Turkey harvest in Wisconsin, other Midwestern states

[Turkeybutt]

Sat, June 11, 2022, 10:27 AM
Modest increase in turkey harvest in Wisconsin, other Midwestern states suggest the last year was good for reproduction and survival.

Hunters registered 39,007 wild turkeys during the 2022 Wisconsin spring turkey hunting season, a 5% increase from last year, according to preliminary information released Friday by the state Department of Natural Resources.
The increased kill came on a similar number of tags to those issued in 2021 and despite a late green-up and less than optimal weather in this year's early time periods, the DNR said.
The Wisconsin results, coupled with increased harvests recorded in at least three other Midwestern states this spring, suggest the last year was good for turkey reproduction and survival in the region and may at least temporarily allay concerns about population declines of the popular game bird in many states.
By zone, the Wisconsin kill numbers were 10,504 in Zone 1; 9,186 in Zone 2; 9,918 in Zone 3; 6,121 in Zone 4; 1,717 in Zone 5; 962 in Zone 6; 518 in Zone 7; and 81 at Fort McCoy.
Without correction for non participation by hunters who bought a license but did not pursue birds this spring, the 2022 statewide success rate was 17.7%, compared with 16.9% in 2021.
According to registration reports, the 2022 kill included 32,244 adult toms, 6,442 jakes (1-year-old males) and 321 hens. The 83% adult tom proportion of the harvest was in line with averages over the last decade.
Only bearded turkeys may be legally hunted in Wisconsin's spring season; a small percentage of hens have beards.
The DNR sold 220,026 spring turkey permits this year out of the 245,700 available. The sales included 142,091 harvest authorizations awarded through the drawing process last winter and 77,935 sold over the counter beginning in mid-March.
The spring turkey hunt opened April 20 and ended May 31. As it has been for decades, the season was separated into six time periods and seven geographical zones.
The April 16-17 youth turkey hunt represented the one notable decline in 2022. During the two-day youth season hunters registered 2,482 birds, down nearly 25% from 3,308 in 2021. The DNR attributed the drop to the late onset of spring across much of the state, resulting in poorer hunting conditions during the youth hunt.

Wisconsin wild turkey management zones.
Wisconsin has offered a spring turkey hunting season since 1983.
Wild turkeys are native to Wisconsin but were extirpated by unregulated hunting in the 1800s. After several unsuccessful attempts in the 20th century, a restoration effort started in 1976 took hold in southwestern Wisconsin. The project was a partnership of the DNR, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the National Wild Turkey Federation.
The work involved trapping wild birds in Missouri and releasing them in the Bad Axe watershed in southwestern Wisconsin. Subsequent trap-and-transfer work of the growing Wisconsin flock helped seed more areas of the state.
Wild turkeys are now found in all 72 counties.
The Wisconsin wild turkey population showed strong growth as the birds filled unoccupied habitat.
The spring turkey harvest reflected the population trend, with annual increases reported in all but two years from 1983 to 2008. The state record spring turkey harvest was set in 2008 with 52,880 birds registered.
Since then, the Wisconsin turkey population and spring harvests have settled in a range below the peak.
And in recent years many states, including Missouri, have witnessed substantial declines in their turkey populations.
Research into the cause or causes is underway.
But this spring at least three Midwestern states will join Wisconsin in posting increases in their turkey kills.
Illinois registered 13,703 turkeys, up 1% from 2021; Minnesota tallied 12,290 birds (up 2%); and Missouri reported a harvest of 36,252 (up 5%).
No data were available Friday from Iowa or Michigan.

[Dtrkyman]

Good to see, particularly Missouri being up 5%!

First year I didn't hunt there in a decade!  My friend who lives in the NE corner said things were looking good prior to season.


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[Shiloh]

Wait what?  I thought turkeys were going extinct because of YouTubers???  Maybe I can get off of my meds soon!!!

[Greg Massey]

Thanks for sharing, always like those increases in numbers ...

[mihunte]

Isn't Wisconsin coming off one of their lowest harvests in 2021 though?

[Turkeybutt]

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced preliminary totals show Wisconsin turkey hunters registered 37,179 birds during the 2021 spring turkey hunting season, a 17% decrease from the 44,982 birds registered in the spring 2020 season.

[Shiloh]

It would make sense to me that you would have skewed information with covid playing a roll in those numbers.  Killed the heck out of them in covid spring and there are less turkeys the following spring and less hunter hours since covid turned into the flu and went away

[Mossberg90MN]

I did look into this recently to to get somewhat of an idea of what things were looking like and to see if there's a return to normalcy. Looking at the harvest rates of Wisconsin from the past 20 years it seems like 2022 was in the average range for typical harvest for the state. Yes there was a few of those dynamite years in the past and then the Covid spring, but it seems to me that it falls somewhere in the average of harvest numbers from the past decade for the state.

It does make sense that 2021 was different. I do believe things are going back to normal. Last year I was seeing guys out there, no interference but there was trucks parked at gates occasionally. I didn't see a soul this year, mind you I didn't get out there until the last 2.5 weeks of the season but overall I do think some of the Covid pickup, has dropped down. I know a handful of guys that are predominantly deer hunters who went out for the Covid spring but since have just quit.


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[Crghss]

I've read a few states have seen lower number of turkey hunters this last year.

But could be a number reasons for that.

[Cowboy]

Missouri up 5% yet that's one of the states everyone is complaining of lack of birds for past several years? I think the reporting system is flawed.

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[Hook hanger]

Yep the system definitely got flawed as soon as they went to no check stations! Numbers of birds in Missouri are the worst they have been since the early 80s.