Turkey Hunt Proposals Will Go To Public

More opportunity to hunt wild turkeys and more consistency in the rules will be the result if Fish and Game regional proposals find favor with the public. Preparations are underway in the regions for open houses where the public will be invited to see turkey hunting proposals for each region and make comments. Times and places for open houses will be announced by regions in local media outlets. Information on the meetings will be available on the Fish and Game Internet web site beginning November 12. Highlights of proposals for 2003 turkey hunting seasons include eliminating the spring controlled hunt in the Panhandle and opening the general season there on April 15, as is the opening for other regions. All spring seasons statewide will now open April 15. The controlled hunt in the Panhandle was needed to help turkey flocks and the landowners who fed them through the winter as turkeys were established in the region. Turkey numbers are much higher now and the populations spread across the region, making the controlled hunt unnecessary. A controlled hunt beginning April 15 with 100 permits will be opened in the Upper Snake Region. Hunters will be notified of access restrictions on BLM lands where there are nesting bald eagles. Unit 54 in the Magic Valley will have a four-permit youth hunt beginning April 15 and two more hunts with four permits each to follow. Three hunts with four permits will be held in hunt area 71 where turkeys have recently been released. The fall controlled hunt, last year held only in the Southwest Region, will be eliminated and a general hunt will be held in the Panhandle, Clearwater, Southwest and parts of the Southeast Regions. Information on tags in the new turkey rules will be made easier to understand. Tags will be simplified but total numbers of tags available to hunters will remain the same. Tags for junior and disabled veteran hunters will be lowered to a cost of $9.75. The second turkey tag which is good for spring hunts starting May 1Ñtwo weeks earlier than in 2002Ñwill be valid for all fall hunts as well if not filled in the spring. This will be the only tag valid for the fall general season. Hunters who want to hunt during the fall season should save their late spring/fall tag for the fall season.