Photo by Phillip Jordan

It’s no secret that the 21-year run of consecutive turkey harvest records in Tennessee ended when the numbers were tallied after the 2005 hunts. But with so many strong years of hunting following a virtual turkey rebirth in the Volunteer State, and with the turkey populations now covering almost every part of the state with suitable habitat, it’s not surprising that the harvest would eventually level out. The real question on hunters’ minds entering the 2006 season was: Will the great hunting continue, perhaps with some modest growth, or are we facing a multi-year decline in the harvest?

Turkey flocks are still growing in some areas, and in others they appear to be maintaining at reasonably high levels, so the question is: Did last season’s harvest rebound?

The answer is a resounding yes and in a big way. What you’ll find on the next few pages is not only a look at last year’s harvest figures and where the top turkey-producing counties and wildlife management areas (WMAs) lie, but also a look at what biologists and hunters expect to find in 2007. Put it all together and you have a bona fide turkey trip planner.

BACK ON TRACK
The record turkey harvest in 2004 was 34,000 turkeys killed; that year was followed in 2005 by a harvest of just over 33,000 birds.

In 2006, the spring harvest, including WMA hunts, was a new record, and a substantial one at that: Tennessee hunters last spring tagged a total of 36,052 birds.

When you break the new record down, there were 34,353 turkeys harvested statewide by hunters and an additional 1,699 killed on the spring WMA hunts. Those are both strong comeback numbers when compared with the two prior spring seasons. Again in the past record year of 2004, hunters took 32,461 statewide with 1,539 on the WMA hunts. During 2005, we harvested 31,762 turkeys statewide bolstered by another 1,297 WMA birds. The 2006 rebound showed increases both statewide and on WMA hunts.

The final total for 2006 should fall somewhere just over 38,000 birds when the fall hunt totals are added into the mix. Tennessee hunters take nearly 2,000 birds on the additional fall quota gun and archery hunts each year. The totals from the fall hunts were not calculated when this forecast was put together.

THE WORD FROM WITHIN THE TWRA
We have a new turkey coordinator at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). Gray Anderson has been on the job less than a year and took over the reins from Randy Huskey, who took a new position within the agency and was also filling some big shoes with the retirement of Jack Murrey. Based on the spring hunt we experienced across the Volunteer State in 2006, Anderson believes the 2007 season will be another great year for hunters.

Another positive sign: Anderson said the initial look at the poult count shows that we are about on average with prior years -- 2.57 poults/hen, 6.0 poults/brood, and late data was still coming in from counts.