Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources looking for reports on wild turkey sightings

The Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is asking Kentuckians to report their sightings of wild turkey through August in an online survey.

That information will be used to help Fish and Wildlife understand trends in the Commonwealth’s population.

“The turkey population is studied by department staff and graduate student researchers, but they can only cover a limited area of the state,” said Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Wild Turkey Program coordinator Zak Danks said in a release. “Keen-eyed volunteers who report turkey sightings through this survey really expand our ability to monitor the flock.”

The data will help researchers evaluate reproductive success, which is important to the local population’s sustainability.

The Department says turkey hunters have reported near-record numbers each of the past two spring hunting seasons in Kentucky, but fewer turkeys have been reported across the broader southeastern U.S.

The survey can be accessed by visiting the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ website and entering the keywords “turkey survey” in the search bar. A printable survey can also be downloaded, then scanned or photographed with a smartphone and emailed to info.center@ky.gov.

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