Arrowhead
12-11-2002, 05:38 PM
2003-2004 PROPOSED WILD TURKEY
REGULATION CHANGES
Michael H. Seamster
Upland Game Bird Biologist
Three regulation changes concerning wild turkeys are proposed for the 2003-2004 hunting season; a Statewide Spring Gobbler Season proposal, a Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Day proposal, and a Winter Either-Sex Wild Turkey Season proposal. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) has voted to take these proposed regulations changes to the nine district public hearings for comment. All sportsmen are encouraged to attend their district public hearings and voice their opinions.
Statewide Spring Gobbler Season Proposal
The proposal is to open the Spring Gobbler Season statewide. It would open the following counties or parts of counties to spring gobbler hunting:
Columbus: remainder of county.
Cumberland: remainder of county.
Dare: entire county.
Davidson: remainder of county.
Greene: entire county.
Guilford: remainder of county.
Hoke: remainder of county.
Johnston: remainder of county.
Nash: remainder of county.
New Hanover: remainder of county.
Pamlico: remainder of county.
Pender: remainder of county.
Randolph: remainder of county.
Robeson: remainder of county.
Union: remainder of county.
Wayne: remainder of county.
Wilson: entire county.
Through successful restoration projects and natural increases in wild turkey numbers, the turkey populations in most of these areas have expanded sufficiently to allow for hunting of gobblers only during the spring season. A few of these areas (Dare County, southern Guilford County, and the urban portion of New Hanover County) contain little turkey habitat and few, if any, birds. However, specifying these areas as closed in the Regulations Digest serves no purpose because no hunting is expected to take place and these restrictions unnecessarily complicate regulations.
Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Day Proposal
The proposal is to establish a Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Day for gobblers only on the Saturday following the close of the regular spring gobbler season on private lands statewide.
A recent wild turkey hunter survey showed that 73% of the respondents supported (51% Strongly Supported and 22% Supported) a Youth Only Turkey Hunt Day. A Youth Only Turkey Hunt Day on this one day should not negatively impact the resource. It will hopefully encourage sportsmen to take a youth hunting and help recruit young hunters into the sport.
Winter Either-Sex Wild Turkey Season Proposal
The proposal is to establish a one-week (six day) Winter Either-Sex Wild Turkey Season on private land in mid-January in the following counties:
Alleghany County
Ashe County
Caswell County
Granville County
Person County
Rockingham County
Stokes County
Surry County
Watauga County
The current season bag limit of two birds would be maintained but hunters would have the option of taking one of those birds during the winter either-sex season.
The use of dogs would be allowed during the winter season.
Winter either-sex turkey hunts on the Caswell Game Land would be by permit only. Other game lands in these counties would be closed.
The use of rifles for turkey hunting is prohibited by General Statute.
Traditionally, fall hunting of wild turkeys was allowed in North Carolina as well as many other southeastern states. A moratorium was placed on the fall turkey hunting season in 1972 when turkey populations were extremely low. Although the fall season closure was very unpopular at the time, history has proven this move to be the correct one. The closure of the fall season, coupled with intensified restoration efforts, marked the beginning of a very successful comeback for the wild turkey in this state. Since 1970, 5,538 wild turkeys have been relocated to over 350 restoration sites across the state and the resulting increase in the wild turkey population has been remarkable.
As wild turkey populations continue to increase across the state, more and more sportsmen ask about the possibility of once again having a fall or winter wild turkey hunting season in North Carolina. There is no doubt that wild turkey populations are more abundant today than they have been at any time during the last fifty years. The concentrated wild turkey restoration efforts of the last three decades have brought wild turkeys numbers back from an all time low of only about 2,000 birds in 1970 to an estimated 130,000 birds today. Wild turkeys now exist in all 100 counties in the state. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the last 30 years, the wild turkey population in this state is far from reaching its full potential. However, some counties, particularly some of those counties along the northern border of the state, are at the point where a fall or winter wild turkey season can again be considered.
In an effort to assess the interest in a fall or winter wild turkey hunting season, the NCWRC recently surveyed a random sample of wild turkey hunters in the state. The vast majority of the respondents (79%) indicated an interest in having some limited fall or winter either-sex turkey hunting opportunity. When asked to rank several different season and bag limit options, respondents ranked those options offering winter hunting opportunities at the top of the list, while options offering additional spring hunting opportunities were ranked much lower. At the same time, the vast majority of the respondents (77% of those with an opinion) indicated that they would like to see the number of turkeys continue to increase.
