Trained dogs eliminate crippling losses. On average, 1 of 7 turkeys are wounded every year and not recovered. That's 160,000 turkeys nationwide (mostly gobblers), that'd be recovered, if the hunter had the aid of a trained dog. Of all the states, Montana, Nebraska, Utah, Tennessee set a good example and allow turkey hunters the use of their dog in the spring. In those States, dogs prevent lost cripples in both the fall AND in the spring - that's the way it should be everywhere!
"9% of the hunters responding to the survey (WI-DNR p.10) believed they hit a bird they were unable to retrieve in spring. By comparison, 16% of the hunters reported they hit a bird they were unable to retrieve in fall." This means on average, 1 out of 8 turkeys are wounded and not recovered! In just Wisconsin, for example, this amounts to approximately 6100 turkeys shot and not recovered in (2006 Spring harvest 46,662. Fall harvest 11,926 math). Virtually all of these would have been recovered, if the hunter had the assistance of a dog. Do we need any more reason to hunt turkey with a dog?!
"We did a study on turkey hunting in Florida in the 1970's (Studies of the Wild Turkey in Florida - 1988 technical bulletin). In one part of the study, we radio-tagged 35 gobblers to measure hunter success and crippling losses on a public hunting area. 12 were shot and retrieved, 3 were shot and killed but not retrieved (found by radio signal), that equals 15 total killed. Therefore, 3 out of 15 equals 20% of the total kill was lost unretrieved. Or to put it another way, the unretrieved gobblers equalled 25% of the killed and retrieved total (3/12). Incidentally, 3 of the 35 turkeys disappeared during the open season. By "disappeared" I mean that we never heard from them again. Either the radio transmitters failed or hunters killed them. If the radios failed, some or all could have been shot and lost. To have 3 of 35 radios fail during a 5-week-long period would be a little higher than expected, and I suspect that one or more may have had the radio knocked out by being shot. It is confusing, but the one thing that can be said with certainty is that 20% of the total kill was lost unretrieved. I am sure that turkey dogs would have reduced or possibly even eliminated the crippling losses." Lovett Williams
So in the Florida study, 35 turkeys were tagged, 18 were shot, 15 were killed, 12 were shot and retrieved, 3 were crippled/lost, and 3 'disappeared' (not counted). Whether it's 12.5% in one study (1 out of 8 in WI) or 20% in another (1 out of 5 in FL), that's a lot of birds. For estimating purposes, let's average it at 16%. Take any States known harvest and multiply it times .16 to estimate the number of birds killed, but not recovered, because the hunters lacked the aid of a dog. With an annual nationwide harvest of about 1 million birds in 2006 X .16 that equals roughly 160,000 birds, and the majority of them were gobblers. The time to change the rules is past due, dogs should be able to accompany hunters. Even untrained dogs kept on a leash until needed to retrieve a wounded bird would save thousands of birds a year from being lost. Undoubtedly, the best companion a turkey hunter can have is a well-trained dog. In most cases, an untrained dog would be more of a hindrance than a help. You wouldn't want a dog with you when you're calling the bird in, unless it is trained to know its part. But a dog trained to lie still while the bird is called in would be invaluable, and save one out of every 6 or 7 birds.
'About 1910, Charles Jordan trained his dog to lie by his side, even when turkeys were within a few feet, and never move a muscle until the gun was fired, when they would be upon the bird instantly (trainers take note). One time he shot a gobbler, it tumbled over, then got up and ran off. His brother was within hearing, and he called to him to let his dog loose. His brother's Scotch terrier caught and held the gobbler within 150 yards. The gobbler would've certainly escaped otherwise, because he could get up the high, rocky slope much faster than Charles ever could have.'
Excerpted from The Wild Turkey and Its Hunting by Edward A. McIlhenny. Available from Real Turkeys.

...............................

As wildlife biologist Jim Evrard wrote in the Wisconsin Outdoor News print edition March 10, 2006: "In my opinion, there are people who simply oppose the use of turkey hunting dogs because it represents change. I heard the same opposition against extending turkey hunting to the afternoon and to most changes in turkey hunting regulations. Like the crow and dove season, I believe fall turkey hunting with dogs will be a non-issue, since few hunters will participate and no damage will be done to the wildlife resource."