Successful 2009 Fall Turkey Season Concludes

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency reports that another successful fall turkey season has concluded. Fall hunters had a consolidated 12-day season which ran from Dec. 7-18.

 

The impact of the shift from a split season to the consolidated season was expected to have little effect on the number of turkeys that were harvested.

 

“The 2009 fall harvest of 1,931 turkeys was right at the long-term average” said Gray Anderson, TWRA’s wild turkey program coordinator.

 

Statewide, there were 1,217 hunters that reported harvested birds for an average of 1.6 birds per hunter. About 73 percent of hunters harvested a single turkey and only 2 percent of hunters took over five birds. Maury (142), Smith (105), Giles (102), Rutherford (91) and Lincoln (82) counties were the top five harvest counties.

 

 “Our fall turkey season does a great job of focusing harvest pressure exactly where our regional biologists have identified a management need,” said Anderson.

 

Applications for the 2010 Spring Turkey Quota Hunts are currently being accepted until Feb. 10, 2010. Interested hunters may apply at any TWRA license agent, TWRA regional office, or online at the TWRA Web site.

 

For more information about Tennessee’s turkey hunting seasons, refer to the Hunting and Trapping Guide available at all license agents or on the TWRA Web site. Harvest information is also updated on the For Hunters section of the Web site.

---TWRA---