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How do I get wild turkeys released on my property?
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has trapped and released over 3,800 wild turkeys since the restoration program began in 1962. Although restoration is largely complete, the department continues to evaluate requests for restocking. Requests for restocking are evaluated on a case by case basis. The following criteria are some of the factors considered when biologists decide whether to approve a release request.
Presence or absence of wild turkeys on the site
Presence of turkeys on the site usually indicates that restocking is not necessary.
Distance from presently occupied turkey range to the site under consideration
Sites with occupied habitat within 10 miles of the site are usually not approved unless there is a physical barrier or other unusual circumstances that inhibit wild turkey movement.
Amount of available habitat unoccupied by wild turkeys
The amount of habitat needed to support a newly released population varies, but a minimum of 4,000 acres of good habitat is a commonly used guideline.
Potential for expansion
Potential for the new population to expand beyond the release site is desired.
If you would like to have your property considered for a release, fill out an application for wild turkey restocking. As part of the application you will be asked to provide maps and information about the habitat. Applications are available on this website or from any Wildlife Division regional office.
Last year I saw quite a few wild turkeys on my property, this year I?ve seen very few, what happened?
There are a number of things that can influence wild turkey use of a particular piece of property. First of all, it is important to understand that wild turkeys use a lot of habitat. During fall and winter, wild turkeys may have home ranges of up to 2,000 acres. Incubating hens and hens with broods, use much smaller areas during the spring and summer. Because wild turkeys readily travel and use so much habitat, they have a lot of choices available to them. For instance, last year they may have found your 80 acres to their liking, but this year your neighbor down the road may have something more inviting. Mast availability during the fall/winter and quality of brood or nesting habitat during the spring and summer are some of the factors that influence habitat selection. The flocking behavior of wild turkeys also influences perceptions of abundance. If all the birds in an area are gathered into a few large flocks, your chances of an encounter are lessened. Turkey populations can also fluctuate from year to year depending on annual production. In years of poor production, there will be fewer birds, so your chances of an encounter with a wild turkey are decreased. Isolation and/or fragmentation of your property as a result of intensive forest management practices (clear-cutting) may also precipitate the sudden movement of birds to more suitable habitat areas. Another more subtle process is the gradual loss of habitat quality to urbanization and other intensive land-use practices. Residential development and intensive forest management practices have had a particularly corrosive effect on habitat quality in the Florida Parishes.
Although wild turkeys can adapt to a variety of habitats, they still have fairly specific habitat requirements. They will never be as abundant and widespread as more common species such as white-tailed deer. Small landowners should expect to see seasonal and yearly differences in wild turkey abundance and use of their property.
Are fire ants and predators responsible for the deline in bobwhite quail populations?
There are many theories to explain the decline in bobwhite populations. Fire ants and predators are the most commonly heard explanations. While there may be an element of truth in both of these explanations, evidence points to a much broader and more serious problem. An important clue lies in the population trends of other birds that use similar habitat as bobwhites. Many of these species of birds are exhibiting long-term downward population trends that are very similar to bobwhites. It is important to note that many of these declining species are not ground nesters like bobwhites, and therefore are less subject to predation by fire ants and other nest predators.
The common link among all these declining species is their need for grassland or shrubby habitat that contains a diversity of grasses, herbaceous "weeds" and wildflowers. This type of habitat was once found throughout Louisiana in pine forests, agricultural areas, and pasture/grazing land. While we have an abundance of these land-use types, a close look at the habitat within each of these types reveals that significant changes have occurred. Clean farming practices, lack of prescribed burning in forestland, and use of sod forming grasses in pastures have degraded most of our bobwhite habitat. Most biologists have concluded that these habitat changes are the primary reason populations of bobwhites and other grassland birds are declining.
Numerous examples demonstrate that in good habitat, quail can thrive in the presence of fire ants and predators. There are also instances where predators may suppress a local bobwhite population. However, predators and fire ants are not responsible for the large-scale decline in bobwhite quail populations that has occurred throughout the United States.
If I release some pen-reared quail, will they help restore the quail population?
Pen-reared quail usually have very low survival rates, and thus are not an effective way to restore quail populations. As part of a research project conducted on Sandy Hollow WMA in Tangipahoa Parish, 30 pen-reared female bobwhites were radio-tagged and released in good habitat. Over 50% of the birds died within 3 days of release, and 96% were dead within 30 days. In Virginia, the average survival rate of pen-reared and F-1 (one generation removed from the wild) bobwhites was less than 6 days, and all were dead within 41 days. Even wild bobwhites have mortality rates of over 75% per year. It is unrealistic to expect that birds raised in captivity would have a better chance of survival than wild birds. There are some techniques that hunting preserves use to improve survival of released birds. These may increase the survival of released birds through the hunting season, but do not appear to have a significant impact on the breeding population of bobwhites. Improving habitat is the only way to effectively increase bobwhite populations.
Note: Louisiana law and Wildlife and Fisheries regulations prohibit release of bobwhite quail into the wild except on licensed hunting preserves or under a dog-training permit.
Is it legal to mow a sunflower or millet field and hunt doves over it?
It is legal to manipulate a mature agricultural crop or native vegetation and then hunt doves over it, provided that no additional seed or other attractant has been added to the field. A mature crop may be mowed, burned, disked, or grazed prior to dove hunting. If however, any seed or other attractant is added to the field, that field would be considered baited and hunting doves over it (or in the vicinity of it) would be illegal. The rules regarding hunting doves over freshly planted fields are more complex, so hunters should check with their local state or federal wildlife agent regarding hunting over freshly planted fields.
Note: The baiting regulations for waterfowl are different, so do not apply this answer to waterfowl hunting.
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