Baltimore Outdoor Recreation Examiner
Andrew Aughenbaugh
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reported this week that 2,847 wild turkeys were harvested during the 2010 spring season. This spring’s harvest was down only 2 percent from last year’s total of 2,910.
Talk among Maryland turkey hunters, before the spring season, was filled with concern of a possible winter kill from the deep snows of last winter. As the season came to a close, these fears turned out unfounded based on the harvest results.
“Many hunters were concerned that the exceptionally cold temperatures and deep snows this past winter might have harmed the turkey population,” stated Bob Long, DNR’s Upland Game Bird Biologist. “Based on the harvest numbers, the impacts were minor, even in western Maryland where snowfall amounts were very high.”
The 2010 numbers are similar to the 10-year average of 2,927, showing that Maryland’s turkey population remains healthy despite the extended inclement weather this past winter. Only 17 percent of the harvest was comprised of young gobblers, called jakes. This is well below average and supports DNR survey results that documented low reproductive success throughout most of the state last summer. Depending on the reproductive success of this spring, hunters could possibly see another slight decline in the turkey population during next hunting season.
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