Many veteran turkey hunters stated that the birds were “gobbled out” prior to the later opening day. The inference suggested that most of the breeding activity, which leads the gobblers to sound off, had already ended, with the result being that the males wouldn’t respond to calling. Regardless of the validity of that theory, when a majority of hunters do not hear gobbling, they stay home. After the first few days of the 2007 season, a lot of them did just that.

Still, anyone can come up with reasons for the poor turkey hunting after the fact. The plain truth is that Arkansas turkey hunting is in a decline, and has been for four years. Why?

Bob McAnally was a career employee of the AGFC who recently retired as regional director for the Ozarks and Ouachitas. Bob has always had one passion, and that is turkey hunting. Since he was born and raised in Clarksville, where he has lived his entire life, he knows about as much when it comes to turkey management in the Ozarks as any man alive.

Before last season, he and I talked at length about what was happening with the declining turkey numbers not only in the mountains, but statewide as well. At the time, Arkansas was coming off two very mild winters, during which the mast crop in the uplands was as heavy as even the old-timers could remember. So at least from a food and comfort standpoint, turkeys should have been at a peak prior to the 2007 season, a statement that Bob agreed with.

“Yes, if you consider physical criteria, everything should be in place for a good season,” Bob said. “We’ve had a mild winter and outstanding mast.”

But then he shook his head.

“We had all of that last season too, and really the year before, and both of those showed declines in kill,” he continued. “Our production numbers are also way down, again

. . . The plain fact is that no one knows if this season will be any better than last.”

Certainly, increased depredation by predators, whose numbers are on the upswing because of a lack of bounties and low fur prices, is a factor, but it is not the whole answer. According to the U.S. Forest Service, annual spring burning does not affect nesting hens, but some hunters would disagree. We’ve also had some heavy rains and even hail during April in recent years, factors that could certainly have had a drastic effect.

All of those factors could be responsible, at least in part, for Arkansas’ turkey woes, but none is the total answer. Also, many inside and outside the AGFC management division believe the state is paying a price for liberal limits and lengthy seasons in the past. This argument seems logical, as demand cannot continually outstrip supply.

Unfortunately, the bad news may not get better soon. Mike Widner, AGFC turkey program coordinator, stated in his presentation to the commissioners in October 2007 that “turkey reproduction was below average” for that year. Widner’s report also stated that the “sub-par spring harvest will probably continue for at least a couple of years in Arkansas.”

You can either dwell in doom and gloom or look for the upside. Things are bad; they could be worse. If the lengthy seasons in the past are the primary reason for the decline, then numbers should start to rebound in 2008. Using the same criteria, there should also be more mature birds available because of the lower jake kill in 2007. Hunters are supreme optimists, and it looks like we’ll need to be.