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Magazine
Impact of Flooding on Wild Turkeys in the Mississippi Delta
The historic Mississippi River flood of 2011 impacted wildlife populations in the Delta in many ways. Of particular interest to many people has been the impact of flooding on the Delta’s wild turkey population. The good news is that wild turkeys are well adapted to surviving during flood conditions. The birds have the ability to move temporarily to higher ground. They can also live for extended periods in tree tops, subsisting on buds, foliage, and insects. Therefore, direct losses of adult wild turkeys associated with the flood event were very limited. However, the bad news is that floods are unforgiving when it comes to the ground nests of the wild turkey.
Due to the timing and widespread nature of the flooding, the 2011 flood certainly had a negative impact on the turkey hatch throughout much of the Mississippi Delta. The fact that the 2011 hatch was significantly impacted by flooding is even more troubling when taken in the context of what has happened over recent years. While less significant than 2011, high waters from the Mississippi River, Steele Bayou, and other rivers and drainages negatively impacted turkey reproduction in 2008 and 2009 in many Delta areas. That means that many areas with turkeys in the Delta have experienced limited reproduction during 3 of the past 4 years. The overall impact has been a significant decline in overall turkey population numbers in these areas.
On a positive note, however, the entire Delta region was not flooded, and some turkey reproduction did occur during 2011 on higher ground areas outside the levees, especially in Northern Delta counties. Also, water resented from most areas in time for some renesting to occur and successful renesting was in fact documented in some areas of the Delta. Another real positive is that nearly the entire Delta experienced an above average hatch during 2010, and birds produced by that good hatch year will help carry the regional turkey population through this relatively low period. While flooding at the scale observed in 2011 has not happened in many years, it is not at all uncommon for flooding to negatively impact Delta turkey reproduction. We have observed these types of significant population fluctuations several times over the years. The portions of the Mississippi Delta with large acreages of suitable habitat (such as the batture lands behind the main levee, Delta National Forest, and others) have the potential to rebound quickly when we are fortunate enough to get a few good hatch years in a row.
The MDWFP will continue to monitor the wild turkey population in the Delta very closely. While the Agency sees no immediate concerns about offering turkey hunting opportunity in this region, we will evaluate the need for possible modifications to season frameworks on some public lands to improve gobbler carryover and perhaps improve public land hunt quality over the next few years. Legal harvest within the established season frameworks for private lands should not have a negative impact on population abundance. However, if you hunt private land in the Mississippi Delta and want technical guidance on turkey harvest management, please contact the MDWFP Turkey Program Coordinator at 662-325-5119. For additional information on wild turkeys in Mississippi, please visit our program webpage at www.mdwfp.com/turkey.
Dave Godwin is Wild Turkey Program Coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.