Planting Wild Turkeys on Private Land

April 14, 2011

Question: I have a few questions about putting Eastern wild turkey poults out on private land. I just love to hunt them. There are turkeys out there already but I would like for there to be a lot more. How or what can be done to get more turkeys planted on the property? (Joe D.)

Answer: Permission will not be granted to any person to release turkeys into the wild that have been domestically reared for propagation or hunting purposes. Only turkeys trapped from the wild by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) may be released into the wild (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 671.6 (b)).

According to DFG Turkey Program Manager Scott Gardner, besides being illegal, releasing captive-reared turkey poults will not ultimately produce more turkeys in the wild, and could actually harm the wild population. Beginning in the 1920s, DFG raised turkeys and other game birds and released them into the wild. By 1951, DFG and other wildlife agencies stopped the practice because it wasn’t resulting in self-sustaining wild populations of turkeys. In 1959, DFG started importing and releasing the Rio Grande subspecies of wild turkeys that were trapped in the wild in Texas. Wild trapped birds were highly successful and virtually all of California’s current wild turkey population came from these releases.

Game birds imprint on their mothers immediately after hatching and they learn behaviors necessary to survive in the wild in the first few days of life. Captive-reared birds do not develop the survival skills that are learned from a hen in the wild, and most will not survive. Domestic turkeys have higher rates of disease which is a risk to the wild population, and breeding with them would decrease genetic fitness of the wild population. Wild turkeys thrive where habitat is good, and they need a mix of trees, grasslands and water.