Wild Turkey Resource Use on Food-subsidized Landscapes and the Relationship between Nesting Chronology and Gobbling Activity

Across the Southeast, heightened concern exists that wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) productivity and populations are declining, but the underlying reasons are largely unknown. Further concern stems from declining turkey harvest in several southeastern states. I answered questions germane to formulating turkey harvest regulations, specifically related to supplemental feeding and the correlation of gobbling timing with nest incubation and the timing of the hunting season. I examined turkey resource use in the Red Hills region of northern Florida and southern Georgia, where supplemental feeding for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is common. This supplements food availability and may alter resource use of both target and non-target species. A potential shift in individual behavior on non-target species may have negative consequences and warrants exploration to understand potential impacts on population dynamics of turkeys. Using hierarchical conditional logistic regression in a Bayesian framework, I evaluated turkey resource use at two spatial scales: landscape and within home range. Fields had the greatest probability of use at both scales. Drains also were important at the landscape scale but less important within home ranges. Areas near feed lines, drains, and roads, exhibited greater probabilities of use. Turkeys selected specifically for large drains. Responsible management decisions must balance the desires of stakeholders while being biologically sound for the target species. To gain an understanding of the relationship between nesting and gobbling activity I used linear mixed effects modeling to evaluate this relationship on 3 sites across Florida. A weak relationship existed between gobbling activity and the proportion of hens incubating nests. Additionally, I evaluated the correlation of the timing of Florida’s turkey hunting season with peaks of gobbling activity and proportion of hens incubating nests using incremental response modeling. Florida’s turkey hunting season may better correlate with the egg-laying stage if the hunting season was shifted one week later, especially for Tall Timbers and Dixie Plantation. Gobbling activity and incubation would be more closely correlated with the hunting season if the hunting season was shifted three weeks later. More regionally-based management zones would allow the hunting season to be timed more closely with turkey gobbling and nesting activity.