Think spring gobbler season
Thinking about your prospects for the Pennsylvania spring gobbler season April 28-May 31? Here’s how the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Mary Jo Casalena, a wild turkey biologist, forecasts the wildlife management units in the Northwest Region:
WMU 1B (Erie County, most of Crawford County, parts of Warren and Venango counties): Expect harvest to be below average, which is similar to last year, but harvests will remain above the statewide average. Due to below-average summer reproduction during the last three summers the proportion of adult gobblers in the population will be lower than normal, but the turkey population is still above the statewide average so hunting opportunities abound, especially for hunters who scout.
WMU 1A (Mercer and Lawrence counties and parts of Crawford, Venango, Butler and Beaver counties): The Game Commission shortened the fall season to two weeks in 2005 to help increase the population in this WMU that began declining in 2002, and spring harvests have increased since 2008. Spring harvests in this unit have consistently been well above the statewide average. Expect the 2012 spring harvest to be similar to, or slightly lower than last year due to the below-average reproduction since 2007, which provided a smaller proportion than normal of older gobblers. The key here is to scout prior to the season.
WMU 2F (Allegheny National Forest region): Thanks to above-average reproduction from 2008-2010 and a two-week fall season from 2007-2009, older gobblers abound. Even though reproduction in 2011 was below average, expect spring harvest to be similar to last year. Harvest density (harvest per square mile) continues to be below the statewide average. However, there are ample public hunting lands for hunters to scout in this WMU.
WMU 2D (Parts of Venango, Clarion and five other counties): Expect another excellent spring harvest in 2012, which again will be above the statewide average. Spring reproduction has been above average for the past three years, providing a high proportion of juveniles (jakes) and the more sought after and highly vocal two- and three-year-old gobblers. The fall turkey season here was shortened in 2009 to help the population increase to its previous high levels, and the strategy appears to be working.
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