The following schedule is from the 72nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies which was held October 21-24, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
AUTHORS: Douglas C. Osborne, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
ABSTRACT: In 2011, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission implemented a no-jake harvest policy for adult hunters pursuing wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) during spring. The objectives of this project were to: 1) estimate survival rates of adult and juvenile male turkey, to assess if the new harvest policy increased recruitment of jakes into the 2-year old age class, and 2) determine the harvest rates of adult males during the spring hunting season. During 2016-18, male turkeys were captured and marked with satellite transmitters in the Ozark (n=37 jakes; n=33 adults) and Ouachita (n=32 jakes; n=34 adults) Mountain regions of Arkansas. To model the influence of Time, BirdAge, and Region on adult and juvenile male survival, known fate survival estimates were conducted with staggered entry using the package RMark in Program R. Harvest rates were estimated using the Lincoln–Petersen method. Region and the null model were the most parsimonious models defining jake survival and accounted for 73.2% of the model weight, and suggest annual survival rates of jakes to be >98%. Time was the best performing model for adult survival, which was 81-85% during the 2-week hunting season. Collectively, harvest rates of adults were 36.4% during the 2017 and 2018 hunting seasons. Current and accurate estimates of adult and juvenile male survival and harvest rates are critical for managing agencies and for the future management of turkey populations under adaptive harvest management frameworks.
