Area A turkey season opens March 28

It may be another tough time for turkey hunters at Sherburne Wildlife Management Area this season as the turkey population continues to rebound from the Morganza flood of 2011.
“We lost a lot of turkeys in the Morganza flood,” said Tony Vidrine, Mississippi Alluvial Valley South Region manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “It’s a slow rebound, and we are not nearly where we were before the flood.”
The regular turkey season at Sherburne WMA is March 30 to April 1. During the 2011 season, which occurred right before the flood, 77 turkeys were harvested between the youth and general lottery hunts and regular season harvests. In 2012 the total harvest fell to 13 turkeys and went down another three birds to 10 in 2013. In 2014, eight turkeys were harvested. Prior to the flood, the WMA was utilized by anywhere from 700 to 1,000 turkey hunters, and like the turkey harvest numbers, hunter numbers also dropped. Hunter numbers averaged about 180 the last three seasons.
This year, the WMA received 73 applications for the March 21 youth lottery hunt, and 10 hunters were selected. The WMA also received 135 for the general lottery March 28-29, and 50 hunters were selected for the Saturday-Sunday hunt. Lottery applications are available each year in January.
“Before the flood, we hosted two general lottery hunts and picked 150 hunters,” Vidrine said. “We thought about closing the season after the flood, but we shortened the season instead and lowered the number of lottery hunters.”
“I think the interest (in turkey hunting at the WMA) will go back up as the population rebounds. Sherburne is one of the state’s most popular WMAs. It’s popular for all hunting, including turkey.”
Sherburne WMA deer hunters usually observe turkeys during the deer hunting season. Those hunters who also hunt turkey return to those same areas to hunt during the turkey season, but they are not even seeing the number of turkeys they used to during the deer season, he said.
In addition to turkey hunting opportunities at Sherburne WMA, the Area A turkey season on private lands in St. Landry Parish, that portion bounded on the west by the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee and on the east by the Atchafalaya River, is open from March 28-April 26.
“Private land hunters also experienced a decline in turkey population and harvest numbers after the flood,” Vidrine added.
For more information about turkey hunting at Sherburne WMA and state turkey hunting areas, contact the Opelousas LDWF Field Office at 337-948-0257.