Wild Turkey Science

Duck Locascio, Forestry Program Manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, joins Marcus and Will to demystify and provide actionable steps to managers interested in improving turkey habitat in bottomland hardwood forests.   Resources: Desired Forest Conditions document Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture   Dr. Marcus Lashley ( @DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Profile ) Dr. Will...

Dr. Andy Little joins Marcus and Will to break down the study design and year 1 results from his research assessing wild turkey habitat needs across the state of Nebraska. Then, how landscape changes may be impacting population trends and which potential factors are bottlenecking brood survival.   Turkey Newsletter 2023   Dr. Andy Little ( Publications ) ( IG ) ( X ) AWESM Lab ( Website ) ( IG ) (...

Will provides us with updates on his ongoing, hunter-led AL project quantifying fertility indexes in wild turkeys and how it relates to behavior and disease. Then, an update from Marcus on the FL genetic study assessing habitat connectivity and gene flow made possible by hunter-donated feathers. And finally, a look into Will's next project inspired by our listeners.   Resources: AL Update: Is ther...

Marcus and Will kick off the holiday season by reviewing a newly published predator-prey diet selection study, discussing fall diets for turkeys during poor oak masting years, and touching upon the American tradition of fall turkey hunting.    Resources Youngmann, et al. (2023). Assessing springtime vertebrate prey of sympatric mesopredators in the southeastern United States using metabarcoding an...

Marcus and Will pull from the literature to discuss the science-based management strategies across fire, silviculture, herbicide, and more, that can help turn your hardwoods into turkeys. Listen to Part 1 of this episode here: https://sites.libsyn.com/453219/WildTurkeyScience/managing-hardwoods-for-turkeys-part-12-52   Resources: Bogdziewicz, M., Crone, E. E., Steele, M. A., & Zwolak, R. (2017). E...

Marcus and Will pull from the literature to assess various management strategies across fire, silviculture, herbicide, and more, that can help turn your hardwoods into turkeys. Part 2 of this episode releases next Monday.   Resources: Bogdziewicz, M., Crone, E. E., Steele, M. A., & Zwolak, R. (2017). Effects of nitrogen deposition on reproduction in a masting tree: benefits of higher seed producti...

Will and Marcus comb through the available literature to analyze the relationships between hardwood forests and wild turkeys.    Resources: Alexander et al. (2021). Mesophication of oak landscapes: Evidence, knowledge gaps, and future research. BioScience, 71(5), 531-542. Burk et al. (1990). Wild turkey use of streamside management zones in loblolly pine plantations. In Proceedings of the National...

Marcus and Will travel back in time with legendary turkey researchers Dr. Larry Vangilder and Eric Kurzejeski. Join as they discuss the early days of restocking and lessons learned, how hunting regulations changed as populations grew, initial assumptions impacting today's regulations, challenges they faced as biologists, and thoughts on why we're seeing declines today.   Dr. Larry Vangilder , Eric...

Will and Marcus launch our hardwoods series by discussing oak masting biology. They review studies assessing acorn production variation across and within oak species, discuss study results of wildlife acorn preference, and provide management tools to increase acorn productivity on your land.    Resources: Brooke, J. M., Basinger, P. S., Birckhead, J. L., Lashley, M. A., McCord, J. M., Nanney, J. S...

Marcus and Will wrap up our feeding series by reviewing global drivers of supplemental feeding and breakdown a study reporting positive effects on wild turkey populations from supplemental feed.    Resources: Cox, D. T., & Gaston, K. J. (2018). Human–nature interactions and the consequences and drivers of provisioning wildlife. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences...

While in Nebraska, Marcus and Will discuss the shared challenges they see across states when trying to integrate multiple objectives into working landscapes.    Dr. Marcus Lashley ( @DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Profile ) Dr. Will Gulsby ( @dr_will_gulsby ) ( Academic Profile ) Turkeys for Tomorrow ( @turkeysfortomorrow )  UF DEER Lab ( @ufdeerlab ) ( YouTube )   Watch these podcasts on YouTube: Wil...

Marcus and Will dive deeper into the literature surrounding the potential impacts of feeding on wild turkeys. Join as they discuss the data on risks of feeding across species, predation, pathogens, and contaminants and what we can do to mitigate these risks for turkeys moving forward.   Resources: Cooper, S. M., & Ginnett, T. F. (2000). Potential effects of supplemental feeding of deer on nest pre...

Will and Marcus characterize the available data on wildlife feeding across the South and discuss the implications for wild turkeys.    Resources: SC 2006 AK 2011 FWC 2019 Land Ethic   Dr. Marcus Lashley ( @DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Profile ) Dr. Will Gulsby ( @dr_will_gulsby ) ( Academic Profile ) Turkeys for Tomorrow ( @turkeysfortomorrow )  UF DEER Lab ( @ufdeerlab ) ( YouTube )   Watch these p...

Dr. Kelly Dunning, Associate Professor at Auburn University and Timberline Professor at the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, joins Will and Marcus to discuss the complexities associated with conservation policy-making and how we can better integrate wild turkey research and political science moving forward. Listen to Part 1 of this episode here: https://sites.libsyn.com/453219/can...

Dr. Kelly Dunning, Associate Professor at Auburn University and Timberline Professor at the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, joins Will and Marcus to discuss the complexities associated with conservation policy-making and how we can better integrate wild turkey research and political science moving forward. Part 2 of this episode releases next Monday.   Dr. Kelly Dunning ( Email )...

Dr. Mike Byrne joins Marcus and Will to discuss the ongoing comprehensive private-land wild turkey research project in northern Missouri studying the effects of nest survival. They also cover important topics related to raccoon movements in relation to hen nesting and density dependence in turkey populations. Listen to Part 1 of this episode ( here ).   Resources: Byrne, Michael E. Influences of l...

Dr. Mike Byrne joins Marcus and Will to discuss the ongoing comprehensive private-land wild turkey research project in northern Missouri studying the effects of nest survival. They also cover important topics related to raccoon movements related to hen nesting and density dependence in turkey populations. Part 2 of this episode releases next Monday.   Resources: Byrne, Michael E. Influences of lan...

Marcus and Will are joined by Jason Hardin, Wild Turkey Program Leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Listen to learn details on the status of our favorite bird in the Lonestar State.   Jason Hardin Jason.hardin@tpwd.texas.gov Dr. Marcus Lashley ( DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Profile ) Dr. Will Gulsby ( dr_will_gulsby ) ( Academic Profile ) Turkeys for Tomorrow ( turkeysfortomorrow ) ...

Will and Marcus discuss what not to do on your property when managing for wild turkey.    Resources: Wild nesting cover ft. Dr. Craig Harper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6xsKyis404&lc=Ugyq5o49_is0gQOzEQl4AaABAg Wild Turkey Habitat Improvements for Leased Land: https://huntinland.libsyn.com/wild-turkey-habitat-improvements-for-leased-land   Dr. Marcus Lashley ( DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Profi...

Marcus and Will discuss the origins of hypotheses related to timing and intensity of spring harvest and how they may affect reproduction. They also discuss the challenges landowners face when establishing property level harvest decisions.   Resources: Isabelle, Jason L., et al. "Considerations for timing of spring wild turkey hunting seasons in the southeastern United States." Journal of the South...

How to science | #37   In this episode, Marcus and Will break down the research process. Join as they discuss the nuts and bolts of experimental design, identifying objectives, how to generate funding, which agencies are involved, financial expenses, isolating and controlling variables, and how you as a citizen can influence research in your state.   Interested in helping the wild turkey? Donate t...

We asked and you answered! Join Marcus and Will as they review questions from followers covering brooding cover, disease, decoys, effective trail cam use, timing of fire, and more.   Resources: Wild nesting cover ft. Dr. Craig Harper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6xsKyis404&lc=Ugyq5o49_is0gQOzEQl4AaABAg   Dr. Marcus Lashley ( DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Profile ) Dr. Will Gulsby ( dr_will_gulsb...

Marcus and Will sit down with Adam Keith and Matt Dye, co-owners, consultants, and fellow podcasters of Land and Legacy. Listen as they share from years of habitat consulting experience on what they're seeing across landowner landscapes and which factors are the most limiting for the wild turkey.   Land & Legacy - https://landandlegacy.tv/ Dr. Marcus Lashley ( DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Profile )...

Marcus and Will wrap up their time at the Southeast Wild Turkey Working Group conference by discussing their key takeaways, study results from the experts, exciting plans across an array of states, and how you as a hunter can help out.   Resources: Londe, David W., et al. "Review of range‐wide vital rates quantifies eastern wild Turkey population trajectory." Ecology and Evolution 13.2 (2023): e98...

Marcus and Will sit down at the Southeast Wild Turkey Working Group Meeting with Nick Oakley, Wild Turkey Biologist for Missouri. Join as Nick discloses the state's turkey history and trends, current status and hunting guidelines, and a breakdown of the ongoing research to assess what's driving production.    Resources: MO Wild Turkey Brook Survey Dr. Marcus Lashley ( DrDisturbance ) ( Academic Pr...