Here's what the state had to say in their recent "Management Plan for Wild Turkeys in Pennsylvania 2006-2015," and I quote:
"Currently in Pennsylvania turkey hunters are prohibited from using dogs to aid their hunt, during either season. The 2001 Pennsylvania Turkey Hunter Survey (Diefenbach 2002) revealed that 75% of the respondents did not approve of legalizing dogs for fall turkey hunting (15% approved of legalizing and 9% were undecided). There seems to be a small, but growing, interest in using specially trained ‘turkey dogs’ during the fall turkey season. During the public review process for this management plan there were 113 public comments, 18 of which requested permitting the use of turkey dogs for the fall turkey season. Because this is a new issue for Pennsylvania, a survey was conducted (Eriksen 2006) to determine which states and provinces allow turkey dogs, and if there are any concerns regarding the impact of dog hunting on turkey populations.
"According to Eriksen’s (2006) survey of all states and provinces, six jurisdictions have no fall turkey season (Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, Ontario and South Carolina), two states (Maine and New Hampshire) have archery only fall seasons [blogger's note: NH introduced a five-day limited shotgun turkey season in the fall of 2006], and the remaining 42 jurisdictions have firearm fall or winter hunting seasons for wild turkeys . . . Among the 42 states with firearm fall turkey hunting seasons, 20 prohibit the use of dogs for turkey hunting. Twenty-two states allow the use of dogs by fall turkey hunters [blogger's note: 23 states and a Canadian province now permit it]. Fall hunter success rates among the responding states ranged from 6 to 50 percent and the average fall hunter success rate was 29 percent . . . It should be noted, however, that extremely high fall hunter success rates in some western and mid-western states affected the average significantly. No state in which fall turkey hunters use dogs was able to report success rates for fall turkey hunters using dogs verses (sic) success rates for those who hunt without dogs. No state had precise figures on the number of fall hunters using dogs. However, most of the responding states reported that the number of turkey hunters using dogs for fall hunting was “very small” or “very low." When queried for a percentage figure, several biologists estimated that less than 10 percent of fall hunters employ dogs for turkey hunting. At least 4 states reported estimating that less than 5 percent of fall turkey hunters use dogs. Only one biologist estimated that more than 10 percent of fall turkey hunters used dogs.
"None of the biologists reported concerns about the impact of dog hunting on turkey populations. One biologist expressed concern not about fall hunting with dogs, but about the potential impact of dog training on wintering turkey flocks. Another indicated agency concern about pheasant hunters (Eriksen 2006)."
(Steve Hickoff photo/2006 New York State fall turkey)
