Outdoors: Fall turkey harvest numbers slump | Green Bay Press-Gazette

By Jim Lee • Gannett Wisconsin Media

MADISON — Wisconsin hunters harvested 10,464 turkeys during the autumn hunting period in 2008, the second-lowest fall tally in the past 10 years and a falloff of nearly 2,000 birds from 2007, according to the Department of Natural Resources

Hunter success rates fell to 13.5 percent overall, a drop from 14.9 percent in 2007 and well below the 20 percent success rates common in the 1990s.

The results reflect harsh conditions during the winter of 2007-2008 that impacted turkey survival in some areas and a lingering, cool, wet spring that led to a decline in turkey brood production, said Sharon Fandel, DNR assistant upland wildlife ecologist.

“It’s hard to pin an absolute on the decline,” she said.

Observation reports from department field personnel indicated a 12 percent decrease in the number of turkey broods spotted in the summer of 2008 and an 8 percent decline in the number of poults in each brood when compared to 2007. Click Link Below for full story!

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