Photo by Bruce Ingram

By Tim Herald

Kentucky spring turkey hunters accounted for another excellent harvest in the spring of 2003, when a total of 28,233 birds were taken. This coming season looks promising as well for gobbler hunters all over the Commonwealth. Last year's harvest was slightly lower than the record harvest of 2002 (28,733), but Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources turkey project coordinator Jim Lane said there is no reason for concern.

"Last year's harvest was not statistically different from that of 2002. I did not consider the harvest to be down. The slight decrease in harvest seen in 2003 could have been due to a variety of factors (weather, slight decrease in the percentage of jakes harvested, increased pressure put on birds by more hunters, etc.). I do not anticipate a record harvest every year, so a decrease is bound to happen."

Turkey hunter numbers were up substantially in 2003. Approximately 80,000 sportsmen and women took to the woods last spring opposed to 70,000 in 2002. The success rate for Kentucky hunters dropped from an incredible 41 percent in 2002 to around 36 percent in 2003, but the 2003 success rate still ranks well above the national average. The special youth turkey hunt held the first weekend in April was a great success. After adding a day to the season over past youth hunts, 1,402 turkeys were bagged despite rainy conditions in much of the state.

"The hatch seems to be average to slightly below average. We had a very wet spring. My assessment to date comes from personal observations in central Kentucky and from communication with biologists, landowners and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) members around the state. After 10 years of above-average hatches, we are overdue for a sub par year."

Lane predicts another great year for Kentucky turkey hunters in 2004. "Hunters should have another excellent year. With three years of good to excellent hatches in a row (prior to 2003), there should be plenty of gobblers in the woods when spring season roles around."

Two-year-old gobblers typically are the most vocal as a group and account for a very high percentage of harvest. With the high hatch of 2002, there should be plenty of loud-mouthed 2-year-olds roaming the woods and fields this spring.

The statewide turkey population continues to grow. The KDFWR estimates the population to be over 210,000 birds, up from 203,000 in 2003. Lane said we have between 210,000 and 250,000 birds. The population models used for turkeys are fairly accurate, but give a wide range of numbers.

Any way you look at it, there are a lot of turkeys within the Commonwealth's boundaries. The KDFWR expects the state's turkey population to max out at about 300,000 birds within the next few years. The eastern third of the state will see the bulk of the population increase because of vast forestlands and available habitat that has not reached its carrying capacity for turkeys as much of western Kentucky already has.

One major point that Lane wanted to stress to turkey hunters is safety. "We had three reported hunting accidents (one fatal) during the turkey season last spring. All of these accidents were avoidable. All hunters should positively identify their target before pulling the trigger and should not stalk turkeys. Three accidents are three too many."

Kentucky's regulations state that only bearded turkeys may be taken in the spring, so hunters not only should make sure they are shooting at a turkey, they also should make sure that they are shooting at a bearded turkey. If this positive target identification is achieved, many turkey-hunting accidents will be avoided.

Three of Kentucky's five regions (Green River, Bluegrass, Northeast) saw harvest decreases last spring, while the Southeast and Purchase regions enjoyed slight harvest increases. Twenty-nine counties recorded harvests of 300 birds or more compared to 33 in 2002, and 13 counties tallied over 400 birds.

West-central Kentucky's diverse habitat is the number one reason that the region boasts a very high turkey harvest. Farming is quite prevalent in the region and besides crop fields, there are good tracts of hardwoods and swamps that provide quality food sources for the birds year 'round. This area was also one of the first to re-establish wild turkeys, and most of the region has reached its population carrying capacity.

Though the Peabody Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located in Ohio and Muhlenberg counties, is the region's largest public hunting area (63,000 acres), Barren River Lake WMA is also a good bet for turkey hunters. This 14,340-acre WMA located in Barren and Allen counties is made up of classic turkey habitat with rolling hills, plenty of hardwoods and open bottoms that are managed for wildlife.

A point of interest is that Barren River Lake WMA has primitive weapons areas for hunters seeking the challenge of bagging a bird with bow or muzzleloader (check specific regulations), and often these areas receive less hunting pressure than others. For more information about the WMA, call (270) 646-5167.

Though the Bluegrass Region is best known for its thoroughbred horse farms, it has lots of quality turkey habitat as well. Many of the counties surrounding the urban areas of Louisville and Lexington contain large amounts of agricultural land, and the whole region is interspersed with mixed hardwood forests.

Owen, Hardin, Pendleton, Nelson, Shelby and Grant counties have extremely high turkey densities per square mile of forested land, and according to KDFWR, these counties rank very high on the statewide turkey density list.

Even though most of the Bluegrass Region has superb turkey hunting, the three counties that recorded the lowest harvests in Kentucky (Fayette 10, Jessamine 26, and Woodford 30) lie within its boundaries. The Kentucky River corridor is about the only place in these counties that hunters will find viable populations of turkeys in these horse-farm dominated counties.

Some of the best public hunting in the Bluegrass Region takes place on the huge Fort Knox Military reservation (110,000 acres). Fort Knox lies in Bullitt, Hardin and Meade counties, and about 60 percent of the total land area is open to hunting.

The terrain on Fort Knox varies substantially from rolling to steep hills, flat river bottoms and narrow hollows and cliffs. There is a substantial amount of hardwood forests interspersed with cedars and some cleared areas. All hunting on Fort Knox is under special regulations administered by Hunt Control Headquarters. Hunters must have special permit, check in and out at Hunt Control Headquarters, etc. Call (502) 624-2712 for detailed instructions on how to obtain a permit and for information on all special hunting regulations.