Hunting impacts male wild turkey space use and resource selection: insights from a hunted and non‐hunted population

Abstract Predation risk is known to influence prey behaviors. Risk from human predators can be more influential on prey responses than risk from natural predators. The wild turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo ) is a widely distributed game species, and growing literature suggests that hunting activity influences various behavioral metrics of males, including rates of vocalizations, resource selection, and movements. However, previous studies have made inferences about potential influences of hunting activity on male resource selection and movement behaviors solely by studying hunted populations, using a before‐during‐after treatment design, wherein the treatment was the onset of hunting. A more appropriate design would rely on matching individual males from both hunted and non‐hunted populations to better account for individual variation in behaviors, hence improving causal inference. We compared space use, minimum daily distance moved, roost fidelity, and resource selection of male wild turkeys in a hunted population on the Webb Wildlife Management Area Complex during 2014–2018 to males in a non‐hunted population on the Savannah River Site during 2020–2023 in South Carolina, USA. We found that male wild turkeys in the hunted population maintained 53% smaller home ranges and 69% smaller core use areas once hunting began compared to the non‐hunted population, but this reduction in space use was temporary. We found no differences in minimum daily distance traveled, whereas males in the hunted population generally exhibited greater fidelity to roost sites. Males in the non‐hunted population selected areas closer to openings and secondary roads, whereas males in the hunted population exhibited the reverse pattern of selection until hunting ceased. Our findings contribute to a growing body of literature suggesting that male wild turkeys react to risk associated with hunting activity by altering their behaviors, although these alterations appear to be short in duration.