Fall turkey season applications due
Fall turkey season applications due
North Dakota’s fall turkey season is set with 6,805 licenses available to hunters, according to Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor for the state Game and Fish Department.
This year’s figure is down 17 percent from last year. However, an additional 1,300 licenses may be used in specific hunting units if turkey reproduction is exceptionally good this spring.
Harvest and population data in 2008 from hunting units in the southwest indicate turkey numbers have decreased due to last year’s poor production and chick recruitment. In addition, Kohn said aggressive hunting seasons since 2003 have started to stabilize turkey numbers in many units.
“These lower turkey numbers are actually what we have been trying to achieve, allowing for more landowner tolerance of turkeys yet providing hunting licenses for most applicants,” Kohn said.
Last winter’s above average snowfall combined with this spring’s rain is a benefit because of the improved habitat conditions in much of the state, Kohn said. “And if weather conditions remain warm and dry during the nesting and early brooding period, better production and increased brood survival can be expected this summer in many parts of the state,” he added.
Another change from last year
