Turkey survey soon ends, where EHD has been found in deer, popular beaches for Labor Day

Have you been seeing wild turkeys over the past few weeks?

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is looking for information from the public on turkey sightings across the state from July and August. The information will help the agency’s staff to monitor the success and reproduction of these birds.

The survey will ask for the number of wild turkeys seen, along with the location, date and contact information in case agency biologists have follow-up questions. The PGC points out that your specific location will be kept confidential and is used only to determine the general area of each sighting.

You can report your findings online at pgcdatacollection.pa.gov/TurkeyBroodSurvey . The deadline is Sept. 6.

The annual project that’s been happening since 2016, will help the agency to determine if factors such as weather, habitat and predation have impacted the population.

Please take a few minutes to share your experiences seeing turkeys this summer with the PGC.

I also have a few stories for you this week that are linked below:

• If you are looking for new places to hunt, you may want to consider properties that are close to or are in metropolitan areas. The story explains how and why to hunt these areas.
• The end of summer is also a challenging time for deer dealing with insects. The Game Commission is monitoring an EHD outbreak in deer in southeastern Pennsylvania. The story explains what you need to know and how to help.
• Speaking of diseases in deer, I’m reshaping a story I wrote about the different types of maladies and conditions you may see on a deer and how to respond.
• Lastly, Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end to the swimming season in state parks. If you are looking to take one last dip, here’s a look at the six most popular beaches in the state.

Have a good holiday weekend.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him with questions about the outdoors or story ideas at bwhipkey@gannett.com or 814-444-5928. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors .

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Turkey survey soon ends, where EHD has been found in deer, popular beaches for Labor Day