Fall Turkey Regulations Out....Do Your Part to Help Eradicate the Flocks

[Wacenturion]

WDFW 2008 hunting regulations out on internet. 

http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regs_seasons.html

In stores soon. Wild Turkey seasons for Fall/Winter on page 55.

Fall General Turkey seasons

105-124 Beardless Only 2 beardless turkeys (in addition to other fall turkey harvest)

101, 127-133 Either Sex 1 turkey during the fall general and early permit seasons combined


WDFW needed support from NWTF, etc. to target the nuisance problem in NE.  Sold it as reducing birds in specific areas....or at least gave that impression.  Then they molded it the way they wanted to.....general reduction of numbers by harvesting of hens.  Doesn't even begin to target nuisance flocks as these birds are not yet a nuisance in Set/Oct.  So lets just shoot the piss out em and hopefully WDFW's best "science" varmit*,
verim*, pain in the ass turkey management season will work.
A good percentage of those hens are going to probably be successful nesters....you know,the ones that have proven their merit...the ones you want to keep.  They produce next years birds.  You also will have the lose by indiscriminate shooting and wounding.....flock of hens and unload that can of whoopass on them....you can get two ya know...thats four for me and my buddy.  Then we can come back later in the fall and kill another either sex.  Man are we going to have on hell of a Thanksgiving Feast this year.
What a bunch of crap.  Based on "Best Science"....don't think so.  Based on how can I solve this without leaving the office....you got it!


"Varmint" occasionally "varmit" is an American-English colloquialism. The term describes farm pests which raid farms as opposed to infest farms

"Vermin" is a term applied to various animal species regarded as pests or nuisances

[Wacenturion]

Something to illustrate my point from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission........


Hen harvest to reduce population levels is unnecessary and can be detrimental to the population as a whole. While areas with good turkey populations can withstand limited amounts of hen harvest without impacting the population, the number of turkeys available for harvest is closely linked to that year’s reproduction. During years with good reproduction, a higher number of turkeys can be harvested with no adverse impacts on the population. However, during years with poor reproduction, there are fewer young available to be harvested and hen harvest would consist of adult birds, which could adversely impact the population since adult hens are more successful in raising offspring. Moreover, to successfully implement hen harvest would require annual turkey population surveys, which are difficult to conduct adequately, are labor intensive, and costly, making such a program unfeasible, at least on a large scale. Further, since turkeys are not known to over-populate and do not damage their habitat, there is no biological justification for pursuing hen harvest to alleviate such perceived problems. Generally, individuals with areas supporting large turkey populations are fortunate and should not be overly concerned with an abundant population.