Survival of Male Merriam\u27s Turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills

Due to increasing population trends of Merriam’s turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo merriami), the Black Hills of Wyoming has become a popular spring wild turkey hunting destination. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department currently limits spring wild turkey hunters to 1 license (good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey), and the department was interested in determining if a proposed change in the bag limit would affect annual gobbler survival in the Black Hills of Wyoming. I completed a study to determine the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys under the current license structure. A follow-up study will be conducted to determine the survival of male wild turkeys when spring wild turkey hunters are allowed to obtain up to 2 licenses (each good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey). Male Merriam’s turkeys (n=151) were radio-collared from January through March in 2008 and 2009. Collared wild turkeys were monitored 2-3 times per week through the end of May in 2008 and 2009. Mortalities were retrieved and the cause of death was determined. Mortalities were classified into seven categories: mammalian predation, avian predation, crippling, weather-related, accidental, hunting, or unknown. Spring hunting (26%) and crippling (5%) were the cause of 31% of the mortality. Fall hunting and crippling accounted for 4% of the mortality, predation accounted for 22% of the mortality, and 42% of the mortalities were classified as unknown. Extrapolated annual survival rates were calculated in Program MARK and were different between years and among age classes, with the exception of the between-year comparison for 2 year old birds. Extrapolated annual survival rates were 0.1539 for jakes in 2008 and 0.4929 in 2009; 0.1827 for 2 year olds in 2008-09; and 0.4751 in 2008 and 0.1266 in 2009 for birds ≥ 3 years old. Apparent seasonal survival estimates were calculated with known-fate models in Program MARK. The best fit model incorporated age (weekly S = 0.9820 for jakes and weekly S = 0.9880 for adults), hunting (weeklyS = 0.9578), severe weather (weekly S = 0.9614), and severe weather that occurred during the hunting season (weekly S = 0.9014) as variables that significantly affected the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills