What to Expect this Spring:
The 2022 Mississippi Turkey Season Forecast
Mississippi’s spring turkey season opens on Tuesday, March 15th and ends the first of May. Hunters aged 15 and under can get an early opportunity in the youth season beginning a week sooner. As hunters await the opener, many questions arise regarding the turkey flock’s status. Will there be more? How was the hatch? Which area of the state will be best? The answers to all these questions are covered below in this spring season forecast.
STATEWIDE
Hunters should be proud to hear that no matter what else, the 2022 season should be better than last year. In every corner of Mississippi, the 2021 season was one of the toughest of the past two decades. According to MDWFP’s estimates, just under 22,000 gobblers were taken by 53,000 turkey hunters. Less than 10,000 were reported through Game Check. Harvest rates by participants in the Spring Gobbler Hunting Survey (SGHS) were as low as they’ve ever been. Despite this depressing news, all available data paints a more favorable picture for 2022. The 2020 hatch was good and jake observations increased last spring, both pointing to more adult gobblers this year. Regionally, higher elevation properties along the Mississippi River, along with the southeastern Pine Belt, both seem well primed for a memorable 2022 season.
NORTHEAST REGION
Counties concentrated in north-central Mississippi have been home to some of the state’s highest turkey densities for over 20 years. While this remains true, the region has been repeatedly plagued by poor hatches for 5 years, causing turkey numbers to slide. During 2021, jake observation rates were nearly identical to the year prior, suggesting hunters in 2022 will likely find adult gobbler availability to be similar to the past few years. Brood data from last summer indicates the region saw a much improved, albeit somewhat delayed, turkey hatch.
THE DELTA
In terms of wild turkeys, the Delta is a land of haves and have-nots. The region’s interior has limited habitat and the once prime public turkey woods in the south Delta have been decimated by repeated flooding. As a result, populations in the region have become increasingly restricted to higher-elevation ground along the Mississippi River’s margin. For these, the 2022 season could be outstanding. Hunters on private hunting clubs behind the levee reported a seven-fold increase in jake observations in 2021. Hunters on these tracts should consider themselves lucky and anticipate a sizable 2-year-old gobbler cohort with fast paced spring action. On the other hand, lower elevation properties and those in the interior south Delta are still rebuilding from a near complete population collapse due to flooding in 2019. While their 2022 numbers should be better, they likely haven’t climbed far enough yet to be considered quality turkey hunting.
EAST-CENTRAL REGION
The east-central portion of Mississippi has some of the state’s best turkey country and as no surprise some of the highest harvest densities are usually reported there. Overall, the 2022 spring season should offer an improvement, although most will probably think things still aren’t quite on par with some of the better years of the past. Nonetheless, the combination of good hatches in 2020 and 2021 will likely translate into a noticeable increase in overall turkey numbers. On the other hand, jake observations last season were merely average. So, while hunters should be greeted with more birds overall this season, they may still be a year away from a noticeable uptick in adult gobblers.
SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI
The mixed pine-hardwood forests of southwest Mississippi have long been some of the state’s best for turkeys. Unfortunately, available data casts a somewhat disheartening picture for hunters in this historically turkey-rich region. Sightings from the SGHS have declined steadily over the past 10 years, indicative of a shrinking population. Neither jake observations nor hatch data from last summer indicate a turnaround for 2022. While hunters in the region should still encounter sufficient gobblers on properties with good habitat, the consensus by May 1st will probably be that the 2022 season didn’t quite measure up to past years.
SOUTHEAST PINEY WOODS
Like elsewhere, harvest rates slumped in southeast Mississippi during 2021, but nevertheless the region appears to be on a clear upswing following the heels of strong reproduction in 3 of the past 4 summers. Jake observations jumped 30% last spring, foreshadowing what could amount to a considerable increase in adult gobblers this season. Moreso than any other region, the southeastern Pine Belt seems well poised to have one of its best seasons in quite a few years. This is a forecast hunters should hope holds true.
