Turkey Numbers On The Rise

You’d think this winter would have been as tough on wild turkeys in northeastern Washington as it’s been for deer. Not so. Indications are that there are as many, probably more, turkeys now than there were last March.

Turkeys not only are running all over the landscape in the northeast corner, they’ve spread even more in the foothills of the Blue Mountains.

All this means hunters could have the best season ever., But if you haven’t already done so, scout the area where you’d like to hunt and make arrangements with one or two property owners to hunt on their land. You’ll probably learn, while you’re scouting, that you should have talked with landowners several weeks ago.

Most of the best hunting spots on private land already are reserved for the first part of the season. Many have been reserved since the end of last season.

You may have to join the crowds on public land. There are a lot of turkeys on state and federal lands, but you’ll have a lot of competition.

Incidentally, snow has been so deep in some areas, particularly in northern Stevens County, Ferry County and in the Blue Mountains, that hunters have had trouble getting around to locate turkey flocks.

Washington’s spring season opens April 15 and ends May 15. You’ve got to have a hunting license and an $18 turkey transport tag. Idaho has several seasons, including two general seasons and 10 controlled hunt seasons. The Panhandle general season opens April 28 and ends May 11; the Clearwater and southwest region season opens April 14 and ends May 11. The resident turkey tag is $7.50 and the non-resident is $36.50

If you’re a persistent and knowledgeable hunter, you can shoot three toms in Washington. However, you’ll have to buy three tags on or before April 14. With the three tags, you can kill an “eastern” tom in Western Washington, a Merriam’s tom in Ferry, Klickitat, Pend Oreille, Skamania or Stevens counties and a Rio Grande tom in any other than the above counties in Eastern Washington.

Most hunters will elect to buy the tag that’s good for any part of the state. If you get one, shoot a tom and then decide you want to try for another subspecies, you’re out of luck. You can’t buy another tag.

Turkeys have done surprisingly well this winter. Biologists say turkey numbers are exceptionally high in all Eastern Washington hotspots.

Biologist Steve Zender of Chewelah said he was surprised to learn that there are big flocks of turkeys in areas where snow depths exceeded 4 feet in Stevens and Ferry counties.

“We had a huge number of birds going into the winter,” he said. “Wildlife agents have seen flocks of 50 to 150 in areas where the snow was deep. I would have thought that we would have lost a lot of birds. Apparently, the turkeys survived on hazelnuts, aspen buds and other things. Many moved to farms and fed with cattle.

“Even if we had lost half our turkeys, we would still have lots of birds. The outlook is good for this year.”

Biologist Pat Fowler of Walla Walla said lots of snow has fallen in the Blue Mountains.

“We still have more than 16 feet of snow on the ground in the mountains,” said Fowler. “It’s possible that hunters will be unable to get into the forest for the opening. The roads are covered with too much snow.”

While the winter was severe in the Blue Mountains, weather in the foothills wasn’t bad, Fowler said. Hunters will find a record number of turkeys in Asotin, Garfield, Columbia and Walla Walla counties.

As usual, he said, the most popular and productive spots will be Pataha, Peola, Tucannon and Touchet drainages and on Echler Mountain.

“Lots of our turkeys are on private land,” he said. “That means hunters must do a lot of scouting and get permission to hunt long before the opening of the season. Many landowners already have given permission to all the hunters they will allow on their property.

“Turkey hunting is a big deal down here. On opening day of the turkey season the foothills look like the opening of an elk season.”

Hunters killed 627 turkeys last year, compared with 586 in 1995. If the biologists are right and the weather cooperates with hunters, hunters will take home more toms this year than last.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Fenton Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 3814.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review