Wild Turkeys in the Santa Ritas??

[bmf1321]

Has anyone else ever seen Wild Turkeys in the Santa Ritas? A friend of mine said he saw a bunch in the mountains a few weeks ago. I didn't believe him until I saw a lone bird yesterday in the flats near the mountains. Anyone else see them out there? I, of course, did not have my camera with me. BTW, I am not talking about my drink of choice either. The actual birds.

[SilentButDeadly]

I heard about Goulds in the Santa Catalinas; http://www.azgfd.gov/artman/publish/printer_459.shtml

 

Never seen any in the Rincons (spent 3 summers up there working fire); have seen Montezuma quail and band-tailed pigeons up there though...

[audsley]

There have been at least two, possibly more, transplants of Gould's turkeys into the Santa Ritas in the past couple of years. I helped catch some in the Canelo Hills that went to the Catalinas. In the following couple of weeks some more were caught at the same location and set free in the Santa Ritas to join a flock that had been transplanted spring of 2007.

 

The National Wild Turkey Federation, Az Game & Fish and lots of volunteers made this happen.

 

As for the Catalinas, this year's birds were released at Rose Canyon Lake. No telling where they are now. Earlier in the year a bunch were seen in the Agua Caliente Hill area off Redington Rd. These were from a transplant a year ago. Turkeys go where they want to go.

[Snapshot]

I spend a fair amount of time in the Northern end of the Santa Ritas, since I live in Sahuarita, but I have yet to see a turkey. In September 2006, I saw a very large bear in the cactus less than a mile from Helvetia. What part of the unit did he see the birds?

[IHunt2live]

The catalinas yes but the Santa Ritas, now thats intrusting. You might want to keep on this and contact some authorities if you continue to site them.

[bmf1321]

Well the original sigting was near the Observatory. I saw them yesterday near the Experimental Range. Weird how we keep finding turkeys and didn't think there were any. We are actually trying to find a couple bears.

[IHunt2live]

I make it out to that neck of the woods every once and a while. I'll have to keep my eyes open? They looked like true wild turkeys? not someones thanksgiving day meal?

[audsley]

They look like true wild turkeys. In fact, they look like Merriams except they're taller because their legs are longer. Here's a picture

 

http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/hist...ild_turkey.html

[Apatkelley]

The Game and Fish Department knows about the turkeys in the Santa Ritas. I saw one in the Madera canyon area in Feb of this year.

[azpackhorse]

We've seen them between Sonoita and Patagonia last spring, I've also seen them in the Catalinas and Pinalinos.

[azshtr]

My brother just saw some down around Patagonia last weekend.

[ibowhuntaz]

I saw 2 last October during the early rifle whitetail hunt. These were on the east side of Mt Wrightson. Had no idea they were in there.

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

Anyone know what the difference is between the Gould's and a Rio Grande Turkey??? They both have the really long legs like that. Having just hunted the Rio's for the first time I was amazed at how much taller and over larger they are compared to our birds here in Northern AZ. Hope those birds do well down there..... it would be cool to get to hunt them here in the States. I think there is currently, like one or just a few, Goulds permits available for the spring hunt..... I don't have the Spring Regs......

 

CnS

[Outdoor Writer]

These are some of the more recent items I've written on the Gould's over the last several years for my IN THE FIELD column in Rocky Mt. Game & Fish. They should provide the basic info of where they are now living. -TONY

 

 

10/2000

 

GOULD’S TURKEY PROJECT

 

Before the white man came to Arizona, a good population of the Gould’s species of wild turkey roamed the oak-studded grasslands of southeastern Arizona. By the end of the 1800s, though, they were all but gone – virtually killed off by ranchers, soldiers, miners and other settlers.

 

Using birds captured in the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua, the Arizona Game & Fish Department (AGFD) started reintroducing the Gould’s in the Huachuca Mountains during the 1980s. The planted birds have taken root there, and although they are not overrunning the country, they now comprise a growing population.

 

In the 1990s, another transplant in the Galiuro Mountains took place. Although this one was unsuccessful, the failure didn’t convince the AGFD biologists that establishing viable populations elsewhere within the once historic range of the endangered species is impossible. The key is learning more about them. To this end, game department biologists began an extensive, 3-year-long research project in July.

 

Jim deVos, chief of the AGFD’s research branch, feels part of his job is to help restore the Gould’s variety. “This species lived in the state prior to European settlement but disappeared completely and mostly due to causes related to humans. One of the game department’s goals is reestablishing native wildlife to its native range. The fact that the Gould’s turkey is found in only a few limited areas of this country makes this an important project for us.”

 

The research consists of a three-pronged approach: count the existing population in the Huachucas; determine the number of birds needed for additional transplants to be successful; and identifying other mountain ranges and areas in the southeastern quadrant of Arizona that are likely locations for future reintroductions.

 

To accomplish the first of the three goals, the researchers will use rocket nets or traps to catch the birds, then outfit them with radio transmitters. Remote cameras will also monitor the flocks at drinking areas. The data from the bird’s daily movements and habits should give biologists a basis to predict how well the turkeys might adapt to similar habitat at another location.

 

A prior count of the Huachuca population totaled 65 birds, but deVos thinks more exist. “You can never count them all. If you see 65, there’s probably plenty more.”

 

Several of the areas ripe for transplants are the Santa Rita and Chiricahua mountain ranges and the area along the San Pedro River. If any of these show good potential, moving birds from the Huachuca Mountains could take place as early as this winter.

