ALLEGAN, Mich. — At the turn of the 20th century, the wild turkey seemed to have gobbled its last call in Michigan, not seen since 1897, when a solitary bird was spotted in Van Buren County.
"We didn't understand that our resources were limited," said Adam Bump, a bird specialist with the Michigan DNR. "Wiped them out."
The local extinction of the wild turkey was not contained to the Great Lakes State, though, with United States and Canadian populations also suffering from habitat loss and unrestricted hunting. Prior to European settlement, an estimated population of 50,000 to 100,000 flocked in the lower third of the Lower Peninsula, per the DNR.
"Then as far as we knew, they were gone," Bump said.
For decades, wild turkeys were absent from Michigan's woodlands, until the 1950s, when a patch of land in Allegan County — presently known as the Allegan State Game Area — hosted 50 birds purchased from Pennsylvania.
"It was the perfect spot," Bump said, referencing the land's oak trees, nut and berry-producing plants and open space.
Following several failed releases of domestic turkeys in the years prior, the DNR also reintroduced wild flocks — referred to as rafters — further north.
"Figuring out the way to introduce them, where to introduce them," Bump said. "It's a great story."
The birds in the Allegan forest adapted to their habitat and the DNR captured and redistributed both them and other populations throughout the state. After a decades-long disappearance, the wild turkey officially returned to Michigan.
Thirty years later, the state brought in wild turkeys from Missouri and Iowa, bolstering the blossoming population. In 1965, a wild turkey hunt was revived.
"It's a testament to modern wildlife conservation," Bump said about the 200,000-plus wild turkeys that now trot through all counties of the Lower Peninsula and parts of the Upper Peninsula. "They are an important species in the ecology of the state."
The Michigan DNR continues to monitor the population of the wild turkey through a yearly brood survey, where members of the public can report sightings of a hen and her young.
During spring and fall seasons, hunters can also take to Turkey Tracts, which are DNR-managed sections of land that "highlight habitat management" and provide an optimal space for hunting.
"I would argue that it just has value," Bump said about the bird and its recovery. "It just has intrinsic value."
