Pennsylvania Game News - March 2022 - 50

JANUARY MEETING
The Pennsylvania Board of Game
Commissioners met as scheduled in
Harrisburg on Jan. 28 and 29, hearing staff
reports and accepting public comment.
But the board was unable to conduct
official business due to lack of a quorum.
The agenda prepared for the January
meeting, which includes the proposed 202223
hunting seasons and bag limits, won't be
taken up until at least one of three vacant
commissioner seats is filled, bringing the
eight-member board to a quorum.
If no quorum is established in time to
adopt seasons and bag limits for the 202223
license year, by law, the 2021-22 seasons
and bag limits will again take effect, with an
adjustment for a change in calendar dates.
For instance, the start of firearms deer
season again would be the Saturday after
Thanksgiving, which falls on Nov. 26, 2022.
Stay tuned for updates.
on male turkeys statewide. Hunters who
harvest one of those turkeys, or people
who find one dead, are asked to report the
band number by either calling the toll-free
number or sending an email to the address
on the band.
" That gives us information on annual
survival rates and annual spring harvest
rates for our population model, " said Mary
Jo Casalena, the Game Commission's
turkey biologist.
New this year, the Game Commission
will put GPS transmitters on 100 hens
- 25 each in WMUs 2D, 3D, 4D and
5C - spread across all six regions of the
state. The four study areas have different
landscapes, turkey population densities,
and spring hunter and harvest densities.
" We're looking at hen population and
movement dynamics, as well as disease
prevalence, " Casalena said.
Those studies are being done in partnership
with Penn State University and
the University of Pennsylvania's Wildlife
50
Futures Program
The population and movement portion
of that work is looking at how landscape
and weather impact hen nest rates, nest
success, poult survival, predation, habitat
use and movement.
The disease portion of the study is
examining how disease prevalence varies
based on landscape and impacts things
like the survival and nesting rates of hens
of different ages.
Game Commission crews will collect
various samples - blood, tracheal,
feces and skin - from hens that receive
backpack-style transmitters at the time of
capture, too, for disease analyses.
Approximately 100 additional transmitters
will be deployed each winter
through 2025, so that in the end - with
transmitters from hens that die being
recovered and re-deployed - the Game
Commission will be monitoring 400-plus
transmittered hens.
" It's going to be the largest turkey
project we've ever conducted, with the
hope of answering many questions regarding
current hen population dynamics, "
Casalena said.
Finding birds to trap is key to launching
all of that work. That's where the public
comes in. Fortunately, Pennsylvanians
have a history of helping out this way.
More than 3,800 people, on average,
submit Wild Turkey Sighting Survey
reports each summer. That information
plays a key role in tracking annual turkey
reproduction across the state, Casalena
said.
She's hoping the public will be as active
in relaying information on the location
of winter turkey flocks, too.
" The public has been so helpful in
years past, " Casalena said. " So we figured
we'd expand on that and ask for help locating
winter flocks statewide. "
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2022

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