Kentucky’s spring turkey season opens April 15. The season limit is two “bearded turkeys,” although only one bird may be taken per day. Hunters once were limited to gobblers, or male birds, during the spring hunt. But the regulation wording was changed a few seasons ago because the hunter who bagged a rare bearded hen found himself or herself in a legal no-man’s land—an occurrence that equally flummoxed wildlife officials.
By the time the upcoming season closes on May 7, hunters will have bagged about 31,000 turkeys. (The five-year 2012-2016 average spring harvest is 31,490.4 birds.)
The season is open statewide, although special regulations do apply to some areas. Turkeys are plentiful. Game officials say Kentucky’s turkey flock is about 240,000 birds.
In 1960, Harold Knight could not have imagined such natural riches.
The Cadiz native (and current resident), who would go on to co-found Knight & Hale Game Calls and become a conservation leader and one of the nation’s most-recognizable hunting celebrities, was one of 377 hunters to participate in the three-day 1960 season; only he and 11 others actually killed a bird. The season was open only in a part of the Kentucky Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge (now Land Between the Lakes) because that was the only place in Kentucky that had turkeys.
“What we have today, it’s unbelievable,” said Knight. “It’s a [wildlife] miracle.”
Wild turkeys have returned from the brink. And not just in Kentucky.
By the early 20th century, they had all but vanished from the United States. The low point came in the 1930s, when nationwide numbers may have plummeted to below 200,000. By 1952, bird numbers nationwide were estimated at 320,000. In 1954, turkey numbers in Kentucky were around 850.
By that time, turkey restoration work had already begun, but success was anything but smooth or guaranteed. A major hurdle was overcome when researchers discovered that cannon nets, which had been used to trap waterfowl, could successfully snare turkeys for transport to other areas as seed stock for wild flocks.
“Prior to that, we didn’t have a truly reliable way to capture truly wild turkeys,” said Tom Hughes, a researcher for the National Wild Turkey Federation.
There was still plenty to learn. Early restoration work concentrated on large tracts of timber because the few wild flocks that remained were found in remote, isolated, usually well-timbered spots.
“We thought we had to have a big, big area of woods for wild turkeys to do well,” noted Knight, who helped with some of the early trapping and relocation work. “But we learned that was not true. These turkeys do great in some farm ground where you’ve got little patches of woods and fencerows, and cover like that. Anytime you’ve got food and water and some cover and protection, these turkeys thrive.”
Kentucky’s turkey success came later than some states. Reasons vary, but part of the early stumble resulted from the use of pen-reared turkeys in the restoration work. That was a failure at every level.
“A wild turkey is not the same as a pen-[reared] bird and the kind you buy at the market for Thanksgiving,” said Knight. “He’s a different bird, a different animal.”
Kentucky eventually obtained wild birds from Ohio and later Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Following the influx of fresh wild birds, Kentucky’s turkey success accelerated. By 1997, 6,760 birds had been released at 430 sites across the state. The first statewide hunt was offered in 1996.
“When new wild birds were added to the mix, things really took off,” said Dan Figert, assistant director of wildlife for the State Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
But the entrance of George Wright was the real catalyst.
Wright joined the wildlife agency in 1974 to conduct a raccoon study. But at the encouragement of some turkey enthusiasts—including Knight, who’d had a glimpse of what a turkey comeback could be under the right leadership—the fish and wildlife commission put Wright in charge of the turkey program.
By the time Wright retired in 2002, the groundwork had been laid for the tremendous success the turkey program enjoys today. Wright died in 2005 at age 62 and is universally recognized as the architect of Kentucky’s turkey restoration program.
“George was special,” Knight said.
Knight, who will celebrate his 73rd birthday in April, says he and his fellow hunters are enjoying the turkey hunting in their lifetimes. Which means, he added, that hunters and everyone else who cares about wildlife and conservation must remain more watchful than ever.
“There is no better time to be a turkey hunter than right now,” he said. “These are the good old days. But we didn’t always have turkeys, and just because we got them now doesn’t mean we always will have them. We’ve got to take care of them.”
For more information about the upcoming season, check the 2017 Spring Turkey Hunting Guide or go to fw.ky.gov.
Readers may contact Gary Garth at outdoors@kentuckymonthly.com