"Alabama has never had a closed season," said Ron Eakes, one of the two biologists in charge of monitoring the state's turkey flock. "There aren't many states that can say that."

While the gobblers may not have been silent all across Alabama last year, it was a tough season in many quarters.

Eakes heard hunters discussing it too. Biologists aren't entirely sure what causes the birds to quit gobbling some years, but it's believed that the physical condition of turkeys plays a role in it.

"If it has been a tough year with not a lot to carry them through the winter, gobbling is often subdued," Eakes noted. Survival and packing on body fat becomes more important than expending a lot of energy during the breeding season.

That factor could bite Cotton State hunters again this spring. A severe drought gripped much of Alabama throughout the summer and into the early fall of 2006. Under such conditions, the mast crop often does very poorly. State biologists said they wouldn't be surprised if a lot of natural plants failed to produce much food this year.

"We saw some poults, so we know there was some production last spring," said Rick Claybrook, a central Alabama biologist.

But he added that there would likely be some mast crop failure. Fortunately, red oaks and white oaks bear differently, and it is rare to have a total crop failure.

"Still, we'll just have to see how the turkeys came through the winter and how the spring season stacks up," he said with a shrug.

BIGGEST TURKEY THREAT
Ron Eakes noted that the biggest problem facing turkeys in Alabama is not years of poor hatches or poor mast crops. It's development and urban sprawl.

"We're really seeing a lot of it in north Alabama where I live," he said, "but it's happening all across the state. We're seeing it in north Alabama around Huntsville, Madison, Decatur, Florence and Guntersville. It's also happening around Birmingham and Shelby County."

He added that it's more important than ever for sportsmen to support the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and other conservation groups.

"A lot of these groups are working very closely with our Forever Wild program and buying land for future generations to have and enjoy," he pointed out.

As more and more private land is developed, the property held in public trust is going to become even more important to the future of turkeys and turkey hunting in Alabama.