NORTHWEST TERRITORY: Western Ozarks hunters unlikely to gobble up birds

LITTLE ROCK — Turkey hunting prospects in the western Ozarks are expected to be no better than the past several years when the 21-day spring season opens Saturday.

Much of the blame rests on another poor hatch last spring in spite of a later and shorter spring hunting season designed to enhance breeding success.

The 2007 annual brood survey by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission revealed an average of 1.75 poults per hen, down from 2.06 in 2006 and well below the long-term average of 3.28.

As a result, the survey predicts that this spring’s harvest in the westernmost counties of Northwest Arkansas will be similar or down slightly from last year.

On the other hand, hunting success is expected to improve slightly in the north-central Ozarks and be even better in the eastern Ozarks because of the number of 2-year-old gobblers from fair hatches in 2006.

How the gobbler population varies across the Ozarks as a whole can be seen in the county-by-county harvest figures detailed in the commission’s 2006-07 Turkey Season Summary.

The steady decline of the turkey population and habitat in Benton County, for example, was reflected in a harvest of only 10 gobblers. The longbeards were so few at Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area last spring that a turkey restoration program was initiated this year with the release of six hens trapped elsewhere in the state.

Moving east from Benton County toward the north-central Ozarks, the 2007 harvest figures indicate an increasing numbers of gobblers, with 177 killed in Carroll County and 279 in Boone County.

A similar progression also showed in Washington, Madison and Newton counties, where the gobbler harvests numbered 34, 164 and 274, respectively.

Another factor that could affect hunters hearing and finding gobblers during the spring season is the lingering effect of a poor acorn crop last fall caused by the severe freeze of a year ago, according to Brad Carner, a Russellville-based regional wildlife supervisor with the commission.

“If the body weights of the gobblers are down because of the poor acorn crop, they may not gobble as much as they would if they were healthier,” Carner said Friday.

However, he believes the opening of the season is well-timed for hunters to hear gobbling in areas where there are gobblers to be heard.

“Our hunter surveys indicate an initial peak of gobbling around the first of April, followed by a lull around the 10th of April, when the peak of breeding takes place, and then a second peak of gobbling starting around the 15th of April,” Carner said.

“That second peak coming after most [of] the hens are bred is when the gobblers will be more receptive to calling.”

While the spring hatch could be hurt in the flooded areas of eastern Arkansas, Carner doesn’t expect the hatch to be affected in our region, where hens tend to nest well away from stream banks.

WMA RENAMED

The Madison County Wildlife Management Area was renamed the McIlroy Madison County WMA during a dedication ceremony April 2 at the management area’s new headquarters near Arkansas 23 between Clifty and Forum.

The name change honors the McIlroy family of Fayetteville, who once owned the hills and hollows that form of the area.

After a deer restoration program was started in the 1940s on what was then a remote area of Madison County, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in 1957 bought about 7,500 acres of the McIlroy land at a bargain price of $10 per acre.

Many additional land purchases were made over the years, and the WMA’s current 14,496 acres are almost all within the boundaries of the 15,000 acres originally owned by the McIlroys, according to a news release from the commission.

Although the WMA is primarily managed for wildlife and is known for providing public hunting for deer and turkey, it has come to be increasingly appreciated as a recreational asset for hikers, horsemen and mountain bikers.

Hollows like Bear Creek Hollow and the drainage of Rockhouse Creek provide scenic areas with waterfalls, bluffs and caves to explore during day visits or while camping in more than a dozen primitive camping areas.

Among longtime residents of northern Madison County, the renaming represents a return to the WMA’s original name — the McIlroy Wildlife Refuge.

TOURNAMENT SETS RECORDS

The Bassmaster Elite Series’ Lone Star Shootout at Falcon Lake near Zapata, Texas, set records in a duel featuring top pros weighing five-bass limits exceeding 30 pounds.

Paul Elias of Laurel, Miss., won with a four-day total of 132 pounds, 8 ounces to demolish the previous four-day mark of 122-14.

Amazingly, six of the top finishers broke the previous record, including Arkansas pros Mark Davis of Mount Ida in fifth place with 128-15 and Scott Rook of Little Rock in sixth with 125-10.

Altogether, the Elite Series fishermen caught 1,386 bass weighing 6,811 pounds for an average of nearly 5 pounds per fish.

From personal experience dating to the 1980s, Falcon Lake was for years rated Texas’ top tournament lake. Then it began to suffer from low-water years in one of the state’s most torrid regions.

During one of the good years of the mid-1980s, a memorable spring trip featured the catch of two largemouths weighing 9 and 11 pounds.

A final trip in the early 1990s found the lake at near-record lows, with the old cemeteries and villages exposed high and dry on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The fishing was slow on a day that temperatures reached 119 degrees.

Undoubtedly, the lake has reclaimed its former glory.