The Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission has voted to adopt restrictions allowing less hunting of that gobbling game bird, the turkey, in an effort to help its population bounce back. The big blow…they have completely cancelled the fall turkey hunting season. The turkey population has dropped by 60% since 2008.
Wildlife biologists have studied “in great detail” to try to figure out why the state’s population of wild turkeys has dropped. Other states have seem similar population drops, but there are no conclusive theories. Some say it may be parasite or germ causing hatch numbers to drop. The hope is, by cancelling the hunting season, it will give the turkeys more of a chance to populate. The fall turkey season in Kansas has historically been a “secondary season,” which doesn’t bring out as many hunters as the spring season does, and, the number of fall turkey hunters statewide has decreased since 2015, at a rate of about 20% per year
