Wild turkeys
August 24th, 2005 by Administrator
Wild turkeys could soon be part of N.B. landscape
The Sussex chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation is holding its third annual hunting heritage banquet this Saturday.
The event opens at 6 p.m. with the dinner at 7:30 p.m. Part of the cost of the ticket for the banquet includes membership in the NWTF and a magazine subscription. Unlike many sportsmen events, there are no speeches. In addition, only a very small number of items go to the highest bidder, with most being drawn on tickets sold.
The first question of course, is, does this mean there are wild turkeys in New Brunswick? The answer in law and in theory is no, but in fact, yes.
Those in Sussex are a very gung ho bunch of lads, with the Sussex Fish and Game Association very active over the years in a wide variety of activities. These include everything from enhancing and cleaning trout streams, to bringing back to life older orchards being encroached by surrounding woods. Their efforts allows these old abandoned orchards to continue to be a food source for all wildlife, especially grouse.
They have also been very active in holding field days for youngsters, teaching everything from safe gun handling to survival techniques. One of their efforts is to introduce wild turkeys into our province, thus the formation of the local chapter of the NWTF.
The background of this is that the turkey is an integral part of every Thanksgiving, starting from the time of the pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock. Once hunted almost to extinction, the imposing of a strong game act, seasons, and season limits plus a concentrated conservation effort by sportsman has resulted in turkeys being present in almost all of the states in the United States, plus Ontario and Quebec.
With the rebounding of the population over the last 50 years, turkey hunting in the United States has now become extremely popular.
Ammunition manufactures supply special turkey shotgun loads while shotgun manufactures have in their catalogues shotguns fitted out specifically for turkey hunting.
Hunting catalogues such as those available from Cabelas feature page after page of camouflage outfits, blinds, calls, etc., all aimed at the turkey hunter.
A number of New Brunswick residents each spring make the trip south to the United States specifically to hunt turkeys. Yet, despite the ongoing efforts of the NWTF and the Sussex Chapter, the provincial department of natural resources has not given permission to stock wild turkeys in this province. The stated reason is that turkeys are not native to this province and that the introduction of a non-native species is not allowed.
At the present time the province of Nova Scotia has also taken this stance, although it appears that P.E.I. has given permission, at least in principle. All this is more than a bit interesting.
At one time there were no deer in Nova Scotia. Yet, when introduced into the province, the deer population exploded and provided both meat for the table and a very popular outdoor hunting activity for thousands of residents. The same applies to another non-native species, the pheasant, with the province of Nova Scotia now having a two-month fall season, with the limit being two cock birds a day.
We need to look no further than Newfoundland and the introduction of the moose to that province to see the benefits. Each year hundreds of thousands of dollars are generated by sportsmen from all over coming to Newfoundland to hunt moose, while residents that otherwise would have no meat for the table have now enjoyed literally millions of meals of moose meat.
Wild moose meat, venison, and wild turkey are a great food source, high in protein. Best of all, not found in wild meat are the growth hormones, antibiotics, and gosh knows what else that is all too common to commercially raised meat. Then too, outfitters could bring additional funds into the provincial economy by offering a combination spring bear and turkey hunt.
So, what’s the downside of introducing wild turkeys to our province? None that I can think of. Yes, when they become common a few will become roadkill and some will get into a rural garden, and stuff themselves on peas or beans. Yet, there is such a thing as a nuisance wildlife licence, the result being a possible welcome addition to the dinner table.
A spring turkey hunt provides addition opportunity for the resident hunter to enjoy the outdoors at a time of year they would possibly otherwise not do so, plus the chance to bring home some very good wild meat. Whether those in Fredericton agree to it or not, wild turkeys will eventually become a fact of life in our province. Viable numbers are now present in both Maine and Quebec. There have also been verified reports of sighting of these birds in the eastern part of our province, apparently having migrated across the border from Maine.
We should however, keep in mind that our province once had a reverse onus law for hunters, and that when the varmint licence was first introduced over 20 years ago, the prediction was that all wildlife would disappear within two years. We do progress, but slowly.The folks to call for tickets to the NWTF banquet are Leo Moore at 433-5533 daytime and 433-6847 evenings and Ron Whitehead at 372-9396 or 381-2891