Almost 36,000 gobblers were harvested by Peach State hunters during the 2006 season. Photo courtesy of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Spring's in the air, the dogwoods are blooming and hunters' minds are turning to turkey hunting. And this year's season, report biologists with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Resources Divisions, is shaping up to be one to remember.

According to senior WRD wildlife biologist Chris Baumann, the current turkey population is estimated at 350,000 birds. The turkey population has remained fairly stable over the past few years, and Baumann anticipates at least an average hunting season for 2007

"In 2005 our harvest estimates reflected the fact that a lot of bad weather occurred on the weekends, which was when most of our hunters could get out and hunt," he pointed out. "In 2006, the weather cooperated, and our hunters had much better success. If the weather cooperates this year, hunters should continue to have good success rates."

Statewide harvest estimates from the 2006 season were right on the five-year average for birds harvested per hunter. An estimated 56,939 hunters bagged 35,879 turkeys -- 0.63 birds per hunter. The 2006 bird per hunter harvest was a 12.5 percent increase over 2005.

Georgia turkey hunting has come a long way in the past 100 years. As recently as 1973, fewer than 17,000 wild turkeys roamed our woods and fields. Until the 1900s, wild turkeys had abounded in the Peach State; then, habitat changes, along with subsistence and market hunting, took their toll on the wild birds, and by midcentury wild turkeys were essentially gone from Georgia's landscape. A few small populations existed in remote mountain areas and river swamps, and a few additional birds could be found in plantation country, but it was a rare occurrence to see a wild turkey in Georgia.

In the 1950s, the state began releasing pen-reared birds in hopes of restoring the turkey population -- and it was a total flop. Like quail and other pen-raised birds, these animals had neither the skills nor the instincts necessary to survive in the wild. The pen-reared turkeys were quickly devoured by predators, or just out-and-out starved to death.

The DNR introduced a serious stocking program in 1973. At this point, most areas of the state still retained appropriate turkey habitat, so wildlife managers began trapping turkeys from the Piedmont region and relocating them to other areas. From 1973 until 1996, when, deemed a success, the stocking program was wrapped up, more than 4,800 birds were relocated to more than 400 locations around the state. Today, wild turkeys are well established in the Peach State and can be found in all 159 Georgia counties -- good news for turkey hunters!

With turkey populations well established, wildlife management efforts now focus on maintaining and improving habitat, primarily at the state's wildlife management areas. The WRD employs a myriad of management activities to enhance turkey habitat, including planting wildlife openings throughout the WMA system. The department also manages native vegetation and weeds to produce insects as forage for the turkeys, improves timber stands that provide essential turkey habitat, and protects hardwood bottoms that produce mast-crop forage.

A critical component of wild turkey management is prescribed burning. This management technique opens up the understory and produces insects and nesting habitat for turkeys in all of their life stages from poult to adult.