4 minute read
Wild Ride For Wisconsin Turkeys
Caitlyn Nalley
Caitlyn Nalley is a communications specialist in the DNR’s Office of Applied Science.
Gamebird Goes From Demise To Success Story
Wild turkeys are a big deal in Wisconsin.
This past spring alone, hunters applied for or purchased 224,630 harvest authorizations and registered 50,435 birds statewide. The wild turkey stamp required for hunting serves as a crucial funding source for the DNR, and new research seeks to monitor the population of these historic birds more effectively.
Not long ago, however, there wasn’t a single turkey in the state.
Turkeys are a popular gamebird whose name traces back to the Ottoman Empire. In the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks commonly traded African guineafowl with Europeans. Eventually, when Europeans came to the Americas, they encountered a wild bird they called “turkey” because of its similarities to the familiar guineafowl.
The arrival of European colonists brought more than just a new name for the bird. It also marked the beginning of decades of unregulated hunting and deforestation. As a result, by the late 1800s, wild turkeys were wholly eradicated from Wisconsin.
From 1887 through the 1970s, several reintroduction efforts tried but failed to restock the state’s once-thriving populations. This was most likely because the birds used in restocking were not wild but pen-reared.
Trade Is Made
It wasn’t until 1976 that the tide began to turn, following an agreement between the DNR and the Missouri Department of Conservation. At the time, each state had what the other wanted. Missouri boasted a healthy turkey population, and Wisconsin was flush with ruffed grouse.
A trade ensued, and that year, 29 wild turkeys from Missouri were released in the Bad Axe River watershed in Vernon County. The move proved to be a success. Over the next decade, 363 Missouri turkeys were released throughout southwestern Wisconsin.
When it was clear these wild turkeys were faring better than their game-farm counterparts, the DNR, with support from the National Wild Turkey Federation, began a trap-and-transfer program to relocate birds from the newly established southwestern populations to the rest of the state.
Considered an overwhelming success in Wisconsin’s wildlife management history, these repopulation efforts paved the way for the regulated spring and fall turkey hunting seasons many Wisconsinites know and love today.
Research For The Future
As the DNR conducted early research following reintroduction, one of the most critical findings involved the survival of poults, or baby turkeys. It became clear this was the main driver of population growth for wild turkeys in the state.
Fast forward to today, and this concept has helped inform a current study on turkey population monitoring methods led by DNR upland gamebird research scientist Chris Pollentier.
“We’ve identified poult survival as what is really driving population growth,” Pollentier said. “So the thought for this project was, can we use Snapshot Wisconsin to monitor that?”
Snapshot Wisconsin is a statewide network of more than 2,000 volunteer-managed trail cameras used for education and research. For this study, Pollentier and his team combine turkey detections and brood counts captured by Snapshot’s trail cameras with on-theground turkey tagging and monitoring.
The goal is to see if incorporating trail camera data will allow scientists to estimate poult-to-hen ratios more accurately and efficiently, which will inform management decisions.
It’s just one more way the DNR works to stay on top of the science in support of a healthy turkey population. The hope is to prevent declines, as have been seen recently in some other states, and to avoid a repeat of history involving these prized game birds.
“By doing this research and trying to answer some of these potential questions, I think we’re ahead of the game,” Pollentier said. “Then, if there are signs of decline, we’ll have more confidence in the data and in our ability to tackle the issue.”
Learn More
For information on turkey management in Wisconsin, visit the DNR's Turkey Management webpage. Turkey hunting in Wisconsin requires a harvest authorization, license and wild turkey stamp; deadline to apply for a 2025 spring turkey harvest authorization is Dec. 10, 2024. Check out the Turkey Hunting webpage for details.
