{"id":{"repo_id":"sdstate","oai_identifier":"oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-1309"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/sdstate/oai:openprairie.sdstate.edu:etd-1309","repository":{"repo_id":"sdstate","name":"South Dakota State University","base_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Survival of Male Merriam's Turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills","abstract":"Due to increasing population trends of Merriam’s turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo merriami), the Black Hills of Wyoming has become a popular spring wild turkey hunting destination. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department currently limits spring wild turkey hunters to 1 license (good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey), and the department was interested in determining if a proposed change in the bag limit would affect annual gobbler survival in the Black Hills of Wyoming. I completed a study to determine the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys under the current license structure. A follow-up study will be conducted to determine the survival of male wild turkeys when spring wild turkey hunters are allowed to obtain up to 2 licenses (each good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey). Male Merriam’s turkeys (n=151) were radio-collared from January through March in 2008 and 2009. Collared wild turkeys were monitored 2-3 times per week through the end of May in 2008 and 2009. Mortalities were retrieved and the cause of death was determined. Mortalities were classified into seven categories: mammalian predation, avian predation, crippling, weather-related, accidental, hunting, or unknown. Spring hunting (26%) and crippling (5%) were the cause of 31% of the mortality. Fall hunting and crippling accounted for 4% of the mortality, predation accounted for 22% of the mortality, and 42% of the mortalities were classified as unknown. Extrapolated annual survival rates were calculated in Program MARK and were different between years and among age classes, with the exception of the between-year comparison for 2 year old birds. Extrapolated annual survival rates were 0.1539 for jakes in 2008 and 0.4929 in 2009; 0.1827 for 2 year olds in 2008-09; and 0.4751 in 2008 and 0.1266 in 2009 for birds ≥ 3 years old. Apparent seasonal survival estimates were calculated with known-fate models in Program MARK. The best fit model incorporated age (weekly S = 0.9820 for jakes and weekly S = 0.9880 for adults), hunting (weeklyS = 0.9578), severe weather (weekly S = 0.9614), and severe weather that occurred during the hunting season (weekly S = 0.9014) as variables that significantly affected the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills.","abstract_html":"Due to increasing population trends of Merriam’s turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo merriami), the Black Hills of Wyoming has become a popular spring wild turkey hunting destination. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department currently limits spring wild turkey hunters to 1 license (good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey), and the department was interested in determining if a proposed change in the bag limit would affect annual gobbler survival in the Black Hills of Wyoming. I completed a study to determine the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys under the current license structure. A follow-up study will be conducted to determine the survival of male wild turkeys when spring wild turkey hunters are allowed to obtain up to 2 licenses (each good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey). Male Merriam’s turkeys (n=151) were radio-collared from January through March in 2008 and 2009. Collared wild turkeys were monitored 2-3 times per week through the end of May in 2008 and 2009. Mortalities were retrieved and the cause of death was determined. Mortalities were classified into seven categories: mammalian predation, avian predation, crippling, weather-related, accidental, hunting, or unknown. Spring hunting (26%) and crippling (5%) were the cause of 31% of the mortality. Fall hunting and crippling accounted for 4% of the mortality, predation accounted for 22% of the mortality, and 42% of the mortalities were classified as unknown. Extrapolated annual survival rates were calculated in Program MARK and were different between years and among age classes, with the exception of the between-year comparison for 2 year old birds. Extrapolated annual survival rates were 0.1539 for jakes in 2008 and 0.4929 in 2009; 0.1827 for 2 year olds in 2008-09; and 0.4751 in 2008 and 0.1266 in 2009 for birds ≥ 3 years old. Apparent seasonal survival estimates were calculated with known-fate models in Program MARK. The best fit model incorporated age (weekly S = 0.9820 for jakes and weekly S = 0.9880 for adults), hunting (weeklyS = 0.9578), severe weather (weekly S = 0.9614), and severe weather that occurred during the hunting season (weekly S = 0.9014) as variables that significantly affected the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cahoy, Samuel J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis - University Access Only","degree_discipline":"Wildlife and Fisheries Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kent C. Jensen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:27:51Z","subjects":["Natural Resources and Conservation"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2004 Samuel J. Cahoy. All rights reserved."