Turkey Decline & Research | Patrick Wightman

Today’s guest is Patrick Wightman, the new National Director of Wild Turkey Research and Science for the National Wild Turkey Federation.  Patrick brings more than a decade of turkey research experience to the role. He earned degrees from Paul Smith’s College, Louisiana State University, and the University of Georgia, where he most recently worked as an assistant research professor leading independent and collaborative wild turkey studies. His work has ranged from field research and habitat studies to utilizing accelerometers to track bird movements and ARU’s  to better understand turkey behavior and survival. In this episode, we dive into the science behind turkey declines, habitat fragmentation, brood success, habitat initiatives, and what current research is actually telling us about the future of wild turkeys.  There are a lot of strong opinions surrounding wild turkeys right now, so I wanted to bring on someone directly involved in the research side to help separate assumptions from factual data and give us a clearer picture of what’s really happening on the ground. ONX HUNT APP DISCOUNT: https://webmap.onxmaps.com/purchase/hunt/membership?promo=wr