HUNTING -- What the heck, Montana.  You're sending state vehicles all the way to Nebraska to get wild turkeys when the Spokane area is just hours away and up to its armpits in the big birds?

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission say in a news release that Montana wildlife workers were in Crawford, Nebraska, last week to pick up 125 wild turkeys. The birds were captured on private property near Whiteclay in the northern Nebraska Panhandle.

The commission says there are plenty of turkeys in the Whiteclay area, but not so in the Great Falls area of Montana where the state is trying to establish a wild turkey population.

Last year Montana received 91 Nebraska turkeys.

It's nearly twice as far to drive from Great Falls to Crawford as it is from Great Falls to Spokane.  I could take Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks staffers to a farm just north of Spokane that has about 250 turkeys pooping in the cattle feed every day.

Better yet, they could set their traps on the South Hill where they could hang out in a brew pub while they wait for the burgeoning city flocks to trip the net release.

Just sayin'.