Pennsylvania Game News - January 2013 - 6

The third year of the hen turkey harvest and survival rate study continues. Knowledge of fall harvest rates and annual survival rates will help us develop a more systematic and transparent process for determining fall turkey hunting season recommendations, which will allow for more explicit incorporation of uncertainty (spring weather, reproduction) into decision making and help us address the competing objectives of optimizing hunting recreation and turkey abundance. As of early July 2011-12 2012, we were monitoring 37 transmittered hens. The highest mortality rates have occurred during the nesting season (primarily from predation). In 2012, despite the early spring, temporal patterns of nesting behavior were similar to 2010 and 2011. This conﬁrms that the timing of nesting is controlled more by photoperiod than by weather, and supports the current timing of our spring season. A new disease has emerged, or is now being recognized, in turkeys in Pennsylvania, as well as other mid-Atlantic and southeastern states. It can resemble avian pox externally, but is caused by a different virus. The ﬁrst case has been conﬁrmed in samples from a hen found dead this spring. Descriptive disease information concerning Lymphoproliferative Disease (LPDZ) in turkeys and sampling instructions were provided to region staff. Game Take Survey estimates indicated that 79,687 hunters harvested 52,243 ruffed grouse during the 2011-12 season. The estimated number of hunters declined 12 percent, and the estimated harvest decreased 21 percent from 2010-11. The number of days aﬁeld per hunter decreased 3 percent, and harvest per hunter day decreased 13 percent. The annual Grouse and Woodcock Cooperator Survey tracks effort and ﬂush rates for avid hunters of these species and serves as a long-term index to the quality of grouse and woodcock hunting and the status of “huntable” populations (i.e. those in good habitat) across the state. The grouse cooperator survey indicated that cooperators averaged 30 hours hunted, 39 grouse ﬂushed, and 2.4 grouse bagged during the 2011-12 hunting season. The statewide ﬂushing rate of 1.32 ﬂushes per hour was the same as the 2010-11 rate, but six percent below the long term average. USFWS Harvest Information Program (HIP) estimates indicate that Pennsylvania continues to have the most woodcock hunters (7,500) of the 17 states in the Eastern Management Region. Woodcock harvest at the state level was 14,200 birds, up 11 percent from 2010. Participants in Pennsylvania’s woodcock cooperator survey experienced mixed results, with ﬂush rates below 2010 levels (1.1 versus 1.3 ﬂushes per hour), yet improved success rates (3.5 versus 3.0 birds bagged per hunter). The 2012 Woodcock Singing Ground Survey was conducted in cooperation with the USFWS between mid-April and early May. There were no statistically signiﬁcant changes from 2011 for either Pennsylvania or the Eastern Region, and for the ninth consecutive year, the 10-year trend in the Eastern Region was statistically stable. Over the long term (1968-2011), however, populations have declined signiﬁcantly due to decreased amounts of young forest habitat. Populations of ruffed grouse and numerous other species that rely on this habitat type also have declined as a result of the loss of young forest. In light of these habitat and population trends, increasing the amount of young forest habitat on Pennsylvania’s landscape is a central objective in the statewide management plans for grouse and woodcock. The USFWS HIP estimated that 13,500 mourning dove hunters took 158,800 doves in Pennsylvania during the 2011-12 seasons. This was a 32 percent decrease in the number of hunters and a 30 percent decrease in doves bagged compared to 2010-11. The Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan is being used to guide pheasant recovery efforts in the state. Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas (WPRAs) have been designated
6 GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - January 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - January 2013