Wild Turkey Science

Today we are joined by Dr. Chad Lehman, senior biologist for the South Dakota Department of Game Fish and Parks, and Dr. Chris Rota, associate professor of wildlife and fisheries resources at West Virginia University. We discuss their previous and ongoing research investigating harvest declines across South Dakota, major variables impacting hen survival and nest incubation, best management practices for SD private landowners, and more. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Resources: Lehman, C. P., et al. (2022). Factors influencing rate of decline in a Merriam's wild turkey population. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 86(6), e22240. Quehl, J. O., et al. (2024). Assessing wild turkey productivity before and after a 14-day delay in the start date of the spring hunting season in Tennessee. Ecology and Evolution, 14, e11390. Tyl, R. M., et al. (2020). Factors influencing productivity of eastern wild turkeys in northeastern South Dakota. Ecology and Evolution, 10(16), 8838-8854. Tyl, R. M., et al. (2023). Factors influencing survival of female eastern wild turkeys in northeastern South Dakota. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 47(2), e1429. Dr. Chris Rota Contact, Publications Dr. Chad Lehman Contact, ResearchGate Dr. Marcus Lashley @DrDisturbance, Publications Dr. Will Gulsby @dr_will_gulsby, Publications Turkeys for Tomorrow @turkeysfortomorrow UF DEER Lab @ufdeerlab, YouTube Please help us by taking our (QUICK) listener survey - Thank you! Check out the NEW DrDisturbance YouTube channel! DrDisturbance YouTube Watch these podcasts on YouTube Leave a podcast rating for a chance to win free gear! This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Music by Artlist.io Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak

Ted DeVos, co-founder of Bach and DeVos Forestry and Wildlife Services, shares insights on managing pine plantations for turkeys. Topics include balancing timber productivity with wildlife habitat, burning practices, thinning techniques, and profitability considerations. Emphasis on optimizing basal area, reintroducing longleaf pine, and challenges in maintaining target basal area levels without clear-cutting.

Dr. Bronson Strickland discusses regenerative agriculture vs. conventional methods in food plotting, highlighting soil health, nutrient density, and wildlife benefits. They explore the use of roller crimpers, increasing plant diversity, and conducting research projects on soil quality and wildlife response.

After much feedback from our latest episode, we sit down to review through recent episodes and lay out the available data known to us. Covering season timing and reproduction to the predator-habitat complex, there's no tiptoeing around the controversy in this one. Isabelle, J. L., et al. (2018). Considerations for timing of spring wild turkey hunting seasons in the southeastern United States. Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 5, 106-113. Kurzejeski, Eric W., and L. D. Vangilder. "Population management." The wild turkey: biology and management. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA (1992): 165-184. Londe, David W., et al. "Review of range‐wide vital rates quantifies eastern wild Turkey population trajectory." Ecology and Evolution 13.2 (2023): e9830. Quehl, J. O., et al. (2024). Assessing wild turkey productivity before and after a 14-day delay in the start date of the spring hunting season in Tennessee. Ecology and Evolution, 14, e11390. Vangilder, Larry D., and Eric W. Kurzejeski. "Population ecology of the eastern wild turkey in northern Missouri." Wildlife Monographs (1995): 3-50. Watts, C. R., & Stokes, A. W. (1971). The social order of turkeys. Scientific American, 224(6), 112-119. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Dr. Marcus Lashley @DrDisturbance, Publications Dr. Will Gulsby @dr_will_gulsby, Publications Turkeys for Tomorrow @turkeysfortomorrow UF DEER Lab @ufdeerlab, YouTube Please help us by taking our (QUICK) listener survey - Thank you! Check out the NEW DrDisturbance YouTube channel! DrDisturbance YouTube Watch these podcasts on YouTube Leave a podcast rating for a chance to win free gear! This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Music by Artlist.io Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak

Dr. Craig Harper and Dr. Dave Buehler from the University of Tennessee join us to discuss results from their seven-year, robust before-after control-impact study assessing the role of experimental season date delays on turkey reproduction. Spoiler alert: Season delays had no effect on any of the 8 vital rates they measured. Quehl, J. O., et al. (2024). Assessing wild turkey productivity before and after a 14-day delay in the start date of the spring hunting season in Tennessee. Ecology and Evolution, 14, e11390. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Dr. Craig Harper Website, Publications Dr. Dave Buehler Website, Publications Dr. Marcus Lashley @DrDisturbance, Publications Dr. Will Gulsby @dr_will_gulsby, Publications Turkeys for Tomorrow @turkeysfortomorrow UF DEER Lab @ufdeerlab, YouTube Please help us by taking our (QUICK) listener survey - Thank you! Check out the NEW DrDisturbance YouTube channel! DrDisturbance YouTube Watch these podcasts on YouTube Leave a podcast rating for a chance to win free gear! This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Music by Artlist.io Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak

