http://www.indyeastend.com/Articles-i-2009...Cries_Fowl.html

Wild Turkey Shots? Animal Group Cries Fowl!

Their population has been restored; so now it's time to . . . kill them?

It won't be shots of Wild Turkey people take this week; it'll be shots at them. For the first time, state officials have scheduled a hunting season for the eastern wild turkey on Long Island.

A release from the state Department of Environmental Conservation heralds the season as a sign of successful restoration efforts. "Not only does this new season give more opportunities to local hunters, but it can also serve as a poignant example of how locally extirpated populations can be successfully reintroduced given enough effort and attention," crowed Regional Director Peter Scully.

A native to North America, the eastern wild turkey predated the earliest human inhabitants. According to the DEC, at the time of European colonization, wild turkeys occupied all of what is currently New York State south of the Adirondacks.

But settlers who razed forests for timber gobbled up the majestic creature's habitat. Settlers also hunted toms and hens for food and the last of the original wild turkeys disappeared from the state by the mid 1840s.

One hundred years later, as abandoned farms gave way to woodland in the southern tier of the state, turkeys crossed back into New York from northern Pennsylvania.

It wasn't until the early 1990s that an effort was made to restore turkeys to the county. The DEC trapped 75 wild critters upstate and released them at three locations in Suffolk. The population is now estimated at 3000 turkeys on Long Island, with as many as 300,000 birds statewide.

Ironically, turkey restoration was paid for through hunting license sales and special taxes collected on the sale of firearms, ammo and archery equipment.

The new hunting season, which starts Saturday and runs through November 25, has ruffled feathers among members of the East Hampton Group for Wildlife.

As the Independent went to press yesterday, EHGW president Bill Crain planned to offer opposition to the idea to members of the East Hampton Town Board during their Tuesday brown bag work session.

If turkeys could vote, they'd vote against creating a hunting season, Crain said last week. "We should be not looking to add to the number of species being killed."

Turkeys are "very sociable, sensitive beings," Crain opined. "They are living beings, too."

For some local residents, the birds are a little too sociable. Recently letters to the editor pages in local publications have included missives from area residents complaining of the mess marauding mobs of feather fiends can make. The turkey population has reached a level that in some locations nuisance permits have to be issued to control the amount of damage the turkeys are causing, state officials said.

According to the DEC release, the decision to open a fall hunting season was based in part on results of surveys of turkey sightings by hunters and volunteers. The surveys helped assess the health and growth of the population, Scully said.

East Hampton and Southold Town-owned properties are open for turkey hunting. (Check your town to find exactly which sites are legal for small game hunting) State lands also offering shots at bagging a big bird include West Tiana and the Westhampton Management Area in Southampton Town, Barcelona Neck in East Hampton Town and the Sarnoff Pine Barrens Preserve in Riverhead Town. Town–owned lands in Shelter Island and Southampton will not be opened to hunting.

Hunters can shoot turkeys any time between sunrise and sunset during the season. There's a limit of one victim per killer, and poultry predators may use either archery equipment or shotgun, depending on your individual town's regulations. All participants must carry a valid hunting permit, and all harvested birds must be reported within 48 hours. Call the DEC at 1-866-426-3778 to confess.

Speaking of the new hunt, Crain noted that areas where turkeys can be killed are limited. He takes that to mean, "They know there is a danger of destroying the population .. . so they allow hunting, but not too much hunting."

As far as the EHGW is concerned, any hunting is too much hunting. Beyond addressing the town board, members of the wildlife group also plan a letter writing campaign to the DEC.

"I'm pretty sure the Town Board never engaged in any public discussion of the turkey hunt, even though the main hunting grounds will be town-owned property. I think the board should tell the DEC that the board needs a voice in such decisions, rather than just being told about the DEC's decisions. We'll be asking officials to be sure to keep the town in the loop before decisions are made," Crain said.

According to East Hampton Town Clerk Fred Overton, the town board never considered turkey hunting because "we didn't have any. Now they're everywhere."

Haha!

The author's political agenda only shows through a little.

Good catch. But maybe the author just calls a spade a spade.

Ironically, turkey restoration was paid for through hunting license sales and special taxes collected on the sale of firearms, ammo and archery equipment.

I'll say it's irony.

What's so ironic about those who enjoy using a resource being interested in providing some sort of mechanism by which said resource is still around to use? One can argue about the particular mechanism employed, but the impulse seems rather prudent to me.

No. Irony is that the "Preserve the Turkeys" crowd is conspicuous in its absence.

Well, there might be a small bit of irony contained in the idea that while turkeys might not vote for having a hunting season; without the hunters there might not be any turkeys to vote at all.

But though much more accurate, I don't think that is the sentiment the author quite intended.

"Turkeys are rather silly creatures that happen to taste good," RF opined. "They are at least as valuable once dead as they are while alive."

Actually, the author's enthusiasm lets him veer perilously close to self-parody.

Well, I'm beginning to think the author has parodized (is that a word?) this story. His slip? "Harvesting". tsk tsk.

How is it a slip? (Other than not being PC amongst the AR crowd.) It's an accurate term in the context of the status of turkeys.