Zach Muzzey has seen the decline in wild turkey numbers firsthand.
In areas where there used to be solid numbers of the birds, there now appear to be relatively few. This is coming from a life-long, diehard turkey hunter who hunts hard throughout eastern Pennsylvania, as well as at least a couple of other states each spring.
“In (Wildlife Management Unit) 5C, from what I’ve noticed, there’s definitely been a decline over the past several years,” Muzzey said. “I had a number of spots where I could hear a pile of birds on any given morning and now they’re few and far between.”
But, instead of lamenting the decline in local turkey populations, the Upper Mount Bethel Township resident decided to take matters into his own hands and see what he and others can do to help. Last year, he contacted Turkeys For Tomorrow (TFT), a relatively new national conservation organization formed in February 2021 specifically to help put a halt to declining wild turkey numbers nationwide.
Following some initial conversations, Muzzey launched the Eastern Pennsylvania TFT Chapter last fall. The new chapter, which is based in Upper Mount Bethel and is only the third TFT chapter in the state, is now getting set to hold its first big fundraising banquet at Upper Mount Bethel Fire Hall on May 4, the same day the state’s 2024 spring gobbler season opens.
“I reached out to the (TFT) guys and they seemed to be very adamant about trying to help the turkey population out,” Muzzey said. “I thought that would be an asset to us up in our area to try and help out the (Pennsylvania) Game Commission with their studies, and (with) the tools and the assets we are able get, I feel like we could definitely use (them) in this area.”
Born out of a meeting of 14 individuals that took place at White Oak Plantation in Alabama in June 2020, TFT is focused primarily on reversing declining turkey populations across the U.S. TFT Director of Business Operations and Partnerships Jason Lupardus says there are now 28 chapters nationwide, with the organization looking to solidify somewhere between 45 and 60 chapters by year’s end.
“Our mission statement is simple,” Lupardus said. “We shall save the wild turkey using science-based solutions for long-term sustainability. We are focused on using all wildlife management tools to help wild turkey populations, and the big three are habitat management, predator management and realistic harvest goals.”
According to Lupardus, TFT is working with all of the major wild turkey researchers across the country to focus on why turkey populations are declining, develop methods to stabilize current populations and drive management efforts to increase populations on local to regional levels.
“We are (also) developing Wild Turkey Private Lands Cooperatives as a means to drive action at localized levels by bringing private and public landowners together and develop a focused approach for management with a goal to create true incubators for wild turkey population growth,” he said.
Closer Look at the NumbersHere in the Keystone State, bird numbers overall may not be as high as they were years ago, but they are holding their own.
According to information from the PGC, five of the state’s 23 WMUs have populations that are increasing, while three — all of which border WMU 5C — are seeing declines in turkey numbers.
As for what hunters can expect this spring, PGC Wild Turkey Biologist Mary Jo Casalena said it will vary by where they’re hunting, “but in many Wildlife Management Units summer reproduction in both 2021 and 2022 were record years since we began collecting reproductive data … 2023, although not a record, was still above average. Therefore, in many WMUs there are plenty of jakes, 3-year-olds and, best for most hunters, the vocal 2-year-olds.”
Looking at the numbers, the spring turkey harvest in WMU 5C ranged from 800 to 1,000 birds from 2014-2017, depending on the year. Then the numbers started to drop. The last three years, the harvest has been less than 600 birds each year, with a low of 417 in 2021. In 2023, 598 birds were taken during the spring gobbler season.
“WMU 5C has a stable long-term population trend, as seen by spring harvest per 100 hunter days, with a peak in 2016 and its lowest valley since 2005 in 2020,” Casalena said. To put that in perspective, there have been 2.06 to 4.72 birds harvested in WMU 5C per 100 hunter days annually since 2018. But, since 2021, hunters in WMU 5C have averaged more than three birds per 100 hunter days.
According to Muzzey, one of the biggest challenges to the birds in the Lehigh Valley region is the continual loss of habitat. With each passing year, there are more shopping centers, developments and warehouses springing up in the region, and that’s having an impact on the birds, which often have a home range of more than one square mile.
“We’ve seen the pheasant population in Pennsylvania and where it used to be….and I’d hate to see that happen to the wild turkey,” Muzzey said.
Muzzey said the chapter is working with PGC WMU 5C Turkey Technician Rachel Pennell to look at ways the chapter can have a positive impact in the region, from helping with the game commission’s ongoing turkey studies to doing habitat work to benefit turkeys and other wildlife.
The chapter also plans to reach out township managers and county properties to see if there are any parcels they can work together on, as well as see if there are private landowners who might be open to doing habitat work to benefit turkeys and other wildlife.
