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Chronology of Wild Turkey Nesting, Gobbling, and Hunting in Mississippi

1997; Wiley; Volume: 61; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/3802192

1937-2817

Darren A. Miller, George A. Hurst, Bruce D. Leopold,

Livestock and Poultry Management

Setting dates of spring hunting for wild turkey (Meleagris gallopaco) gobblers often is based on the belief that 2 peaks of gobbling occur, with the second peak occurring during peak incubation by hens. The second peak offers hunters opportunities to hear gobblers while protecting hens from inadvertent kill. We examined chronology of gobbling, hunter numbers, harvest and nesting within the framework of a long, liberal spring gobbler-only hunting season in central Mississippi during 1984-95. Distribution of gobbler harvest versus initiation of incubation, and hunter numbers versus incubation initiation differed in all years; distribution of gobblers heard versus initiation of incubation differed during all years except 1995. Distributional relations among hunter numbers, harvest, and gobblers heard varied among years. Gobblers heard versus harvest, and hunter numbers versus harvest were distributed differently during some years. Only 1 gobbling peak occurred. This lone peak of gobbling was not associated with peak of incubation. Gobbling activity may have been influenced by break up of winter flocks, initiation of egg-laying, and mating opportunities.