Once upon a time, long ago in a state called New York, the month of May meant fishing ... for trout, walleye, pike, pickerel and assorted panfish species. Then the appearance of a creature that walked on two legs and uttered a booming sound that sent chills down the spine of those hearing it began appearing in the the once quiet New York woodlands. As history attests, the New York springtime season would never be quite the same.
With the re-establishment of the wild turkey in the state came a level of excitement arguably only matched when deer began reappearing in increasingly abundant numbers in regions outside the Adirondacks during the 1920s and '30s. Once native to the state, the wild turkey became exerbated by the late nineteenth century. The nearest remaining birds existed in Pennsylvania's northwestern region, and sightings of turkeys in the southwestern part of New York in the early twentieth century indicated they were gradually expanding as the habitat there improved. However, it wasn't until the late 1940s that a sufficient resident density of them spurred wildlife biologists to consider attempting a re-introducion program on a large scale. Initial attempts to stock pen-reared birds failed, but then a trap-and-transfer program of wild turkeys proved very successful. By the late 1960s and early '70s wild turkeys were popping up almost all over the state. And the rest, as they say, is history. Today, May gobbler hunting rivals May fishing as the choice of many sportsmen and women.
The popularity of May gobbler hunting owes much to the challenges involved as well as the wary instincts and qualities of the prey. Despite their vocal nature during the spring mating season, adult gobblers seldom let their guard down. With their superior hearing and eyesight, coupled with often unpredictable behavior patterns, no hunter can be totally optimistic that a gobbler responding to calls will end up in the freezer. Just when the hunter begins to think it's a done deal, approaching gobblers often do the unexpected. Couple this with the excitement of hearing the thunderous gobbling of an excited tom, and even failed hunts act as an addictive agent that keeps drawing hunters back, morning after morning.
Non-hunters must keep in mind that all turkey hunting in New York (and many other states) mandates hunting with a shotgun and small shot (no larger than #2 or smaller than #8 pellets) or with bow and arrow, which means the turkey must be called to within close range. It's there that the failures often occur. Maybe the gobbler circles and comes in from behind the hunter or a totally different direction than anticipated. Or in his excitement, the hunter makes a movement and the sharp-eyed tom spots it immediately. Perhaps the hunter tries to shoot too quickly and misses or when the gobbler is just a tad beyond effective shooting range. Any and all these can contribute to failed hunts.
As increasingly more hunters have joined the springtime gobbler hunting legions, another factor has entered the list of things that can go wrong. Since a gobbling tom can be heard for quite a long distance, more than one hunter may be involved without knowing the other(s) are also after the same bird. This can mean incoming toms may change their approach direction, depending on the locations of the various hunters calling to it. It can also result in one hunter trying to move to get in front of the tom and often spooking it in the process. This is often called “short-stopping” and has become a major complaint of hunters in popular turkey hunting areas. It can also be dangerous since nearby hunters are on the alert to spot the gobbler, and seeing movement in that direction has resulted in more than one moving hunter getting peppered with shot by an overly excited and careless stand hunter.
Estimated statewide wild turkey harvest during spring 2007 was 35,625 birds, close to the 10-year average (about 36,000). This is an increase of 28 percent from spring 2006, and is the highest harvest since spring 2003. The spring 2007 season is the second straight year we have seen an increase in the statewide harvest after four years of declines (2001-05). The fluctuations are primarily the result of poor spring nesting and poulting weather condition.
In January 2006, DEC began a four-year wild turkey banding project designed to estimate harvest and survival rates of gobblers in New York. This study is being done in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, researchers from Penn State University, and the National Wild Turkey Federation. During the first two winters of the study, DEC staff and volunteers banded 679 gobblers and 753 hens in 43 counties and 96 towns in DEC Regions 3 through 9. Since that time 200 gobbler bands have been returned by hunters (about 30 percent). Only 21 hen bands (about 3 percent) have been returned, 11 of which were hunter-killed birds. During winter 2008, DEC staff and volunteers banded another 352 gobblers and 303 hens in 31 counties and 60 towns.
