Spring Turkey Season

[naraht]

Originally Posted by dekeguy

Actually there are many more white tail deer in the Eastern states than there were when the first European settlers arrived. In many places the herds are too large to be supported by their natural foodstuffs and are subject to chronic wasting disease and other mamadies which condemn them to a slow and unpleasant death. State conservation departments have to cull the herds every year so that their natural habitat will support these deer. Ethical hunting is crucial for them to live a normal and natural life. The alternative is starvation and disease. Further, when the herds are culled the meat can be donated to Hunters for the Hungry to help those who honestly need a hand in putting food on the table for their families.

One of the comments on White Deer expansion that I've heard is that the ideal habitat for a White-tail deer is a Golf Course surrounded by a forest. Not many of those 500 years ago. Oddly enough for a site considered "liberal", the page on the species on Wikipedia is fairly pro-hunting. (or at least, the habitat would be often be better with fewer deer it in.) And the white tail deer as actually expanded its range in the last 500 years...

One of my friends hit and killed a deer while travelling on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, after verifying that she was alright, the cop asked if she wanted the deer, after she said no (and was *really* confused as to why the cop asked) the cop called a local butcher who was contracted with the county to pick up fresh road kill, butcher it and give it to the food bank/local homeless facility.

For the turkey, I think the biggest surprise to most people who aren't in areas with wild turkeys is how tough they are to hunt. The average American doesn't realize the degree to which their thanksgiving turkey has been bred and raised to be *really* oversized.

The oddest thing that I heard in regards to hunting is that at one point one of the midwestern states was considering a knife(!) season for deer. Under the standard "less power in the weapon equals longer season", I think the knife season was something like September to February.

As far as I'm concerned, if you are hunting deer successfully with a knife, forget daily/seasonal limits, the only requirement is that the Navy Seals should get your address so they can recruit you.