Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 17, 1990 TAG: 9004170012
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Wayne Gould of Roanoke County killed a 21-pound, 6-ounce turkey in Bedford County on Saturday, then followed that with a 23-pound, 4-ounce trophy Monday in Franklin County.
Opening day, Charles Dailey of Roanoke killed a 22-pound, 9-ounce tom that carried a 10 1/2-inch beard. It leads both the weight and beard length categories in a Trebark Outfitters contest in Roanoke.
Richard Caldwell of Botetourt County killed one nearly as large during a hunt along the Botetourt-Roanoke county line. It weighed 22 pounds, 6 ounces.
Thanks to a good-to-excellent mast crop last winter, the turkeys have come into the gobbling season in fine shape. What's more, hunters can expect them to be aggressive suitors, which should mean an above average amount of gobbling.
Many wildlife biologists now believe that gobbling intensity is directly related to the physical condition of the birds. When a tom is well-fed, he is going to be more active. When he's not, he won't gobble as much, so hunters have a tougher time locating him.
The theory appeared to be on target the past three seasons. In 1987 and '88, hunters frequently complained about poor gobbling. Those were seasons when mast was not abundant through the winter. Gobbling activity was good last year, and so was the winter mast leading to the season.
Research by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries revealed that hunters participating in an annual spring gobbler survey heard an average of 16.8 toms during the past season. In 1988, that figure was 12.4; in 1987, 12.7.
During the early going of the current season, hunters have been experiencing a variety of gobbling activity. An 18-pound, 10-ounce tom killed in Roanoke County by Michael Oullette started gobbling early and gobbled all the way to his gun.
The 17 3/4-pound turkey that Stanley Sumner of Salem killed in Roanoke County was closed-mouthed.
"Things were pretty quiet," he said. "He didn't gobble but twice, but I saw him coming across a hill. He was sneaking along an old creek bed where there was a bunch of oaks. I putted to him a couple of times and whined. He kept sneaking along the hollow until he got too close."
Caldwell's gobbler sounded while still on the roost, but he came to the call slowly. There was no hurry, because he had hens with him.
"I could hear him chasing the hens and strutting around," Caldwell said. "I kept calling and he kept working toward me. It was probably two hours."
Gould's big turkey, which was with hens, didn't gobble much in the beginning, but picked up the pace the nearer it came.
"When I got him in close, he pretty much went crazy," Gould said.
Gobbling activity is at its best the first two weeks of the season, according to the state's spring survey. The second half of the season, hunters hear fewer gobblers, but the number of gobblers killed per hunting hour remains high.
"The fact that the harvest rates did not vary much according to the week of the season was something that surprised me very much," said Gary Norman of last year's survey results. He is the wildlife biologist in charge of the state's wild turkey research.
There were a couple of other surprises for Norman. One was the high number of free-ranging dogs encountered by spring hunters last year. Some 63 percent said they saw dogs while out after turkeys.
Virginia has not conducted research on whether or not dogs are harmful to nesting hens and young turkeys, but other states indicate they are.
Still another surprise was the high number of hens that hunters spotting during the early part of the season. Last spring, participants in the survey reported seeing .54 hens-per hour of hunting on opening day. The figure dropped throughout the five-week season, reaching .27 the final week.
Spring hunting, ideally, is designed to occur at a time when the hens are nesting and only the gobblers are being encountered by hunters. Does this mean Virginia's season is opening too early?
Norman said he didn't want to leap to any conclusions. Virginia's research remains in its early stages, but pressure on hens is one of the factors it is designed to measure.
by CNB