 

12/2001

 

Gould’s Turkey Permit

 

The line in the hunt regulations booklet for Arizona’s 2002 spring turkey season read, “4027 - Apr. 26 - May 23, 2002 (3) - 35A (except Fort Huachuca) - Bearded turkey –1,” which in itself isn’t too attention-getting until one read the (3) footnote. It stated: “Turkeys in Unit 35A are Gould’s turkeys.”

 

Translated, it means someone received an historic tag in the drawing last month to pursue a Gould’s turkey – a first ever for all of the U.S. according to the records.

 

The permit will allow the lucky hunter to kill a gobbler from a growing number of the once-native bird in the Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista.

 

The first-time ever hunt resulted because of a 20-yr.-old ongoing project to reestablish self-sustaining Gould’s population in several areas of the state.

At one time, both the Merriam’s and Gould’s subspecies were native to the state. The Merriam’s has held its own in the higher elevation pine forests, but the Gould’s of the oak-studded grasslands of southeastern Arizona was extirpated around the turn of the 20th century.

 

Using birds captured in the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua, the AGFD started reintroducing the Gould’s in the Huachuca Mountains during the 1980s.

 

According to AGFD Research Branch Chief Jim deVos, the birds in the s are now doing well, with an estimated population around 100. At one time, though, some concerns about hybridization with Merriam’s turkeys cropped up. DNA analysis of blood samples showed no hybridization occurred, however.

 

And now the success of the Gould’s reestablishment into Huachucas is providing biologists with information for future transplants into other mountain ranges such as the Galiuro and Santa Rita. The three-year study is less than half over, so hunting in other units other than 35A isn’t too likely in the near future. On the other, it’s a good bet the number of permits for 35A will increase as the population there does.

 

08/2004

 

More Gould’s Turkey

 

In its ongoing effort to reestablish populations, the Arizona Game & Fish Department recently released 43 Gould’s turkeys. The birds, captured in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Mountains, were set loose into three mountain ranges in the state. The Pinalenos, north of Wilcox received 35 turkeys, and the Chiricahua and Huachuca mountains, which already have viable populations of Gould’s, received five and three birds respectively.

 

The Gould's subspecies is one of five in North America and once ranged throughout southern Arizona before being wiped out a century ago. The reintroduction, which began in 1983 with the first relocation of Mexican birds to the Huachuca Mountains, is a cooperative project that includes the AGFD, National Wild Turkey Federation, U.S. Forest Service and the Mexico government.

 

Since the first transplant, several others comprising turkeys from Mexico have occurred. Relocations to the Galiuro Mountains began in 1994 with 21 birds. Additional plants of birds either captured in Mexico or in the Huachuca range took place in 1997, 1999 and 2001. Unfortunately, predation and limited habitat has made this effort less than a success. Although nearly 100 birds have been moved there, only 20 to 30 exist today.

 

The first transplant of 39 turkeys to the Chiricahuas happened in 2002, and another 10 were added this year. Five came from Mexico and five came from the Huachuca flock.

 

In contrast to the Galiuro effort, the Huachuca project has been a huge success. The estimated population is 150, even after some were captured to supplement flocks in the Galiuro and Chiricahua mountains. And for the first time in 2002, the AGFD authorized two hunting permits for the Huachucas. One permit went through the general draw and the other was auctioned by the NWTF with the proceeds coming back to Arizona to fund future turkey projects. The same occurred for the 2004 season.

 

05/2006

 

NEW HOME FOR GOULD’S TURKEYS

 

Both the Gould's and Merriam’s turkey subspecies once roamed in Arizona, but by 1920 the Gould’s had vanished. The Arizona Game & Fish Department, in cooperation with the National Wild Turkey Federation, Mexican government and other agencies, began an extensive program known as Go for the Gould's to reintroduce the native bird into its historic habitats. To continue that effort, biologists and volunteers recently released 25 Gould’s in the Santa Catalina Mountains, located north of Tucson. Ten of the birds in this initial release in the Catalinas are wearing radio transmitters, which will help biologists monitor the birds’ movements, survival and reproduction.

 

Gould's turkeys are slightly larger than the Merriam's subspecies found throughout much of the state’s high country. The Gould’s once lived in riparian corridors and isolated mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona, but their population dwindled as more people moved westward and saw the birds as a ready source of food. Today, the largest population lives in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico.

 

In 2005, the game department and volunteers relocated 28 Gould’s turkeys from Mexico to Arizona, bringing the total of birds set free since 2003 in the Huachuca, Chiricahua and Pinaleno mountains to 82.

 

Wakeling is pleased because the Gould's turkeys are expanding their population and range. “A survey we did in the Huachuca Mountains last year observed 321 Gould's turkeys. The highest previous number for that area was 90 in 2004," he said.

 

Dr. James Earl Kennamer, NWTF senior vice president for conservation programs, was more elated because of unexpected habitat expansion. “There was even a report of several turkeys being seen in the Patagonia and Santa Rita Mountains where birds have not been released,” he said.

 

Although a tiny Gould’s population exists in New Mexico, Arizona is the only state that allows a very limited Gould's wild turkey hunt. Last year, only three Gould's turkey tags were issued. Two were auctioned through the NWTF to raise money for the Go for the Gould's project, and one was issued through a statewide lottery.

 

Since 2002, the NWTF's Gould's tag auctions have raised $47,665 for the restoration efforts in Arizona.

[Codywhi]

we seen 15 turkeys in madera canyon last week, i spend alot of time in that unit and have never seen them anywhere elice thats really cool.. and if u have a bear tag send me a pm we seen three last weekend...