WMU 1B
Turkey harvests peaked in 2001 and have been declining slightly since then, but remain above the statewide average. Even so, the preliminary 2005 spring harvest of 2,427 bearded birds was the fourth highest in the state for 2004 and accounted for 5.4 percent of the harvest. Expect to see another slight decline in harvest, due to lower recruitment in 2004 and 2005. But there are some old longbeards that can be a great challenge to hunt.

WMU 2A
Harvests peaked in 2001 when hunters reported killing twice the statewide average. Harvests are still expected to be well above the state average, but about the same or slightly below 2005 because the number of jakes and 2-year-old birds continues to decline from the highs during 1999-02.

WMU 2B
Two-year-old gobblers will be abundant in 2006, but jakes will be in short supply due to the poor recruitment of 2005. This WMU showed the second-highest harvest per square mile during the spring 2005 season behind WMU 4C. So even though this is an urban WMU, hunters are succeeding in acquiring access to huntable flocks. For additional opportunities, seek non-traditional areas, since these may produce some excellent hunting.

WMU 2C
The turkey population and spring harvest peaked here in 2001 and have been declining slightly since. Even though the spring 2005 harvest was the fifth highest in the state, the harvest density (harvest per square mile) was below the statewide average. Expect this spring's harvest to be equal to or slightly above last spring's numbers due to better recruitment than 2004, even though recruitment in 2005 was still below average. There will be fewer 2-year-old gobblers, but more jakes than in 2004.

WMU 2D
The turkey harvest peaked in 2003 at well above the state average, but has been showing a slight declining trend. WMU 2D had the highest spring harvest in 2005 (3,006) and constituted 6.7 percent of the total state harvest.

However, recruitment has decreased in the last two years, so we expect harvests to be slightly lower than last year, but still well above the state average. Hunters should still have better than average success here.

WMUs 2E And 2F
Harvests have been declining slightly from the peak in 2001 and have been below the state average. Below-average recruitment over the last three years will likely decrease this spring's harvest slightly and is expected to be below average again.

WMU 2G
The harvest has been declining slowly since the peak in 2001 and remains below the state average. The below-average recruitment has been slowly increasing since 2003, so expect the spring harvest to increase slightly from its record low in 2005.

WMU 3A
The 2005 turkey harvest showed the second-highest recruitment on record (highest was in 2002), so hunters should expect an abundance of the quieter jakes during the 2006 spring season.

Spring harvests have declined since their peak in 2001. Harvest densities are below the state average, but with the low levels of older birds and abundance of jakes, hunters have the potential to increase harvest levels in 2006 if they can successfully call in the quiet jakes.

WMU 3B
The spring harvest has declined since the peak in 2001, and the kill dropped sharply in 2005, with harvest densities falling below the state average in 2005. Recruitment was similar in 2004, so expect the spring 2006 harvest to be similar to 2005.

WMU 3C
This WMU maintains higher harvest densities than the state average.

Even though there will be fewer 2- and 3-year-old gobblers, a record number of turkeys were sighted in summer 2005, so it appears that recruitment was excellent, providing hunters with an abundance of jakes for 2006.

Low nesting success in 2003 and 2004 caused the spring 2005 harvest to decrease. Expect spring 2006 harvest to be slightly better than 2005, which still translates to good-to-excellent hunting.