The challenge to the NCWRC is to meet both of these desires; allow some winter either-sex turkey hunting opportunity and, at the same time, allow turkey populations to continue to increase. Wild turkey population dynamics research indicates that fall turkey harvests of greater than 5% of the population can slow population growth and fall harvests of greater than 10% of the population can result in long term population declines. If fall harvests are maintained at less than 5% of the population, then population growth should continue. Season length, season timing, bag limits, and areas included are critical to managing harvest levels this precisely.
Counties Included
The counties included in the proposal are along the northern border of the state. This northern tier of counties includes the highest densities of turkeys as well as the highest spring harvest levels per square mile of habitat in the state.
Season Timing
The proposal would set the season to open on the Monday on or closest to January 15. This time frame would avoid overlap with deer seasons which could result in high incidental turkey harvest and avoid problems associated with deer baiting, which is not only legal (for deer) but also prolific. It would also avoid potential safety problems. Deer hunters are required to wear blaze orange while turkey hunters are not.
Bag Limits
The recommendation is to maintain the current season bag limit of two birds; only one of which could be taken during the January season. Consideration was given to adding a third bird to the bag limit. An additional bird in the bag would increase hunting pressure and make assessing the impacts to the spring harvest more complicated. If the third bird in the bag were only available for the winter season, some hunters would be forced to hunt then to utilize that bird. If the third bird in the bag could be used either in the winter season or for a third bird during the spring season, it would be very difficult to assess the impacts of the winter season on the spring harvest in those counties. It would also increase spring hunting pressure in many counties where populations are low and the spring season is just opening. Because only a small percentage of turkey hunters currently take two birds, maintaining the current season bag limit would not affect most hunters.
Additional Information
As proposed, the use of dogs for hunting turkeys during the January season would be allowed. Dogs are allowed in other seasons (quail, grouse, rabbit, etc.) that would be concurrent with the winter season time frame and the use of turkey dogs was a long-standing tradition in North Carolina.
The initial establishment of a winter either-sex wild turkey season will, no doubt, be a very controversial issue. So was the initial establishment of either-sex deer seasons. However, the proposal is biologically sound. Sociologically, it is up to you, the hunting public, to decide if it is what you want. You are encouraged to attend your district public hearings and voice either your support or your opposition to these proposals.
REGULATION CHANGES
Michael H. Seamster
Upland Game Bird Biologist
Three regulation changes concerning wild turkeys are proposed for the 2003-2004 hunting season; a Statewide Spring Gobbler Season proposal, a Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Day proposal, and a Winter Either-Sex Wild Turkey Season proposal. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) has voted to take these proposed regulations changes to the nine district public hearings for comment. All sportsmen are encouraged to attend their district public hearings and voice their opinions.
Statewide Spring Gobbler Season Proposal
The proposal is to open the Spring Gobbler Season statewide. It would open the following counties or parts of counties to spring gobbler hunting:
Columbus: remainder of county.
Cumberland: remainder of county.
Dare: entire county.
Davidson: remainder of county.
Greene: entire county.
Guilford: remainder of county.
Hoke: remainder of county.
Johnston: remainder of county.
Nash: remainder of county.
New Hanover: remainder of county.
Pamlico: remainder of county.
Pender: remainder of county.
Randolph: remainder of county.
Robeson: remainder of county.
Union: remainder of county.
Wayne: remainder of county.
Wilson: entire county.
Through successful restoration projects and natural increases in wild turkey numbers, the turkey populations in most of these areas have expanded sufficiently to allow for hunting of gobblers only during the spring season. A few of these areas (Dare County, southern Guilford County, and the urban portion of New Hanover County) contain little turkey habitat and few, if any, birds. However, specifying these areas as closed in the Regulations Digest serves no purpose because no hunting is expected to take place and these restrictions unnecessarily complicate regulations.
Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Day Proposal
The proposal is to establish a Youth Spring Turkey Hunt Day for gobblers only on the Saturday following the close of the regular spring gobbler season on private lands statewide.
A recent wild turkey hunter survey showed that 73% of the respondents supported (51% Strongly Supported and 22% Supported) a Youth Only Turkey Hunt Day. A Youth Only Turkey Hunt Day on this one day should not negatively impact the resource. It will hopefully encourage sportsmen to take a youth hunting and help recruit young hunters into the sport.
