A few hundred years ago, when our part of the world was forested heavily, turkeys were plentiful. By 1919, after the majority of Maryland's forests had been cleared in favor of farmland, cities, towns and industries, the wild turkey had been declared absent in the state, except in a few sections of the western counties.
These days, after hunting season closures and several attempts to rebuild the flock with pen-reared birds, the Department of Natural Resources has succeeded in re-establishing wild turkeys in all 23 counties through a trap and transplant program.
According to Steven L. Bittner, who has charge of Maryland's wild turkey management program, the state's population of wild birds now numbers between 15,000 and 18,000.
In all but the western counties, those thousands of birds are largely the result of some 400 turkeys trapped and transplanted in central and eastern counties over the past five years.
The main beneficiaries of the rebuilding of the turkey program are hunters, who have taken to the spring season for bearded turkeys with great enthusiasm. The past spring, a record 1,744 birds were bagged.
But while the spring season flourishes, the number of hunters taking part in the fall season has stabilized.
The fall season opens Saturday and runs through Nov. 10 in Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties west of I-81, and Bittner said the prospects for hunters are good, despite a particularly harsh winter.
"As severe as last winter was for us," Bittner said, "it had a surprisingly minimal impact on the birds. And while the impact of the winter was a concern going into the spring, the gobbler season ended up setting a record."
The flock's production of young also was very good this year and Bittner expects that to result in good hunting this fall.
"The [hatch] reports we have gotten back indicate a banner year across the state and especially in Western Maryland," Bittner said. "People are reporting turkeys everywhere."
Bittner said that so long as the weather cooperates, "we are expecting a pretty good kill. If the weather turns bad, that can really affect the kill numbers. If some of those cold, rainy, windy November days happen to hit, it can really discourage the hunters."
Wind in particular can be a problem for hunters trying to call in birds, he said.
"When the wind is up, you can't hear them and they can't hear you," Bittner said.
The early forecast for opening day is partly sunny with temperatures in the upper 50s and light winds.