UPPER COASTAL PLAIN
In this region several WMAs exhibited somewhat skewed hunter success rates based on very few hunters utilizing the areas, but having at least some success. Ignoring those, Let’s focus on the tracts that had plenty of participation. The top WMA in the Upper Coastal Plain was 8,100-acre Di-Lane WMA with an excellent hunter success ratio of 24.7 percent. Following Di-Lane was Yuchi WMA at 7,800 acres with 14.9 success ratio, and in third was Horse Creek WMA. This latter area covers 8,077 acres and hunters enjoyed an 11.2 percent success rate.

Overall, WMAs in this region posted a 9.0 percent hunter success ratio.

LOWER COASTAL PLAIN
Finishing up this look at the best public hunting tracts of the 2007 season, Dixon Memorial WMA’s 36,134 acres produced a 18.9 percent success rate. The 5,616 acres of Griffin Ridge WMA placed next at 13.6 percent hunter success, and the 9,401 acres of the King Tract WMA produced a 12.1 percent figure for third.

Overall, WMAs in the Lower Coastal Plain produced a hunter success ratio of 8.0 percent.

Although only a select few WMAs have been highlighted for their quality hunting, there are many other WMAs that offer an excellent chance of harvesting a gobbler. The WMA system statewide had an average hunter success ratio of 6.4 percent in 2007.

THE FUTURE?
Now that we have had a look at the past, what about where we are headed in the coming years? Chris Baumann had some thoughts on that topic.

“It will be up to land managers and owners as to where the turkey population goes from here,” Baumann emphasized. “The continued practice of intensive forestry will not have positive impacts on wild turkeys in Georgia.”

Specifically, more conversion of hardwoods to pines, pine forestry practices with little thinning and burning and opening management, together with the housing development boom throughout the state are problems.

“That’s the bad news,” Baumann resumed. “The good news is several Farm Bill and other programs that are working toward better management of forests by cost sharing to implement prescribed burning and thinning to make the areas much more wildlife friendly. Similar programs that work with agricultural areas to restore early successional habitat also benefit wild turkeys. As always, landowners can contact WRD biologists for assistance with meeting their wildlife management goals.

“Overall, we still have a very good population in Georgia,” Baumann concluded, “but we will almost certainly start to see fluctuations in population numbers and harvests in the coming years.”

Despite the challenges of the future, wild turkeys are today plentiful all across the state, and in the WMA system alone there are nearly a million acres of hunting land open to the public to test your wits against a wily gobbler this spring.