By Fred Bonner

Columnist

 

Of the many wildlife management restoration projects I’m familiar with, the tremendous success of our N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s wild turkey management is one of the most outstanding. It hasn’t been that many years since it was rare to spot a wild turkey in our Down East woods or fields.

At 12 years old, I got my first glimpse of a wild turkey when my dad was taking me through the old dirt road through the pinewoods that led to the old Ace Line Farm on South Creek near Aurora. Our car skidded to a halt as a big brown bird of some kind ran across the road in front of us. It took a few seconds before my dad really realized that this was a wild turkey, the first one he’d seen in many years.

He explained to me that these birds were, at one time, abundant in this part of Beaufort County, but either too much hunting, too many foxes, bobcats or hawks had caused these animals to virtually disappear from our area.

After many years of patient wildlife management for North Carolina’s wild turkeys, I consider the population “fully recovered,” and we hunters are now experiencing a fruitful 2014 North Carolina turkey season.

Much to the delight of a lot of young hunters aged 16 or less, who were lucky enough to have a dad (or other licensed adult hunter) to mentor them into the sport of turkey hunting, North Carolina has just finished its youth turkey hunting week. From reports, it was a success, as a lot of youngsters harvested what many consider to be the largest game bird in America.

During the youth season, only turkey hunting by children less than 16 years old was allowed. Each youth had to be accompanied by an adult at least 21 years old. The adult may accompany more than one youth during a particular hunt, but the adult cannot harvest a turkey. Each youth must have a big game harvest report card and report harvest. License-exempt youth should report their harvest using a big game harvest report card for license-exempt hunters.

It’s interesting to note that one of our Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, wanted to have the native wild turkey named by Congress to be our national bird. Franklin lost that battle, as the bald eagle eventually won.

The season for all hunters opened April 12 and continues through May 10.

The daily limit is one and the possession and season limit is two per hunter, only one of which may be taken during youth season.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission reminds turkey hunters of some basic safety guidelines, such as identifying a target before pulling the trigger.

“The main consideration for turkey season — or any hunting season — is to always think twice, and positively identify your target and what is beyond your target before pulling the trigger,” said Travis Casper, the state hunter education coordinator. “If there is any doubt in your mind, don’t shoot.”

 

The NCWRC also offers the top-five safety tips to all turkey hunters:

 

1) Leave the area if you think another hunter is already there.

2) Alert another hunter to your presence by saying “Stop” in a loud voice.

3) Never stalk a gobbler, which only increases your chances of being mistaken for game.

4) Never wear red, white, blue or black — those are colors of a tom’s head and body.

5) Make sure your decoy or harvested turkey isn’t visible when you transport it.

 

Also to be considered are the legal aspects of hunting wild turkeys. The NCWRC’s top five consideration are:

 

1) Promptly and properly validate and register a kill.

2) Use of pistols, rifles or muzzleloading rifles is prohibited.

3) Dogs are not allowed for hunting wild turkey.

4) No hunting in a baited area until 10 days after all bait has been consumed or removed.

5) Electronic or recorded calls are not allowed for hunting wild turkey.

 

There are over two million acres of land open to public hunting in our state and much of these lands now have a good population of wild turkeys. Check the hunting regulations carefully, purchase your licenses and enjoy the fruits of what our hunters and our Wildlife Resources Commission have accomplished by bringing back the wild turkeys in our state.

Find more information on turkey hunting regulations and public places to hunt by visiting the Commission at http://www.ncwildlife.org and then click on their Hunting page.