Residents in Sheridan and Casper don’t need to look any further than out their front windows to catch the Thanksgiving spirit. Both cities have huge populations of urban wild turkeys.
At least for now, the turkeys in both cities are safe from coming off the streets and on to dinner tables. You can’t hunt them in city limits.
Although for the Sheridan wild turkeys, that might eventually change. The idea of urban wild turkey hunting is being floated there.
Turkey Complaints Taper Off In Casper
Turkeys got to be such problem in Casper, the city council in August 2023 passed an ordinance banning residents from feeding them.
According to the city of Casper and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, there were persistent problems with turkeys congregating in certain areas, making messes and just generally being obnoxious.
Complaints about turkeys flooded the Casper Police Department early this year as well.
Now that Turkey Day has arrived, things seemed to have calmed down somewhat, CPD spokesperson Amber Freestone told Cowboy State Daily.
Dispatch still fields turkey complaints now and again, but they’ve diminished to more of a trickle, she said.
“They still wander around town,” she said. “We just live with them. It’s something people get used to.”
Sheridan Ponders Turkey Hunts
Sheridan also has a huge and apparently growing population of urban turkeys. And as in Casper, police there sometimes get calls complaining about them, Sheridan Police Department Sgt. Shaun Gerleman told Cowboy State Daily.
People sometimes gripe to police about turkeys congregating on their property or nesting in their trees.
Nobody wants to eradicate Sheridan’s turkeys, but there has been some talk of opening up an in-town archery hunting season for them to cull the numbers, Gerleman said.
If that happens, he’ll likely lead the program. He already administers special archery hunts for deer.
Since 2007, bowhunters have been allowed to pursue deer in some undeveloped areas within Sheridan’s city limits. Hunters are required to register with the police department beforehand, and then report afterward about how their hunts went.
About 80 hunters a year take advantage of the program.
A similar hunting program could be launched for Sheridan’s metro turkeys, but there’s no timeframe on when, or if, that might happen, Gerleman said.
“I would say it’s on the radar, but I’m not sure it’s going to happen,” he said.
For one thing, unlike the deer, most of the turkeys hang out on private property in Sheridan, and without owner’s permission the hunts couldn’t go forward.
A flock of turkeys gather in a yard on South Wolcott Street in Casper. (Dale Killingbeck, Cowboy State Daily) 
Flocks of wild turkeys are moving about Casper. Although the city outlawed feeding them about a year ago, it hasn't seemed to cut down on the wild turkeys coming into town. (Abby Roich, Cowboy State Daily) 
Flocks of wild turkeys are moving about Casper. Although the city outlawed feeding them about a year ago, it hasn't seemed to cut down on the wild turkeys coming into town. (Abby Roich, Cowboy State Daily) 
Flocks of wild turkeys are moving about Casper. Although the city outlawed feeding them about a year ago, it hasn't seemed to cut down on the wild turkeys coming into town. (Abby Roich, Cowboy State Daily)
Most People Are Turkey Fans
Sheridan resident Nic Geroge told Cowboy State Daily that Sheridan has “a copious amount” of turkeys, but he and most other townspeople don’t really seem to mind them.
At certain times of day, drivers should expect to have to stop and let a gaggle of turkeys cross the road in front of them, he said.
But that’s a minor inconvenience, as far as he’s concerned.
“I think everybody in Wyoming is willing to put up with things from nature, because we all have a love for it,” he said.
He added that in-town turkey hunts might not work as well as the deer hunts have.
George worries that if turkeys started getting shot with arrows, it might drive them completely out of town, and he’d hate to see them go.
“Deer are stupid and have short memories,” he said. “The problem with turkeys is, they’re really highly intelligent. And if they were getting hunted, they’d just leave town and we wouldn’t get to see them anymore.”
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
