Hunting and Nesting Phenology Influence Gobbling of Wild Turkeys

We used GPS data and gobbling data collected from songmeters to determine gobbling activity and behaviors of toms during spring relative to hunting activity and hen nesting.  We found that on heavily hunted public lands, gobbling activity decreased dramatically as the hunting season progressed.  Gobbling activity ramped up as the number of hens laying and incubating increased.  However, this positive relationship was offset by a more pronounced negative relationship between hunting activity and the removal of toms, meaning hunting and harvest were more impactful on gobbling than was hen reproductive behaviors.