“With poor reproduction the last three years, the number of mature gobblers (2 years and older) available during the spring of 2007 will likely be low across most of the state,” Ruth said. “Reproduction was good in 2004, but birds produced then have been subjected to three hunting seasons in addition to other mortality factors. Not only is the number of adult gobblers expected to be down in 2008, the survey results indicate that the number of jakes (immature gobblers) will be low as well. This is significant because jakes can make up 25 percent of the spring harvest following years of good reproduction. But in 2007, 14.1 percent of the harvest was jakes.

“Even though many spring turkey hunters prefer to harvest only mature gobblers or longbeards, jakes typically make up a significant portion of the harvest following years of good reproduction,” Ruth said. “Nonetheless, a decrease in the total turkey harvest is typically seen anytime there is poor reproduction the previous year. This decrease in harvest is typically the result of the low availability of jakes.”

According to Ruth, the bottom line is that it will likely take a couple of years of better reproduction to overcome poor reproduction the last three years.

But turkeys are where you find them, according to one wise woodsman, so let’s examine where gobblers were harvested in good numbers last season. This will help hunters predict the potential hotspots for the upcoming season as well. In the past, most harvest comparisons have been made with simple total numbers on a county-by-county harvest basis. But now, Ruth and the SCDNR are compiling harvest data on the harvest Per Unit Area method as well as by county totals.

Ruth said that the SCDNR has begun tracking the turkey harvest just as they do deer.

“Harvest per unit area standardizes the harvest among counties regardless of the size of the individual counties,” Ruth said. “One measure of harvest rate is the number of turkeys taken per square mile (640 acres is one square mile). When considering turkey habitat that is available in South Carolina, the turkey harvest rate in 2007 was 0.9 gobblers per square mile statewide.

“That’s one bird for every 727 acres in the state,” he said. “Of course, we don’t have nearly as many turkey hunters as we do deer hunters, but this gives us a way to measure the harvest from year to year. Our estimate is that there are about 50,000 turkey hunters in South Carolina.

“Although the turkey harvest has been down the last few years, this harvest rate should be considered good and is similar to other Southeastern states,” Ruth said.

The top 10 counties in South Carolina for harvest per unit area for the 2007 season are as follows.

Abbeville County was in first place with a whopping 1.8 turkeys per square mile harvest rate. That’s double the statewide average.

The second and third counties were Union and Fairfield with a 1.6 turkeys per square mile harvest rage. York County was fourth with 1.5 turkeys harvested per square mile.

The fifth through seventh place counties were Hampton, Chester and McCormick with a 1.4 turkey harvest rate per square mile. The number eight and nine counties were Bamberg and Allendale with 1.3 turkeys harvested per square mile.

In the final spot in the top 10 was Lancaster County with a 1.2 turkeys per square mile harvest rate.