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Nevada Turkey Hunting Season Cancelled

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada's 1,500 or so wild turkeys are getting a reprieve.

The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners has called off the fall hunting season on the non-native birds, citing a decline in their numbers due to a combination of drought and predators.

It's the first such statewide closure on turkey hunting in Nevada since the 1980s, but it shouldn't be permanent, said Shawn Espinosa, game biologist at the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

NDOW evaluates turkey numbers each year, he said, and a fall 2011 hunt is possible if the population rebounds.

"I would suspect that recovery may take a couple of years, though, and largely depends on weather and habitat conditions,'' Espinosa said. "A fall hunt in 2012 is probably more likely if we see a decent response in turkey populations.''

Wild turkeys were first introduced to Nevada in 1960, and NDOW has released over 1,800 turkeys — primarily the Rio Grande subspecies — since 1987.

The birds now live mostly along river corridors in western Nevada, along the Ruby Mountains of Elko County, around Paradise Valley in Humboldt County and in eastern White Pine County. In southern Nevada, they populate Lincoln County as well as Moapa Valley and the Overton area of Clark County.

Espinosa estimates Nevada is home to between 1,000 and 2,000 wild turkeys. Their predators include skunks, badgers, coyotes and mountain lions.

"There have been some drought occurrences in areas of the state ... and that's probably the major thing that has affected their numbers,'' Espinosa said. "Habitat conditions haven't been all that great in some areas.''

The fall turkey season was launched in 1991, and usually runs from early October through early November. The annual spring turkey season will still be held from late March through early May.

But Espinosa said fewer areas of the state are open for spring turkey hunting, and quotas were reduced for the spring hunt in some units.

Wild turkeys subside on alfalfa and other crops, as well as native vegetation such as buffalo berries, currants, willows and wild rose.

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