Project will assess wild turkey recruitment, reproduction in state
NECEDAH – Eight wild turkeys foraged along a two-track through the mixed deciduous forest in central Wisconsin.
As they had for most of the mild winter, the birds had easy access to acorns and other mast in the leaf litter.
But on this morning, March 3, they also came across a smattering of cracked corn on the lane.
It wasn’t the only unusual thing in the woodlot. A researcher and volunteer watched the scene from a nearby tent blind and a cannon net was concealed along the path.
When the birds stopped to feed on the corn, the researcher pushed a switch, a bang echoed through the woods and the net was cast up and over the turkeys.
The men ran out and placed blankets over the flapping birds. The turkeys calmed under the weight and darkness of the thick fabric. In the next minutes, the birds were measured, weighed, tagged and released.
It was the start of a unique chapter in the turkeys’ wild lives.
And the beginning of a new research project in Wisconsin, too.
The work is part of a Department of Natural Resources study of wild turkey reproduction and recruitment – and how those factors are estimated – in the Badger State.
Its formal title is “Detectability and Movement of Wild Turkeys In Wisconsin: Implications for Turkey Recruitment Metrics.”
The DNR’s Chris Pollentier, upland game bird research scientist, and Jennifer Stenglein, quantitative wildlife research scientist, are leading the project.
Over the next two and possibly three years, department staff will closely monitor turkeys to assess how many poults are born and survive in three study areas. Survival – or recruitment – is key to the population of all species.
But over the last decade it has become the focus of heightened scrutiny in wild turkeys across the U.S.
Wildlife officials in many states, including Missouri, South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama, have reported substantial declines in their wild turkey populations.
In Missouri the turkey population plummeted by more than a third in less than 20 years, according to a National Wild Turkey Federation report, including a decline of nearly 50% in northern Missouri from 2004 through the late 2010s.
The NWTF based its comparisons on harvest rates, which it says are closely correlated to population numbers. What could be causing the declines? A five-year Missouri study that wrapped up in 2019 concluded the rate of poult survival was far less than normal.
However, the primary cause of poorer recruitment was not identified. The Missouri Department of Conservation and the University of Missouri in 2020 embarked on another multi-year research project that hopes to identify the reasons young turkeys are not surviving and produce strategies to reverse the decline.
Predators are known to eat turkey eggs and even kill nesting hens, as well as prey on poults. But predators have been around throughout the modern era of wild turkey management. And even if predator numbers have increased in recent years, they don’t present a new source of mortality to the equation.
Among other factors being considered in wild turkey research across the U.S. are timing and intensity of spring hunting seasons, impact of pesticides and other chemicals on egg development and health of poults, and relative abundance of insects and other food sources critical for poult development.
To be clear, the wild turkey population in Wisconsin is in much better shape than elsewhere. Following the 1976 reintroduction of the species to the Badger State, an effort of the DNR and the National Wild Turkey Federation, the birds are now found in all 72 counties.
Pollentier said although the state’s turkey population is down from its peak in the mid-2000s (an expected drop from a post-reintroduction surge) it remains robust and at a sustainable level.
“On a statewide basis, turkey populations are pretty stable in Wisconsin,” Pollentier said. “We certainly have annual ups and downs in the population. I don’t get too concerned with these annual fluctuations. I’m more concerned with evaluating our turkey population over longer time periods to assess longterm trends.”
Pollentier said using the spring hunting harvest as a gauge, the Wisconsin wild turkey population seems to be holding fairly steady since the mid- to late-2000s.
But with wild turkey hunting second only to white-tailed deer hunting in popularity in Wisconsin and most of the U.S., there is great interest in increasing understanding of factors affecting turkey recruitment and, if possible, improving methods of estimating turkey numbers.
The new Wisconsin work kicked off this year. It is being funded by $150,000 from the Wisconsin turkey stamp program (paid by turkey hunters), $25,000 from the Wisconsin chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation and $17,000 from the headquarters of the National Wild Turkey Federation in Edgefield, South Carolina.
The work will involve a combination of GPS/VHS tracking of hens, visual observations by researchers and volunteers and trail cam data collected as part of the Snapshot Wisconsin project.
The trapping and tagging procedures will occur in three distinct study sites: a mixed agricultural and woodlot habitat in Iowa County, Sandhill Wildlife Area near Necedah in Wood County and the northern forest near Clam Lake in Sawyer County.
Pollentier and DNR colleagues have a goal of fitting 30 hens with GPS/VHS transmitters at Sandhill and 15 each at the Iowa and Sawyer county sites.
In addition the hens and any toms and jakes (1-year-old male turkeys) captured during netting will be marked with colored and numbered wing tags as well as leg bands.
The wing tags will allow for the birds to be identified from a distance in real time and in trail cam images.
The DNR staff will use the trail camera data to estimate the ratios of poults to hens, assess brood size and determine the proportion of hens that have successfully raised young.
By using different methods to monitor turkeys, researchers aim to create more exact estimates of the number of turkeys successfully hatching in each management zone. It’s possible, Pollentier said, in future years the Snapshot Wisconsin system of trail cams will be the primary basis for tracking the state’s wild turkey population.
“Research throughout the range of wild turkeys, including here in Wisconsin, has shown that annual production is an important driver that affects abundance and can have a profound impact on wild turkey population growth,” Pollentier said. “Thus, the metric I often focus on is the poult-to-hen ratio (similar to fawn-to-doe ratios for deer). To sustain turkey populations, we believe poult-to-hen ratios should average about 2.5 poults per hen.”
Trapping turkeys this winter has been more challenging than normal due to the lack of snow, Pollentier said. He hopes to have all the trapping and tagging completed by Friday.
“We’ll definitely wrap up our trapping and tagging before the hens start nesting,” Pollentier said. “That could start earlier than normal this year, so we’re going to be done soon.”
On March 3 the tagging process met with good success.
A group that included Pollentier, wildlife biologist Darren Ladwig and wildlife technician Jason Erichsen as well as Wisconsin NWTF volunteers Brian Dalsing and Tyler Hasheider converged on the netting site and processed the eight birds.
Four were hens, four were jakes. Each bird received an aluminum leg band, their upper bill and middle toe was measured and they were weighed. The beard and spurs are also measured on male turkeys.
After the wing tags (on all) and transmitters (on hens) were attached, the birds were set free. All eight flapped and ran off in good shape after the interruption in their normal day.
And all are wearing some new bling that will help researchers assess the game bird’s status and possibly shape the future of turkey management tools in the Badger State and beyond.