ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606170017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO OUTDOORS
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
The same rains that have muddied fishing streams and made life miserable for Appalachian Trail hikers also have been bad news for young turkeys.
``The last two weeks, some of the earlier nesting hens and their poults were probably subjected to adverse weather conditions that may have resulted in some poult mortality,'' said Gary Norman, the upland game bird research biologist for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
When cold, rainy days occur one after another, it can be tough for a hen to keep her chicks warm and dry, particularly if they are 10 days to three weeks old, Norman said.
``There is not enough shelter under the hen,'' he said. ``Some of the poults are forced to fend for themselves.''
Norman surveyed department field personnel last week in an effort to determine how many young turkeys were being observed.
``The number of brood spottings has been very low,'' he said. ``It concerns me, particularly in the western part of the state.''
On the positive side, there are plenty of adult hens out there; in fact, if you were to ask participants of the recent spring gobbler season, many would tell you there were so many hens afield it disrupted their gobbler hunting.
But that didn't keep hunters from having a record season, with a kill of 12,895 - 10.3 percent better than the previous year. The top two counties were Bedford, with 383, and Franklin, with 348.
Norman was pleased with the increase, particularly after learning West Virginia's kill was down, following a series of seasons when it increased.
``That seemed to be a nationwide phenomenon this year, with a late spring,'' Norman said.
A delay in the greening of vegetation appeared to stall nesting efforts, keeping hens with gobblers throughout much of the spring hunting season. The toms didn't gobble as much and were more difficult to call, Norman said.
Now the same hens that frustrated hunters are about to pay big dividends, Norman said.
``While there may be some higher mortality of poults due to the weather, we have more of a safety net now that we have more hens out there,'' he said.
This is the payoff of regulations that have protected hens through a shortened fall hunting season, Norman said. Hens can be killed in the fall, but not in the spring.
``We want to have more hens out there and not be so dependent on annual hatching success to keep the population in a sustaining fashion,'' he said. ``That way, we can have a depression in nesting success and there still will be good huntable populations, and hunters won't see a marked decline from year to year.''
Game officials predict the new regulations will result in a sharp increase in turkey numbers.
``I think the majority of people who go turkey hunting aren't there just to kill a bird,'' Norman said. ``They would like to be able to hear turkeys, to work turkeys. The harvest is way down the line.''
Surveys by the game department revealed hunters weren't satisfied with the number of birds they were seeing. That was a major factor in the more restrictive fall regulations.
This spring's 10 percent kill increase, at a time when some other states were experiencing a decline, is a good start in meeting the expectations of hunters, Norman said. For the first time, Virginia's spring season surpassed the fall season, which was 11,229.
``I was pleased that they are nearly equal,'' Norman said. ``Historically, the fall kill has been 20 to 30 percent higher. Our goal, really, is to have fall and spring pretty comparable.''
Counties following Bedford and Franklin in the top 10 were: Buchanan, 291; Scott 282; Alleghany, 255; Amherst, 253; Grayson, 247; Pittsylvania, 241; Bath, 223; and Rockbridge, 221.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB