By Nick Simonson

Like many other avian game species last year, North Dakota observed a surprising and welcome increase in numbers of wild turkeys during the spring and summer which helped buoy populations of the large upland birds across the state.  This, coupled with a mild winter being experienced by much of the region has led the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) to raise available license numbers by more than nine percent, with 13 of the state’s 21 open units seeing upticks in tags and the other eight staying steady compared to the spring of 2023, according to Jesse Kolar, NDG&F Upland Game Management Supervisor.

“We don’t know why upland birds pulled through the winter better than big game species in particular.  The turkeys did look like they were going to be down last spring, so we had a bunch of anecdotal reports that there weren’t as many around.  However, we had really good reproduction as for most upland birds, and the turkeys had really big brood sizes this year, with lots of poults in their broods,” Kolar commented.

While the winter of 2022-23 was long, cold, and harsh, wild turkeys fared well enough to carry out a successful spring nesting season, as upland grasses and other foliage grew thick and tall with the residual moisture, providing ample cover from predators for incubating hens and the poults that hatched. This in turn spurred good hatches of insects and other invertebrates the young poults needed to survive the early days of life and give them the protein needed to develop quickly and establish their feathers.  Summer and its timely rains and temperate conditions kept that trend going, and NDG&F agents found large-numbered broods as a result later in the season and into autumn.

So successful was the rearing season of 2023 for wild turkeys that NDG&F agents are fielding calls about depredation and concerns about large flocks wandering where they aren’t normally encountered, such as within some city limits and in areas where they consume animal feed, or make a mess around it.  While biologists expected a dip in populations due to the harsh winter last year, quite the opposite occurred, and resultantly, the agency raised the number of tags available to hunters.

“We were seeing good numbers of turkeys this fall.  It’s a mild winter so we’re not having as many complaints as most winters, but we are finding them showing up where people don’t want them, so that’s why we allow for an adequate number of licenses,” Kolar concludes on the remaining factors affecting the increase for the spring season.

Hunters can apply for the spring turkey lottery online at gf.nd.gov under the Buy and Apply tab and review the available units and regulations at the site.  This year, 8,137 tags are available, compared to 7,412 in 2023.  The deadline to apply is Feb. 14 and the 2024 spring turkey hunting season runs from Apr. 13 to May 19.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors. He recalls cleaning up after a flock of 20 wild turkeys who were living on his parent’s back deck for a few weeks one winter in Valley City.

Featured Photo: Licenses for the 2024 spring turkey season are up 725 over last year’s offerings coming on a strong hatch last spring and good rearing conditions in the summer. Simonson Photo.