Turkey Seasons Approved

Meeting by telephone conference call, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved turkey hunting rules for 2006-2007 that will cut fall hunting in two southwest Idaho units. Fall hunting seasons will not be held in 2006 in Units 39 and 33 because of concern over wild turkey numbers in those units. Don Kemner, upland game program manager, reminded the Commission that fall hunting was originally initiated in Idaho with the understanding that any decline in a population would likely be addressed first by cutting fall hunting in that specific area. Commissioners approved a proposal to make turkey rules valid for two years. Rules brochures currently being readied for print will cover 2006 and 2007. Otherwise, rules were left mostly the same as in recent years. Spring youth hunts were expanded in several areas where turkey populations are growing. Interest in hunting turkeys in Idaho has grown along with bird populations. More than 30,000 turkey hunters took to the Idaho woods in 2005.