Adam Butler, Wild Turkey Program Coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, joins us to discuss the turkey trends seen across Mississippi and the Southeast, what may or may not be influencing these cyclical patterns of productivity, and a general rule of thumb for how many gobblers to harvest on your property. Resources: How Many Gobblers Should I Take? (Article) Isabelle, J. L., et al. (2018). Considerations for timing of spring wild turkey hunting seasons in the southeastern United States. Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 5, 106-113. Wild turkey population dynamics and what the manipulative study of season dates in Mississippi tells us about the role of hunting, ft. Adam Butler | #02 Adam Butler Contact, MDWFP Dr. Marcus Lashley @DrDisturbance, Academic Profile Dr. Will Gulsby @dr_will_gulsby, Academic Profile Turkeys for Tomorrow @turkeysfortomorrow UF DEER Lab @ufdeerlab, YouTube Please help us by taking our (QUICK) listener survey - Thank you! Check out the NEW DrDisturbance YouTube channel! DrDisturbance YouTube Watch these podcasts on YouTube Leave a podcast rating for a chance to win free gear! This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Music by Artlist.io Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak

Dr. Alan Krakauer joins us to dive into his research on turkey kin selection and breakdown the many strategies gobblers use to pass on genes. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Resources: Krakauer, A. H. (2005). Kin selection and cooperative courtship in wild turkeys. Nature, 434(7029), 69-72. Krakauer, A. H. (2008). Sexual selection and the genetic mating system of wild turkeys. The Condor, 110(1), 1-12. Watts, C. R., & Stokes, A. W. (1971). The social order of turkeys. Scientific American, 224(6), 112-119. Dr. Alan Krakauer Website, Academic Profile Dr. Marcus Lashley @DrDisturbance, Academic Profile Dr. Will Gulsby @dr_will_gulsby, Academic Profile Turkeys for Tomorrow @turkeysfortomorrow UF DEER Lab @ufdeerlab, YouTube Please help us by taking our (QUICK) listener survey - Thank you! Check out the NEW DrDisturbance YouTube channel! DrDisturbance YouTube Watch these podcasts on YouTube Leave a podcast rating for a chance to win free gear! This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Music by Artlist.io Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak

Dr. Dwayne Elmore, Director of the Game Bird Program at Tall Timbers Research Station, joins us to breakdown the reproductive ecology and behavior of wild turkeys, how and why they lek, and if this impacts spring hunting. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Resources: Honeycomb Custom Calls Red-capped manakin bird Dr. Dwayne Elmore Tall Timbers, Academic Profile Dr. Marcus Lashley @DrDisturbance, Academic Profile Dr. Will Gulsby @dr_will_gulsby, Academic Profile Turkeys for Tomorrow @turkeysfortomorrow UF DEER Lab @ufdeerlab, YouTube Please help us by taking our (QUICK) listener survey - Thank you! https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3VR10xcKOMTvZH0 Check out the NEW DrDisturbance YouTube channel! DrDisturbance YouTube Watch these podcasts on YouTube: Wild Turkey Science YouTube Leave a podcast rating for a chance to win free gear! This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Music by Artlist.io Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak

Marcus and Will delve into the implications of declining insect populations on ground-nesting birds like wild turkeys. They discuss the impact of insect decline on wildlife, challenges in interpreting studies, the relationship between insect decline and bird species, and the benefits of habitat enhancement techniques for preserving bird populations in changing landscapes.

Mark Turner, PhD candidate in Dr. Craig Harper's lab at the University of Tennessee, joins us to disclose results from their recent study assessing the effects of canopy reduction and fire seasonality on turkey habitat quality and use in upland hardwoods. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Resources: Burning during nesting | #19 Nichols, R. A., et al. (2021). Alter fire timing to recouple forage nutrients with herbivore nutrient demands. Forest Ecology and Management, 500, 119646. Turner et al. (2024). Canopy reduction and fire seasonality effects on deer and turkey habitat in upland hardwoods. Forest Ecology and Management, 553, 121657. Mark Turner @markturner442, Academic Profile Dr. Marcus Lashley @DrDisturbance, Academic Profile Dr. Will Gulsby @dr_will_gulsby, Academic Profile Turkeys for Tomorrow @turkeysfortomorrow UF DEER Lab @ufdeerlab, YouTube Please help us by taking our (QUICK) listener survey - Thank you! https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3VR10xcKOMTvZH0 Watch these podcasts on YouTube: Wild Turkey Science YouTube This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Music by Artlist.io Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak