurvey to participate in the Spring Gobbler Hunting Survey.
Sports on 03/31/2020