Commission seeks input on turkey plan

Biologists with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are seeking comment on the revision to Arkansas’s Strategic Wild Turkey Management Plan.

The plan was last reviewed in 2012.

The draft of the plan and a public comment survey are available at www.agfc.com/ turkeyplan.

Jeremy Wood, turkey program coordinator for Game and Fish, drafted the plan with input from the agency’s turkey management team. The team is a collection of biologists and enforcement personnel.

“We began in late 2018 and have been reviewing and revising the previous plan for the last year,” Wood said. “The revised plan is built on a strong foundation from previous versions, but there are substantial changes to some sections.”

Some of the regulation changes in the last 20 years have affected the total harvest each year. Harvest today can no longer be directly compared to harvest numbers during the early 2000s, according to Game and Fish staff.

“For instance, we now have a ‘no jakes’ rule that applies to adult hunters,” Wood said. Jakes are young, male turkeys.

“During our record harvest years, jakes made up 25% or more of the overall harvest annually. Now they make up 4% or less of the overall seasonal harvest. That by itself would show a dramatic reduction in total birds checked by hunters that was caused by regulations to protect next year’s flock.”

Wood said two components of the plan, which are included in the appendices, also will be revised in the coming year.

“Sections on wild turkey population management and habitat improvement guidelines for managers are being worked on, but we anticipate this plan being more dynamic than previous versions,” Wood said. “The turkey management team will meet every two to three years to determine any new priorities based on the changing landscape and evolving science regarding wild turkeys in Arkansas.”

The plan was presented to commissioners at their February briefing. The draft will be available for public comment until March 11. After public comments are reviewed, final changes and publication of the plan will be presented to the commissioners for formal adoption.