Field Reports: SCI adds turkey to record book
Safari Club International is accepting turkey entries for the next volume of its record book set to be published in 2012. Applicants must be SCI members. The group maintains hunting records for more than 400 species of wildlife.
Wild turkeys are considered the second-most popular big-game animal in the U.S. (behind white-tailed deer), according to Doug Yajko, SCI trophy records chairman. “Currently, there is no official record book with turkey entries. We have already received almost 100 entries.”
The new record book will cover nine wild turkey subspecies: Eastern, European, Gould’s, Merriam’s, Ocellated, Osceola, Rio Grande, South America and South Pacific Merriam’s.
Info: www.scifirstforhunters.org.
Rich Landers
HUNTING
Coping with turkeys
The burgeoning number of wild turkeys in the Idaho Panhandle has Fish and Game officials looking for ways to increase the harvest by hunters.
A questionnaire available online or at the agency’s Coeur d’Alene office asks for feedback by Wednesday on proposals for fall hunts. Among them:
“Allowing hunters to purchase multiple tags to kill any turkey from Sept. 15-Dec. 15 only in Units 1, 2, 3 and 5.
“Extending the current fall season rules for the entire Panhandle region to Dec. 15. (The season is currently scheduled to end Oct. 31.)
The proposals seek to allow more hunting opportunity while reducing the numbers of turkeys that flock up during winter and cause problems for valley landowners, especially those that feed domestic animals.
Since 2004, Fish and Game has trapped 730 turkeys in the Panhandle and moved them elsewhere without either a noticeable reduction in hunting opportunity or a reduction in the number of complaints from landowners the following winter, said Jim Hayden, department regional wildlife manager.
Rich Landers
WILDLIFE ENFORCEMENT
Dove baiters fined
A Sunnyside, Wash., landowner recently plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Yakima to charges stemming from a mourning dove hunt on his property, during which he admitted baiting with wheat and barley to attract birds.
Calvin R. Howe was fined $5,000 and banned from hunting in the United States for two years. Charges involved placing bait for dove hunting, possessing more birds than hunting limits allow and illegal hunting. All offenses are violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Officers also issued citations to nine hunters for numerous violations, such as exceeding the bag limit for doves and hunting with shotguns capable of holding more than three shells.
Without admitting or denying guilt, the hunters paid fines ranging from $700 to $1,525 apiece.
Rich Landers