The regular spring hunting season for male wild turkeys opens this Saturday, May 1, and I will be one of the hundreds of hunters out there trying to call in a gobbler as dawn is breaking.
The season runs to May 31, with two birds allowed per season; hunting hours are until noon each day. The special youth season is this weekend.
In normal years, May 1 coincides with the early stages of the breeding season, but this year is different, with the turkeys courting and mating at least two weeks earlier, the result of the mild winter and early spring.
Some hunters theorize that, because of the early mating, they should hunt early in the season to successfully call in a bird.
Veteran turkey hunter Terry Sears from Morrisonville disagrees.
"After May 15 is a good time to hunt because most of the females will be mated out," he said. "But, the big toms will be still ready to go, so calling chances should increase."
Decoys help as well.
From all reports, turkey numbers remain strong in northeastern New York, helped by favorable winter conditions, so the take may increase over the 2009 harvest of 280 in Clinton County, 289 in Essex County and 285 in Franklin County. All three counties have shown a steady increase since 2000. What a difference from when I first took up turkey hunting in the early 1990s. It was a matter, for me, of driving up to an hour or more to find any turkeys to hunt.
Today, these birds are found just about everywhere in the North Country, a testament to their resourcefulness and adaptability; add to that wariness and incredible eyesight, and it is easy to see turkeys are a challenge to hunt, even more difficult, I believe, than deer.
A recent Department of Environmental Conservation news release stresses safety precautions when turkey hunting. Obviously, avoid wearing anything with red, white or dark blue — think American flag — since these are the colors you see in mature gobblers.
Also, follow the basic safety procedures of pointing the gun in a safe direction, being sure of your target and beyond, and treating every gun as if it were loaded.
Don't stalk; set up in a concealed safe place (sitting against a large tree is a possibility), and call in the bird. Last year, there were 26 hunting accidents, a record low, with six happening during spring turkey season. Turkey hunters need to have a special license that is usually purchased with the regular hunting license, and successful hunters must report their kill (1-866-426-3778).
One more observation about the DEC press releases out of Albany: You can only go so far with political correctness. Whether it is deer results or turkey, the overuse of the word "harvest" (noun) or "harvested" (verb) is glaring. We all know it is a euphemism for shooting or killing a turkey, deer or bear. Do the public relations people really have to use these words 40 times in a release to make it sound like we are digging up vegetables we planted in a garden? Most of us can deal with the words shoot or kill when it comes to hunting.
Finally, the Lake Champlain Turkey Talkers chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation had a successful March fundraiser banquet with 71 attendees.
Northern Forest Canoe Trail Guidebook
The Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) is the ultimate float trip in the northeast, going from Old Forge to Fort Kent in far northeastern Maine, going through 240 miles of occasional mountains, wilderness, farmland and forest and crossing Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh.
The canoe route includes 55 miles of portage and cuts through four states, also clipping the southern part of the province of Quebec.
A new guidebook, "The Northern Forest Canoe Trail," details the entire odyssey, with information on rapids, portages, camping sites, water conditions, along with directions. It should be a valuable addition to any book collection for kayakers or canoeists, even if you don't plan on doing the entire trip.
I have done the segment from Old Forge to Saranac Lake when I canoed the 90-mile canoe race in 1984, and since then, have paddled sections north of Saranac Lake Village, below Union Falls and the Union and Franklin Falls portion, Saranac to Cadyville, and small portions beyond. My only other experience with this canoe trail has been on the Lake Umbagog region of northern New Hampshire and Maine.
From what I remember, those trips were exciting; I can only wonder what it would be like to do the entire Maine float trip; that may be for another lifetime. However, one can imagine it by reading "The Northern Forest Canoe Trail" available at local book stores, online or by calling 1-800-553-4453. The publisher is Mountaineer Books.
E-mail Dennis Aprill at: daprill2000@yahoo.com
