http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/237608
Longer day for turkey hunting?
House bill would extend hours to 5 p.m.
I could hear the conversation between man and turkey clearly.
It was a spring day in the mid-1990s and my friend, Bob, was yelping his heart out at a gobbler that was answering every note with double and triple gobbles, but seemed anchored in place.
My watch said 11:50 a.m., which meant Bob only had 10 minutes left to work his magic.
Though I couldn't see any of the action, I could visualize what was happening, based on sound.
Bob was calling from a fixed position.
The tom was gobbling while moving back and forth in a straight line, which meant he was probably displaying in full strut, hoping the "hen" would come to him.
I sat on a rock not too far away from the stalemate looking at my watch ... 11:55 ... 11:58 ... 11:59.
To his credit, Bob quit calling at noon and was walking my way a few minutes later.
"He wouldn't budge," my buddy said as he trudged up the hill to where I was sitting. "I could see him every now and then. He was only 60 yards away, but he just wouldn't come any closer."
Perhaps if Bob had had more time, he could have closed the deal on that turkey.
But, in Pennsylvania, the law says spring gobbler hunters must quit at noon and be out of the woods by 1 p.m.
Biologists with the state Game Commission say that rule is in place so hens will be virtually undisturbed to sit on their nests through the afternoon and evening hours.
The more a hen gets bumped off her nest, the more susceptible the eggs are to weather and predators, the biologists say.
If a group of state lawmakers have their way, spring turkey hunters would be allowed to continue their hunts until early evening.
Under House Bill 1294, which was introduced by state Rep. Dick L. Hess of Bedford County on April 20, hunting hours during spring turkey season would be from sunrise until 5 p.m.
Currently, the hours are a half-hour before sunrise until noon.
HB 1294, which was co-signed by 18 of Hess' colleagues, including state Reps. Scott Boyd, of West Lampeter Township, and Tom Creighton, of Manheim, currently is being considered by the House Game and Fisheries Committee.
Multiple calls to Hess by this reporter last week were not returned, but Boyd said he supports the proposal "because I represent a lot of hunters, and it seems like giving them more time to hunt in the spring turkey season is a good idea."
Jerry Feaser, the Game Commission's press secretary, said the agency isn't necessarily opposed to what essentially is all-day turkey hunting.
But the agency isn't in favor of the management of wildlife through legislation.
"We would much rather have the board [of game commissioners] have the opportunity to determine when to extend hunting hours rather than have it required of us," Feaser said.
Feaser noted that the Game Commission has increased spring turkey-hunting opportunities gradually in recent years, starting with the addition of the one-day youth turkey hunt prior to the start of the general season, and then allowing spring turkey hunters to buy second tags for the season.
This year was the fourth in which hunters could buy second tags. And Feaser said agency biologists "would like to fully study the most-recent expanded opportunity before taking the next step," which could be extending spring hunting hours.
"Our turkey management plan calls for continuing to look for opportunities to expand turkey hunting opportunities," Feaser said.
Boyd said he has not yet heard from anyone within the Game Commission about HB 1294, but he said he would certainly consider the agency's position on the proposal.
"As of now, no one has contacted me and said there's a specific reason to oppose this piece of legislation," he said.
When asked if state legislators should push laws that could impact the management of wildlife, Boyd said it's his understanding that wild turkeys are booming across the state and that extending the hunting day would not have too big of an impact on the population.
And he said just because the Game Commission employs biologists doesn't mean the agency's management programs are driven solely by science.
"There are those in the sportsmen's world that would question that every decision the Pennsylvania Game Commission makes is based only on sound science," he said. "Not every decision has necessarily been based on science, as opposed to specific goals and objectives the Game Commission has established."
Rep. Creighton hasn't gone turkey hunting in several years, he said, but he remembers wondering why he always had to quit at noon when he did go.
"I never heard a good explanation for that," he said. "You expend a lot of time and effort to go to the mountains during turkey season, and then you can only hunt for four or five hours before you have to quit."
Lancaster's Joe Drolet, who is a member of the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, said his organization is "all for expanding hunting opportunities."
But the federation would want to see a study gauging the potential impact on the resource before any new opportunities are offered.
And HB 1294 is accompanied by no such study.
"The chapter has a principle that these decisions should be made by Game Commission and not the Legislature," he said. "The Game Commission has the expertise.
"We prefer the science of the Game Commission over the politics of the Legislature."