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Anyone know if Turkey is being considered legal game to hunt in New Brunswick?

2K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Bill Gass 
#1 ·
Hey everyone, I'm from Nova Scotia just wondering if anyone knows if there is any news of making turkey legal game to hunt? Im from NB originally, from Centerville, just outside of Hartland. Really interested in Turkey hunting but apparently there is no plans to introduce them to the province. I pray they will eventually migrate here(hopefully fingers crossed) Were they Introduced recently or just migrating to New Brunswick? Were they released in maine? Just trying to find out what the word is on everything.. would love to try a turkey hunt.
 
#2 ·
Good Day

The closest location to NS that you can legally hunt wild turkey is in the state of Maine which has around 70 000 turkeys in the wild. The wild turkeys that are in NB have migrated here on their own from Maine. Currently there are two National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) chapters in NB, Saint John and Sussex and another umbrella group known as REDA (Rural Economic Development Alliance) which consists of both NWTF chapters, First Nations, Outfitters, Guides and sportsman associations. We as a group are working very diligently to bring about the reintroduction of wild turkeys to NB. Currently the next step is to have an EIA (Envirmoental Impact Assessement) conducted. We can wait 30 years and see if they establish themsleves or we could have our a huntable population in NB within ten years with a properly conducted trap and transfer program. Ontario NWTF has already agreed to assist with the trapping of wild birds in their prov and NWTF has alot of experience with moving wild birds. So with the 2nd Annual Saint John NWTF Hunting Heritage Banquet coming up on 02 April it is critical that we get as many folks out as possible, not only to raise money but as a show of support for this cause. I believe that we will also have a hunt in Maine on the Auction. In closing I would like to clarify that if you shoot a wild turkey in NB you are breaking the law, we need to let existing populations grow and flourish with flocks already breeding and producing poults now we are at a cross road as to whether NB will have wild turkeys or not. So I would ask that everyone only use a camera to shoot turkeys and report their sitings on NBH.

Bill Gass
VP
Saint John Chapter
NWTF
 
#3 ·
Just a quick question, you said there is going to be an eia done as a next step . I'm realy not familiar with the wild turkey pros/cons but I had heard that they can be verry hard on crops and certain plants due to there eatting : just wondering if you knew anything about that and do you foresee any resistance to the turkeys by :landowners/ag producers/forestry interests ? I think they may do alright were they are wanted and protected but they may prove to be an easy target in some areas......good luck.
 
#4 ·
Here is the findings of a report done by radio tagging turkey to look at crop predation done by purdue university...

Summary is..

"Concern over crop damage caused by wild turkey has grown in recent years. Purdue University researchers observing wildlife in the field and surveying crop fields for damage did not observe any measurable damage caused by wild turkey. This is consistent with research findings from other states."

Concerns stemmed from people seeing turkeys in crop fields but the research says that most were feeding on bugs or waste grain and not the actual plant or heads. Much of the crop reported turkey damage was actually from other critters.

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-264-W.pdf
 
#5 ·
That was a great read, thanks Bowtech. I didn't realize how much Turkeys capitalize on the hard work of other animals. For example, they only seem to eat standing corn that has already been damaged by another, and will only hunt grubs in areas where the skunks and raccoons have already dug for them.

I think the perception may be the real problem though, it does mention that in their northern ranges, Turkeys have been known to steal corn from bins. It wouldn't take too many farmers catching turkeys in their crop bins before the perception is that they are devastating their crops.
 
#8 ·
NWTF has conducted many studies in the past. They just don't conduct a study themselves and call everything OK. Alot of the time they hire respected professionals and or unviersities to conduct these studies. If you can think of a possible impact that wild turkeys could have on another species or on any type of agriculture, then it has already been looked at by NWTF. As indicted above turkeys get the blame because they are out in the day time when people are. Stduy after study has shown that racoons and deer do 95% of the crop damage after dark and when the turkeys show up at dawn to clean up the leftovers they get the blame for all the damage. If someone has conclusive proof that turkeys are detrimental to some other species or crop then please produce your evidence. There was even a case in the US where a flock of turkeys alerted a farmer to an invasive species of beetle in his crop. Day after day he'd see the same birds in the same corner of his field and when he went to investigate he found the infestation of non native beetles, which was a windfall for the tuekeys who returned every day to eat them. He collected samples and sent them to their dept of agriculture they were confirmed as invasive and eraticated. The bottom line is that wild turkeys aren't going to have any more impact than any other critter running around the woods.

Bill G.
 
#10 ·
check the thread "Planning a Turkey Hunt" just below this one. There is an ATF form (NIA 6 or something like that) that you have to fill out and fax/mail to get a lic to bring your shotgun into the US. Other than thet you just need to buy your nonresident alien lic and hire a guide. I think that a few guys were going to Dillons Gunsmoke lodge and rates seemed to be pretty reasonable. If I had the cash I'd be going myself. PM Predator One I'm pretty sure he's been on a few trips to the US turkey hunting.

Bill G
 
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