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/309","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kent C. Jensen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cahoy, Samuel J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Wildlife and Fisheries Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - University Access Only"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Natural Resources and Conservation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2004 Samuel J. Cahoy. All rights reserved."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/309"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Due to increasing population trends of Merriam’s turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo merriami), the Black Hills of Wyoming has become a popular spring wild turkey hunting destination. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department currently limits spring wild turkey hunters to 1 license (good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey), and the department was interested in determining if a proposed change in the bag limit would affect annual gobbler survival in the Black Hills of Wyoming. I completed a study to determine the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys under the current license structure. A follow-up study will be conducted to determine the survival of male wild turkeys when spring wild turkey hunters are allowed to obtain up to 2 licenses (each good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey). Male Merriam’s turkeys (n=151) were radio-collared from January through March in 2008 and 2009. Collared wild turkeys were monitored 2-3 times per week through the end of May in 2008 and 2009. Mortalities were retrieved and the cause of death was determined. Mortalities were classified into seven categories: mammalian predation, avian predation, crippling, weather-related, accidental, hunting, or unknown. Spring hunting (26%) and crippling (5%) were the cause of 31% of the mortality. Fall hunting and crippling accounted for 4% of the mortality, predation accounted for 22% of the mortality, and 42% of the mortalities were classified as unknown. Extrapolated annual survival rates were calculated in Program MARK and were different between years and among age classes, with the exception of the between-year comparison for 2 year old birds. Extrapolated annual survival rates were 0.1539 for jakes in 2008 and 0.4929 in 2009; 0.1827 for 2 year olds in 2008-09; and 0.4751 in 2008 and 0.1266 in 2009 for birds ≥ 3 years old. Apparent seasonal survival estimates were calculated with known-fate models in Program MARK. The best fit model incorporated age (weekly S = 0.9820 for jakes and weekly S = 0.9880 for adults), hunting (weeklyS = 0.9578), severe weather (weekly S = 0.9614), and severe weather that occurred during the hunting season (weekly S = 0.9014) as variables that significantly affected the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Survival of Male Merriam's Turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kent C. Jensen"],"dc:creator":["Cahoy, Samuel J."],"dc:description.abstract":["Due to increasing population trends of Merriam’s turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo merriami), the Black Hills of Wyoming has become a popular spring wild turkey hunting destination. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department currently limits spring wild turkey hunters to 1 license (good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey), and the department was interested in determining if a proposed change in the bag limit would affect annual gobbler survival in the Black Hills of Wyoming. I completed a study to determine the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys under the current license structure. A follow-up study will be conducted to determine the survival of male wild turkeys when spring wild turkey hunters are allowed to obtain up to 2 licenses (each good for the harvest of 1 male wild turkey). Male Merriam’s turkeys (n=151) were radio-collared from January through March in 2008 and 2009. Collared wild turkeys were monitored 2-3 times per week through the end of May in 2008 and 2009. Mortalities were retrieved and the cause of death was determined. Mortalities were classified into seven categories: mammalian predation, avian predation, crippling, weather-related, accidental, hunting, or unknown. Spring hunting (26%) and crippling (5%) were the cause of 31% of the mortality. Fall hunting and crippling accounted for 4% of the mortality, predation accounted for 22% of the mortality, and 42% of the mortalities were classified as unknown. Extrapolated annual survival rates were calculated in Program MARK and were different between years and among age classes, with the exception of the between-year comparison for 2 year old birds. Extrapolated annual survival rates were 0.1539 for jakes in 2008 and 0.4929 in 2009; 0.1827 for 2 year olds in 2008-09; and 0.4751 in 2008 and 0.1266 in 2009 for birds ≥ 3 years old. Apparent seasonal survival estimates were calculated with known-fate models in Program MARK. The best fit model incorporated age (weekly S = 0.9820 for jakes and weekly S = 0.9880 for adults), hunting (weeklyS = 0.9578), severe weather (weekly S = 0.9614), and severe weather that occurred during the hunting season (weekly S = 0.9014) as variables that significantly affected the survival of male Merriam’s turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills."],"dc:identifier":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/309"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2004 Samuel J. Cahoy. All rights reserved."],"dc:subject":["Natural Resources and Conservation"],"dc:title":["Survival of Male Merriam's Turkeys in the Wyoming Black Hills"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Wildlife and Fisheries Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - University Access Only"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:27:51Z"}