Turkeys Strutting Stuff More Than Ever

Hunters who draw permits to hunt gobbler and hen turkeys in October should see plenty of the wary, colorful birds.

Wildlife biologist Steve Zender of Chewelah said he’s been seeing more turkeys than grouse the last couple of months.

In fact, turkeys are so plentiful in Stevens County that people who drive the back roads see them periodically. There may be more wild turkeys in Stevens County than any other county in the state.

The big birds also are plentiful in Lincoln County and the Blue Mountains.

The Fish and Wildlife Department will issue 405 permits for hunting gobblers and hens between Oct. 1 and 5 in four hunt areas. More than half of the permits will be for hunting in Stevens and Lincoln counties.

Permits are available as follows: Stevens County, 250; game management unit 133 (Lincoln), 30; Asotin, Columbia, Garfield and Walla Walla counties, 50, and Klickitat and Skamania counties, 75. GMU 133 is in north Lincoln County.

Permit holders may hunt with an unused spring tag or purchase a tag before they hunt. They won’t be required to have tags that are specific for a Rio Grande, Merriam’s or eastern subspecies.

Any year 2000 turkey transport tag, in combination with a valid permit, will be valid for the fall season as long as the owner has not already taken three turkeys statewide or two turkeys in Eastern Washington this year.

Permit applications are available at stores that sell hunting licenses and at the Spokane and Ephrata regional offices. Deadline for submitting an application is Aug. 25. The drawing will be held Sept. 1 and the Fish and Wildlife Department hopes to notify successful applicants by Sept. 8.

A resident adult permit costs $5, non-resident $50, and youths who were under 16 at the time of their 1999 license purchase, $3.

The department will accept partnership applications for the fall season. A partnership consists of two hunters. If a partnership application is drawn, both hunters will receive a permit and both hunters can take a turkey.

Partnership fees for adult residents are $5 for each applicant, $50 for each non-resident and $3 for each youth.

A hunter can designate his or her hunt of choice or as many as four in order of priority. Hunt numbers are on the applications.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission decided last April to replace the general fall turkey seasons with special hunt permits.

“The permit hunts are necessary to control the harvest of female turkeys,” the department said.

Some first-time turkey hunters will try for a trophy gobbler. They’ll quickly discover that long-bearded toms aren’t the same sex-crazed birds that responded to calls in March and April. In fact, some veteran hunters believe most big gobblers that are taken in a fall hunt are shot by chance.

The long beards don’t respond readily to calls in the fall. They often remain silent when they hear a call and they are constantly on alert, having been pursued by an army of hunters in the spring.

On the other hand, young gobblers can be called into shotgun range. But they are not stupid; in most cases, a hunter, to be successful, must have more than a smattering of knowledge about turkeys and their behavior.

The hunter who shoots a jake, as young turkeys are called, shouldn’t be disappointed. The meat of a jake, like that of a young hen turkey, is tender, whereas, the meat of an old gobbler can be like shoe leather.

Even an elderly gobbler is tastier than Butterball birds that will be sold during the Thanksgiving season. Domestic turkey meat is bland and almost tasteless unless it’s smoked or seasoned liberally.

Although most of the 405 hunters who draw permits will spend at least one or two days in turkey country, it’s unlikely they’ll kill more than 200 turkeys, and most will be hens.

The most successful hunters will be those who have hunted extensively in past spring seasons and already know a lot about the turkeys where they’ll hunt. They’ll spend time scouting the land to learn where the turkeys are living.

It’s likely most turkeys will still be on their summer ranges when the fall season opens, but serious hunters will try to learn as much as possible about their daily movements just before the season opener.

Most turkeys live on private land. That means the hunter who has a special permit to hunt this fall will have to get permission to hunt.

Most lucky permit applicants will scout areas where they plan to hunt the last couple of weeks in September. They’ll be hoping the present weather pattern changes and that the Fish and Wildlife Department isn’t considering delaying the season until the woods are damp.