Moose Droppings

Your Opportunity to Be Heard

Nov 08, 2006 @ 12:26 am by Moose

NC Wildlife announces dates and locations across the state for public hearings here are some of the proposals they are making. It’s interesting to note that after back door politics failed last year to change turkey season for a few counties that it’s now being proposed in the forum it should have been in last time.

A spring turkey season so early might set up a disaster.

The Legislative Rules Review Committee may find Windham’s request to be unconstitutional. He obviously didn’t bring this proposal to the Jan. 2005 public hearings. Or it may OK his proposal.

There may be enough wild birds to support Windham’s early season. What upsets most observers is he apparently tried to avoid public scrutiny of this idea, which gives his tactics the appearance of favoritism and an end-run past sportsmen and biologists.

That’s an appearance N.C.’s public servants don’t need.

NC Sportsman

This was found to be unconstitutional action so now it appears they are bringing it to the public forum. I would contend that it is a really bad idea and plan to voice my opposition to this proposal. I suspect that I won’t be in bad company considering that NWTF was opposed to it last time as well. Craig Holt from NC Sportsman summed up the reasons this is a hideous proposal and why game management should be left to those with the necessary knowledge to manage the resource.

A majority of N.C. sportsmen and the N.C. chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation opposed both ideas at the WRC’s 2005-06 public hearings, and they weren’t approved.

Earlier turkey seasons don’t make much sense biologically. After Wayne Bailey was hired as the WRC’s first wild-turkey project leader in 1971, the WRC set a spring season that opened the fourth Saturday of April. Why? Because it gave male birds a chance to breed with hens and produce more turkeys for the future. Since then, the WRC has allowed the season opener to creep toward the second Saturday in April. The 2006 spring season began April 8, which is the earliest date possible under current regulations.

But Windham’s constituents apparently want an even earlier opening day. After the March 1, 2006, WRC rejection of his April 10 proposal, he offered a substitute — a special, six-county early-opening (first Saturday in April) season for Robeson, Bladen, Pender, Columbus, Brunswick and New Hanover counties. The rest of the state still would open the second Saturday in April. The special “youth-only” early turkey hunt for his six counties would be the last Saturday in March — an astoundingly early date.