COLUMBIA, S.C. — A regional trend called the southeast turkey decline has become an interest for South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), hunters and the community.
Rick Grubbs, owner of Waccamaw Hunting Services in Hemingway, said he was surprised to learn that predators are not the main reason for the decline.
"I thought that coyotes and predators would have been a bigger factor on wild turkeys," Grubbs said. "The Department of Natural Resources and the charts they showed, they showed that they don't believe predation is as big a factor on the turkey population decline as what we think."
Charles Ruth, the Big Game program coordinator at SCDNR says that loss of habitat is a factor in decline, however there can be measures taken to help.
"There's no doubt habitats are changing and that does affect the turkey population," Ruth said. "I think to some degree this decline is somewhat of a death by a thousand cuts so to speak. But the things that can be controlled from a regulatory stand point are your season framework, bag limits, how long the season lasts, when it begins."
Experts say the decline is not a problem specific to South Carolina -- however, hunters, land owners and members of the community share concerns. One of these concerns is lack of reproduction. Harvest data collected by the wildlife department shows that peak turkey breeding falls within the first week of hunting season.
"In South Carolina we have got about 50,000 turkey hunters and they're passionate about it and that’s why there's been so much interest about this decline because they don't want to see this game species go in further decline," said Ruth. "This is not a panic type situation but we're currently harvesting about 40% fewer birds in the spring compared to 20 years ago."
Wildlife leaders hope for legislative changes that include, changing season dates, reducing bag limit and limiting afternoon hunting.