Study area
We conducted research on 5 study sites in Georgia and South Carolina,
USA (Fig. 1). The first site, located in Aiken County, South Carolina,
was the 4,400-ha Crackerneck Wildlife Management Area (CWMA), owned by
the United States Department of Energy and managed by SCDNR. Landcover
types on CWMA consisted of upland and bottomland hardwoods, mixed
pine-hardwoods, planted pine stands, and wildlife openings. Turkey
hunting season opened annually on 1 April with a youth hunt on the
Saturday prior, and closed 1 May, with hunting occurring only on Fridays
and Saturdays. The second site in South Carolina was the United States
Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS), which consisted of
78,000 ha located in Aiken and Barnwell counties. The SRS was mostly
forested and consisted of upland and bottomland hardwoods, mixed-pine
hardwoods, and planted stands of longleaf and loblolly pine. Since 1951,
turkey hunting pressure on SRS was limited. Hunting was restricted to an
annual 2-day hunt during the third weekend of April for
mobility-impaired hunters that began in 2002. We collected data on CWMA
and SRS during 2014-2018. For more detailed descriptions of
site-specific conditions on the South Carolina study sites, see Wightman
et al. (2019).
From 2015 to 2018, we collected data on 3 contiguous Wildlife Management
Areas (WMAs) known as the Webb WMA Complex in Hampton and Jasper
counties in South Carolina. The Webb WMA Complex was 10,483-ha dominated
by pine (Pinus spp.) forests consisting mostly of loblolly pine
(P. taeda ) and longleaf pine (P. palustris ), with hardwood
stands adjacent to riparian drainages, and bottomland hardwoods and
wetlands along the Savannah River. The Webb WMA Complex was actively
managed for a variety of wildlife by the South Carolina Department of
Natural Resources. Hunting season for male turkey opened annually on 1
April with a youth hunt on the Saturday prior and ended in the first
week of May, and hunting was permitted Monday–Saturdays.
During 2017-2018, we collected data on two WMAs in the Piedmont region
of Georgia, USA. Cedar Creek WMA (CCWMA) was a 16,187-ha area located in
Jasper, Jones, and Putnam counties owned by the United States Department
of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) and managed in partnership with the
Georgia Department of Natural Resources-Wildlife Resources Division
(GADNR). Cedar Creek WMA consisted of upland loblolly pine stands, with
interspersed areas of mixed pine-hardwood forests, and expanses of
hardwood dominated forests. In 2017, a turkey hunting season was open to
the public from 25 March to 15 May, whereas in 2018 it spanned from 24
March - 15 May. We also collected data on the 4,613-ha B. F. Grant WMA
(BFG) located in Putnam County, Georgia. The BFG was owned by the
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of
Georgia and managed in partnership with the GADNR. The area consisted
mostly of planted loblolly pine forests, hardwood forests, and
agricultural fields used for cattle grazing and hay production. Turkey
hunting season on BFG was split into three parts, the first a youth only
hunt which occurred from 25 March - 2 April in 2017 and 24 March - 1
April in 2018. The second hunt was an 80-person quota from 3 April - 9
April in 2017 and 2 April - 8 April in 2018. The final hunt was open to
the general public and occurred 10 April - 15 May in 2017 and 2 April -
15 May in 2018. For details on site-specific conditions on BFG and CCWMA
see Wakefield et al. (2020).