HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Game Commission is talking turkey.
Specifically, the commission is asking all Pennsylvania residents to report any wild turkey sightings through the end of the month as part of its Annual Wild Turkey Sighting Survey.
The survey's observation period began on July 1 and runs through Aug. 31.
The commission said participation in the survey is an important part of turkey population management.
"Survey data allows the agency to determine wild turkey productivity and compare long-term reproductive success within Pennsylvania and across states," the Game Commission says on its website. "This is a standard methodology used across the country. Data is used in the turkey population model to track population trends."
The wild turkey is a "shy, permanent resident of Pennsylvania's woods and mountains," the Game Commission said. "Turkeys have long been important to humans in North America. Native Americans hunted them for food, and some natives even domesticated the big birds. Later, the wild turkey became a steady food source for settlers. It earned a symbolic role as the main course of the Thanksgiving meal, which epitomized the successful harvest. "
But the big birds were nearly decimated in the late 1800s and early 1900s as Americans settled in the east and expanded to the west.
"As our nation grew, settlers cleared wooded habitat for farms," the Game Commission said. "And they shot turkeys for food. By 1800, market hunters were selling the birds for as little as 6 cents each. By the early 1900s — when eastern forests had been lumbered and periodic fires hampered their regeneration — the turkey was in trouble.
"Fortunately, here in Pennsylvania, the newly formed Game Commission stepped in. Through seasons and bag limits, the agency succeeded in safeguarding what remained of the state's once-thriving population, which by that time could be found only in the rugged mountains of the state's southcentral counties. Over time, the agency experimented with ways to return turkeys to the rest of Penn's Woods.
"Today, after thousands of wild turkeys were transferred throughout the state, and provided to other states, turkeys are found in every county, and this wily bird has developed quite a following among hunters and naturalists."
To participate in this year's sighting survey, go here.
