We used songmeters to describe gobbling chronology of birds in South Carolina on hunted and unhunted sites. We found that gobbling activity was much greater on an unhunted site. We also found that 72% of gobbling activity occurred between 30 minutes before and 60 minutes after sunrise. Across sites, <44% of gobbling activity occurred during legal hunting seasons in South Carolina, with between 30% and 48% of gobbling activity occurring after legal hunting seasons. Because hunter satisfaction is primarily influenced by gobbling activity, our findings suggest that wildlife managers in South Carolina may consider adjusting dates of turkey hunting seasons to correspond hunting with periods when most gobbling occurs.
Learning More About Gould’s Wild Turkeys
This Turkey Tuesday is about what we’re learning about Gould’s wild turkeys,
