Wildlife management may be problematic for people who like straight rows, step-by-step procedures, or simple formulas to follow. Only one thing is for sure in wildlife management. All variables are subject to change and do so over time. Just think of a few variables related to populations: number of individuals, males, females, number of young or eggs produced, recruitment, weight, size, food intake, and many more.Often mangers use trend information to manage populations over time, knowing that they will never attain an exact count of the animals they manage. In the case of Rio Grande wild turkey, Dr. Shawn Locke and colleagues produced a new Texas AgriLife Extension Publication, called" Guide to Abundance Estimation Techniques for Rio Grande Wild Turkey". This can be viewed below or by accessing the document at Texas AgriLife Bookstore.
Here we give guidance on the use of three techniques: roost counts, aerial surveys, and trail camera surveillance to gain information on wild turkey population size.
Rio Grande Wild Turkey Population Survey Methods