Improved turkey hunting expected this spring
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pennsylvania is consistently ranked one of the top turkey hunting states. This year’s spring gobbler hunters will participate in the program’s 50th year.
“Pennsylvania’s turkey population will provide plenty of excitement for those who choose to head afield for the Commonwealth’s golden anniversary spring turkey hunt,” said Mary Jo Casalena, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s wild turkey biologist, in a statement. “Make no mistake, Pennsylvania remains one of America’s premier turkey-hunting destinations.”
The state’s annual youth spring turkey hunt for junior hunters and mentored youth is April 21. Junior hunters and mentored youth can also hunt in the statewide spring gobbler season, which opens April 28.
Last year the birds were beginning to recover from a challenging year. Casalena said frequent spring and summer rains in 2017 hampered poult survival in some areas. A light fall harvest estimated at around 12,000 left more fall foods, and fewer hunters helped to boost expectations for the spring hunt. A huge 2017 acorn crop helped turkeys get through extreme cold and deep snows from late December through early February.
“Last spring, hunters took 38,101 birds in the state’s turkey seasons. I expect a similar harvest this spring, somewhere between 36,000 and 38,000 turkeys,” Casalena said. “The lighter fall harvests, mild winters and increased acorn crops over the past two years, however, could support increased reproduction this spring … but our spring weather will have to cooperate.”
Pennsylvania’s turkey population peaked at about 280,000 in 2001, said Casalena, with substantial fluctuations every three to four years. The egg-production cycle is heavily influenced by habitat quality, weather, predation and harvest. THIS WEEK: I plan to participate in this year’s spring gobbler hunt. • Yes • No • LAST WEEK: More stocked fishing waters should be placed in urban areas. Overall, she said, the population is slowly increasing from a bottoming out at about 193,000 in 2010, with increases in the one- and two-year age classes.
The split hunting season will continue in 2018. In the one-day youth hunt, the hunting stops at noon. During the first two weeks of the general spring gobbler season, April 28 through May 12, hunting hours begin one-half hour before sunrise and end at noon. in an effort to minimize disturbing nesting hens. Hunters must be out of the woods by 1 p.m. May 14-31 hunting starts one-half hour before sunrise and ends a half hour after sunset. The all-day part of the season allows more opportunity when hunting pressure is lower and nesting hens are less likely to abandon nests, according to PGC.
Licensing enables all hunters to have one chance at taking a turkey. It’s a gamble to order a second tag, however, because the purchasing deadline falls before the start of the season.
The Game Commission reported that 20,529 second gobbler tags were purchased last year; 5,049 were filled.
“So, hunters who want to ensure their best opportunity to hunt as many days of the season as they can need to buy the license soon,” Casalena said. “There’s promise for a great season.”
Classic fundraising
Since 2010 the Yellow Creek Fly Fishing Classic has raised some $400,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Western Pennsylvania Chapter.
The Yellow Creek Trout Club and sponsor Range Resources will hold this year’s event at the creekside club in Brush Valley, Indiana County April 21-22.
Get details at 412-321-4422, http://yellowcreekflyfishing.eventscff.org.
Arway watch
A planned full House vote on Senate Bill 935, which would effectively term-limit Fish and Boat director John Arway out of office, was abruptly dropped last week..
The vote had not been rescheduled by Friday.