K. D. Godwin

Numbers of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) and turkey hunters have increased greatly in the Southeast during the last 3 decades, and administrators and managers should be aware of hunter attitudes toward potential hunting regulation changes. Our objective was to determine attitudes of turkey hunters regarding regulations on use of hunter orange, baiting, and a fall either-sex harvest. We conducted a mail survey of turkey hunters (N = 4,026) who hunted turkeys in Mississippi during the 1994 spring gobblers-only season. An initial mailout was followed by a second request, and a total...

Wildlife managers on public hunting areas are accountable for hunter success rates, annual harvest, and wildlife population size. Understanding the effect of changes in numbers of wild turkey gobblers (Meleagris gallopavo) on harvest characteristics is needed. Population size and harvest characteristics were studied for 9 years on a 14,140-ha public hunting area in central Mississippi. Male wild turkey population size averaged 82, hunter effort averaged 455 hunter-days per season, and an average of 35 male turkeys was harvested per season. Hunter success rates averaged 7.7%, 2.1%, and 5.6...