Winter Either-Sex Wild Turkey Season Proposal
The proposal is to establish a one-week (six day) Winter Either-Sex Wild Turkey Season on private land in mid-January in the following counties:
Alleghany County
Ashe County
Caswell County
Granville County
Person County
Rockingham County
Stokes County
Surry County
Watauga County
The current season bag limit of two birds would be maintained but hunters would have the option of taking one of those birds during the winter either-sex season.
The use of dogs would be allowed during the winter season.
Winter either-sex turkey hunts on the Caswell Game Land would be by permit only. Other game lands in these counties would be closed.
The use of rifles for turkey hunting is prohibited by General Statute.
Traditionally, fall hunting of wild turkeys was allowed in North Carolina as well as many other southeastern states. A moratorium was placed on the fall turkey hunting season in 1972 when turkey populations were extremely low. Although the fall season closure was very unpopular at the time, history has proven this move to be the correct one. The closure of the fall season, coupled with intensified restoration efforts, marked the beginning of a very successful comeback for the wild turkey in this state. Since 1970, 5,538 wild turkeys have been relocated to over 350 restoration sites across the state and the resulting increase in the wild turkey population has been remarkable.
As wild turkey populations continue to increase across the state, more and more sportsmen ask about the possibility of once again having a fall or winter wild turkey hunting season in North Carolina. There is no doubt that wild turkey populations are more abundant today than they have been at any time during the last fifty years. The concentrated wild turkey restoration efforts of the last three decades have brought wild turkeys numbers back from an all time low of only about 2,000 birds in 1970 to an estimated 130,000 birds today. Wild turkeys now exist in all 100 counties in the state. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the last 30 years, the wild turkey population in this state is far from reaching its full potential. However, some counties, particularly some of those counties along the northern border of the state, are at the point where a fall or winter wild turkey season can again be considered.
In an effort to assess the interest in a fall or winter wild turkey hunting season, the NCWRC recently surveyed a random sample of wild turkey hunters in the state. The vast majority of the respondents (79%) indicated an interest in having some limited fall or winter either-sex turkey hunting opportunity. When asked to rank several different season and bag limit options, respondents ranked those options offering winter hunting opportunities at the top of the list, while options offering additional spring hunting opportunities were ranked much lower. At the same time, the vast majority of the respondents (77% of those with an opinion) indicated that they would like to see the number of turkeys continue to increase.
The challenge to the NCWRC is to meet both of these desires; allow some winter either-sex turkey hunting opportunity and, at the same time, allow turkey populations to continue to increase. Wild turkey population dynamics research indicates that fall turkey harvests of greater than 5% of the population can slow population growth and fall harvests of greater than 10% of the population can result in long term population declines. If fall harvests are maintained at less than 5% of the population, then population growth should continue. Season length, season timing, bag limits, and areas included are critical to managing harvest levels this precisely.
Counties Included
The counties included in the proposal are along the northern border of the state. This northern tier of counties includes the highest densities of turkeys as well as the highest spring harvest levels per square mile of habitat in the state.
Season Timing
The proposal would set the season to open on the Monday on or closest to January 15. This time frame would avoid overlap with deer seasons which could result in high incidental turkey harvest and avoid problems associated with deer baiting, which is not only legal (for deer) but also prolific. It would also avoid potential safety problems. Deer hunters are required to wear blaze orange while turkey hunters are not.
Bag Limits
The recommendation is to maintain the current season bag limit of two birds; only one of which could be taken during the January season. Consideration was given to adding a third bird to the bag limit. An additional bird in the bag would increase hunting pressure and make assessing the impacts to the spring harvest more complicated. If the third bird in the bag were only available for the winter season, some hunters would be forced to hunt then to utilize that bird. If the third bird in the bag could be used either in the winter season or for a third bird during the spring season, it would be very difficult to assess the impacts of the winter season on the spring harvest in those counties. It would also increase spring hunting pressure in many counties where populations are low and the spring season is just opening. Because only a small percentage of turkey hunters currently take two birds, maintaining the current season bag limit would not affect most hunters.
Additional Information
As proposed, the use of dogs for hunting turkeys during the January season would be allowed. Dogs are allowed in other seasons (quail, grouse, rabbit, etc.) that would be concurrent with the winter season time frame and the use of turkey dogs was a long-standing tradition in North Carolina.
The initial establishment of a winter either-sex wild turkey season will, no doubt, be a very controversial issue. So was the initial establishment of either-sex deer seasons. However, the proposal is biologically sound. Sociologically, it is up to you, the hunting public, to decide if it is what you want. You are encouraged to attend your district public hearings and voice either your support or your opposition to these proposals.