"There are still some turkeys there, but they don't seem to be doing real well," Perrin admits. "It's a tough environment for them to live in, with kind of marginal turkey habitat. But we're not giving up on it."

For the birds, the problem is the habitat. The Everglades are primarily wetlands, of course, with little in the way of recognizable upland habitat.

"They're uplands for maybe six to eight months of the year," Perrin explains. "But if there's a big storm, that upland can get really wet. It's on the fringe of where the turkeys can survive. They're operating on the limit.

"We released the original birds in January of 2000 and they're still there, so that means they're reproducing," he continues. "They're hanging on, but their numbers aren't what we'd like to see. We think that if we can get a supplemental group of turkeys in there, they may create a viable population."

STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT
"Back in 2001, we did a distribution assessment," Perrin says, "and created a map that's on the Internet. It shows where turkeys are distributed around the state."

Now biologists are looking at habitat data to locate areas that have suitable habitat, but no turkeys.

"This information will help us identify other areas that could benefit from restoration, increased protection, or additional management," Perrin adds. "It's a project that will help us direct where we go in the future."

HUNTING PROSPECTS
So where are you going to bag your bird this year? Around the state, many Wildlife Management Areas hold good turkey populations. With that said, however, most of the areas with the better populations are managed under the Special Opportunity Hunt or the Quota Hunt systems. That's one factor that keeps the populations high. Both types of hunts are very popular, and rarely are there any permits left over.

If you don't have a permit for either type of hunt, don't wait until next spring and risk getting left out again. Permit applications become available each year around Christmas, so make plans now to pick one up for the 2007 season.

Perrin offers some recommendations for good public hunts, based on hunters' success rates from 2005.

"Remember, it's not the total number of birds killed in any one area that's important," Perrin cautions. "It's how many days-per-turkey it took to harvest the ones that were taken. If you're looking at an area where it took 15 or fewer man-days to harvest a turkey, that's pretty good."

SOUTHWEST REGION
"Some of our better areas in the Southwest Region are Chassahowitzka, Hickory Hammock, and Kicco WMAs," Perrin predicts.

He points out that U.S. Highway 98 goes right along Chassahowitzka's eastern boundary. The habitat in that area is primarily sand hills, covered with longleaf pine, wiregrass and turkey oaks.

"There's a little bit of high ground close to the highway, but it drops off quickly into a big hardwood swamp," Perrin says. "Turkeys use both those areas, but it's hard to get around in that swamp. It's a big area, but a lot of it is hard to get to. Road access is very limited."

The FWCC is doing a lot of management that's good for turkeys, including clearing and controlled burns on the area to reduce understory vegetation. This project is funded by the NWTF. Both Kicco and Hickory Hammock WMAs are on the Kissimmee River.

"Hickory Hammock has live-oak hammocks along the edge of the old Kissimmee River floodplain," Perrin points out. "There are also flatlands that tend toward wetlands, particularly as they restore the river system."

The habitat on Kicco is similar to that on Hickory Hammock.

"Kicco is a little farther north than Hickory Hammock, but has that same live-oak hammock area that borders the Kissimmee River floodplain," Perrin says.

SOUTH REGION
Here, Perrin suggests Dinner Island and Okaloacoochee Slough WMAs, as well as Dupuis Wildlife and Environmental Area.