Six decades ago, the sight or sound of a wild turkey in Oklahoma was a rare and notable occurrence. Once plentiful during the days before statehood, very few birds remained after market hunting and droughts had taken their toll.
Today, the status of the species in Oklahoma is much different. Thanks to aggressive conservation measures and successful restoration and transplanting programs in the 1950s and 1960s, the gobbling and strutting of the wild turkey is a sight that is now common in many forests and fields.
Landowners wanting to learn how to get involved in this wild turkey success story are invited to attend a free Wild Turkey Field Day from 9 a.m. to noonThursday, June 15, at the Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area headquarters in Ellis County.
Session topics will include a wild turkey biological research update; using prescribed fire to benefit wild turkeys; and management practices to provide roosting and loafing cover.
Presenters will be wildlife specialist Dwayne Elmore with the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service; Gene T. Miller, regional biologist with the National Wild Turkey Federation; Marcus Thibodeau, wildlife biologist with Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation; and Allie Rakowski, a graduate student working with wild turkeys at Packsaddle WMA.
The event is being cosponsored by the Extension Service, the Wildlife Department and NWTF.
Packsaddle WMA headquarters is 20.5 miles north of Cheyenne on U.S. 283, then one mile east on E0770 Road. For more information, contact Elmore at (405) 744-9636 or dwayne.elmore@okstate.edu.