Environment DEC
From the May 2007 issue
Spring Turkey Hunting Season Begins
Early last month, dates were announced for New York State's spring turkey hunting seasons. A special Youth Turkey Hunt weekend was held on April 21 and April 22, and the spring season for all turkey hunters opens on May 1, 2007.
2006 Survey
In 2006, DEC staff initiated a new winter-flock survey and began the first major assessment of turkey survival since the 1970s. The spring season saw the highest harvest in three years, followed by a challenging nesting season when cool, wet weather negatively affected nest success. This decline in productivity was reflected in the fall hunting season, when harvest figures were the lowest since 1992.
Youth Turkey Hunt
The recent Youth Turkey Hunt provided an excellent opportunity for youths ages 12-15 to spend time afield with experienced adult hunters, gaining the necessary knowledge and skills to become safe and responsible members of the hunting community. Feedback from Youth Hunt participants has been overwhelmingly positive. It is difficult to say who finds the event more rewarding--the young hunters or their adult mentors.
Hunting Safety
Turkey hunters generally dress in full camouflage, which calls for more vigilance on the part of all hunters afield
New York State has an extremely safety-conscious generation of hunters,primarily due to the efforts of more than 3,000 dedicated volunteer Sportsman Education instructors. Turkey hunting is unique in that hunters usually are dressed in full camouflage and are located on the ground. Some use decoys, and many use calls to make turkey sounds. For these reasons, it is extremely important to positively identify your target and beyond.
A decline in hunting-related shooting incidents is largely attributable to increased safety awareness and safer behavior on the part of hunters. During the 1960s, there were 19 incidents per 100,000 hunters. Since 2000, the incident rate is one-third of that, averaging 6.3 incidents per 100,000 hunters. With only 35 hunting-related shooting incidents, 2006 was the fourth safest year since such records have been kept. And only five of these incidents occurred during the turkey hunting seasons.
