TacomaNWTF.org

Washington Wild Turkey Status and Trends Report
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Region 1 are often associated with wheat stubble fields during winters and winter mortality may be low unless snow is unusually deep for long periods. Weather affects turkeys by controlling insect production levels during brood-rearing season. In dry, warm summers poults have an abundance of grasshoppers to utilize for protein and rapid growth results. In normal or above normal precipitation years, chick survival often suffers. During summer 2000 very large numbers of grasshoppers were observed in Region 1 and turkey broods were observed in pursuit of grasshoppers in pastures and hayfields near timbered areas. Wild turkeys in Region 1 are gradually occupying new areas as numbers increase and as trap and translocation projects remove excess turkeys from areas of concentration (Table 2). The general trend over the past 10 years has been a steady increase in localized areas in spite of periodic severe winter conditions. Rio Grande turkeys released in Whitman County are expanding into all available habitat in that heavily agricultural county. Palouse River drainage contains the highest quality feeding and roosting areas for birds in Whitman County.  Eight turkeys were released in Douglas County (Region 2) from the Stevens County population in 1965. Up to 12 turkeys were harvested from Douglas County per year from 1966 to 1973. An occasional turkey is still harvested in Grant County every couple of years. In Okanogan County, the earliest records of turkey releases in Okanogan County occurred in 1931. Merriam’s turkeys were trapped in Stevens County and released in Okanogan County in the early 1960s.  Four were released on the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area in 1960, six more were released in 1963, and 10 more in 1966.  A total of 9 birds were released on the Methow Wildlife Area in 1967. A few birds were harvested in Okanogan County in 1968 and 1969, but no harvest was reported after that until additional releases were made in the late 1980s and early-1990s. Thirty Merriam’s turkeys were released in eastern Okanogan County in 1989. Records do not indicate any harvest in eastern Okanogan County after these releases. However, Rio Grande turkeys released in western Okanogan County on Chiliwist Wildlife Area have resulted in sustained harvests in this area (Table 1) indicating that the population is probably stable or increasing slowly. The population likely declined as a result of the 1996-97 winter; however, the mild weather of the next three winters is fostering a population rebound. In 2001, 93 Merriams turkeys, from Ferry and Stevens counties, were released in to Okanogan County, representing the largest release ever in the area.  No population estimate has been calculated for the Okanogan County turkey population. There appears to be a small, but slowly growing and expanding population.  Turkeys are expanding into drainages west and south of traditionally inhabited areas of the Chiliwist watershed.  The lack of grain farming in the area may eventually limit population growth.
Turkeys are also colonizing tributary streams of the lower Methow. At least some of these birds likely originated from releases by private individuals. The subspecies of these birds is unknown. Turkeys also appear to be expanding from Canada onto private land near the border just west of Oroville. In the mid-1960s, 6 Merriams turkeys from the Ellensburg Game Farm and 2 from Stevens County were released in to Chelan County. During this same period, 8 Merriams turkeys from Stevens County were released on to Badger Mountain in Douglas County. A total of 80 Rio Grande turkeys were then released in Chelan County in 1986 and 1988, followed by 28 Merriams turkeys in 1990. These releases proved unsuccessful, probably due to the small number of turkeys released and the lack of winter-feeding during harsh winters. In 2000, 156 Merriams turkeys (110 hens, 46 toms) were released into Chelan and eastern Kittitas counties. Two-hundred twenty five Merriam’s turkeys (170 hens, 55 toms) were released in to these counties in 2001. Poult production (1.3 poults per hen) in 2001, was half that (2.6 poults per hen) in 2000. The cold, wet May of 2001, along with the drought conditions during the summer probably reduced poult production.  From February-October 2001, 54 percent of radioed hens (13 of 24) survived. The radioed birds that died were either killed and/or fed upon by bobcat or cougar.  Groups of wintering birds have ranged from 10 to 90 birds. Based on production and survival data, the Chelan and eastern Kittitas counties’ turkey population is estimated at 500 birds.  In Region 3, attempts to establish wild populations of turkeys in Yakima County between 1913 and 1931 were unsuccessful. In all, 94 turkeys were released. These early releases relied on game farm-reared birds of the eastern subspecies.  Oak Creek Wildlife Area was the target of some early releases of wild-trapped turkeys in the early 1960s. Twenty Merriam’s turkeys were released, but no significant population was established. In the mid-1960s 4 Merriam’s turkeys were trapped from Stevens and Spokane counties and released on Colockum Wildlife Area in Kittitas County. This release did not result in population establishment.  More recent releases in Region 3 began in 1984.  Thirty-eight Rio Grande turkeys were released in Yakima County in 1984 and 1985. Only 5 turkeys were harvested in the last 5 years in this area (Table 1), indicating that it has not seen the same success as turkey introductions in other areas of Washington. Although pockets of Rio Grande habitat occur throughout Region 3, the overall habitat is probably better suited for the Merriam’s subspecies. Since 1999, 267 and 40 wild trapped Merriam’s turkeys from Stevens County were released in Yakima and Kittitas Counties.  In south-central Washington, Klickitat County was one of the first areas in Washington where several early attempts were made to establish wild turkeys. Between 1930 and 1946, 93 turkeys were released in 4 different

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