66 Mississippi Sportsman^ | April 2015
T
urkey hunters can play an active role in
providing information that helps determine
future management of the wild turkey in
Mississippi. I mean, do you ever wonder where all
the annual turkey hunting results information and
data comes from each season?
Well, it comes from turkey hunters.
Through hunters volunteering to submit informa-
tion on the yearly Spring Gobbler Hunting Survey,
the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries,
and Parks is able to track hunting successes and
valuable observational data from each of the five
turkey regions in the state.“Initiated back in 1996 the Spring
Gobbler Hunting Survey overall idea was
to create a way to obtain critical informa-
tion to build a long-term database to assist
the MDWFP,” the agency’s Turkey Program
Coordinator Dave Godwin said. “Theinformation they wanted to collect would help them
keep track and manage the state’s turkey population.
“The data submitted by actual hunters in the field
would provide valuable insights into the dynamics
of turkey behavior during the season.”
What better way to collect data on the wild turkey
than have hunters who are actually hunting on a
daily basis throughout the entire season to report it?
The survey asks hunters to submit information
not only on the gobblers they harvested, but also
observational and listening data on the number of
gobblers seen and heard.
Hunters’ information is compiled based on seg-
ments of 10 hours of hunting.
Harvest data is reported per
100 hours of hunting.
These gauges
balance the data
across the state with
the same reporting
requirements. That
way everything is stan-
dardized so state turkey
managers and hunters
alike can easily interpret
the data as it is reported
a year later in the annual
Mississippi Wild Turkey
Report.
Hunters completing the
annual survey from all
across the state report the
number of gobbles they have heard on each hunt, as
well as an estimation of the number of gobblers making
the calls. This gives managers an idea of the number of
active gobblers in each area of the state by turkey region.Join the spring gobbler
survey team
ABOVE: Turkey popula-
tions across the state are
always in flux, but annual
turkey surveys help track
their activities.
BELOW: The MDWFP
compilesstatewide
turkey information using
data sent in by turkey
hunters across the state.woods wise
John J. Woods
John J. Woods has
hunted and fished all
across America, including
Alaska and several foreign
countries. He lives in
Clinton with his wife
and two daughters.