Eighty-seven turkeys were harvested in Oglethorpe County this spring, the lowest number since the Georgia Department of Natural Resources began publishing county-specific statistics in 2016.
Georgia’s annual spring turkey hunting season began March 30 on private land and April 6 on public land. It ended on May 15.
Hunters were limited to a total of two turkeys and could only harvest one turkey per day. This spring marked the third season of the two-turkey limitation.
“The population numbers have definitely declined over the last several years,” said Phillip Nelson, a game warden who patrols Oglethorpe County and surrounding areas. “That’s why it’s become like that.”
Reproduction statistics (poults per hen) serve as the most effective way to measure the welfare of a turkey population. Turkey reproduction in Georgia averages 1.5 poults per hen.
That number is a third of what it was in the late 1990s and is below the two poults per hen threshold used to indicate a “sustainable turkey population,” the DNR states.
The DNR largely attributes faltering reproduction numbers to predation. Each year, a majority of nests and broods fall victim to predators, such as coyotes and bobcats.
Nelson said other efforts, including planting food plots in wildlife management areas and the extension of fox and bobcat hunting season, are being made by the DNR to further protect the turkey population.
“Just being able to say, ‘I actually heard turkeys gobbling today’ — that’s still a big plus for a lot of hunters because so many of them now don’t even get to hear or see turkeys,” Nelson said.
The 87 turkeys harvested in Oglethorpe County is a 20.9% decrease from the previous year and a 50.3% decrease from 2020.
Turkey hunting in the county remained “very active” this year when compared to other areas, but the number of Oglethorpe residents caught for violating DNR policies was “down compared to past years,” Nelson said.
As opposed to a handful of other states, Georgia only has a spring season for turkey hunting. Despite broad limitations, many hunters see the good in that.
“I’m a conservationist first,” said Landon Hagwood, a Watkinsville resident who hunts in Oglethorpe County. “I think most people that are actually hunters are conservationists too, so I like having limits on animals.”
For Hagwood, it's also a matter of preserving the tradition he loves for the next generation.
“I want my kids to be able to hunt turkeys in the future, too,” he said. “It’s sad to say, but the turkey population in the Southeast is dwindling pretty heavily right now.”