The Youth Turkey Hunt is also new this year. Following the popular youth hunts for deer and waterfowl, the Youth Turkey Hunt allows hunters ages 12 to 15 who have successfully completed a hunter education program and who hold a spring turkey license, stamp and a valid spring turkey carcass tag to hunt turkeys on April 7-8 (Easter weekend). Youth hunters can apply for and receive a turkey permit through the regular drawing, or purchase one or more leftover tags. Carcass tags can be for any hunting period of the spring 2007 season, but hunters are limited to hunting in the turkey management zone for which their carcass tag was issued.

The bag limit is one male or bearded turkey per spring turkey carcass tag. A youth who does not kill a turkey during the two-day youth hunt can use unfilled carcass tags during the time period and in the zone for which they were issued. A tag used to register a turkey during the youth hunt may not be reused during the regular season. Young hunters must be accompanied by an adult 18 or older, who may not carry a gun but who can call for and otherwise assist the youth hunter.

What this boils down to is an extra two-day hunt for young hunters when there is little hunting pressure before the regular season.

Don’t confuse the Youth Turkey Hunt with the Learn-to-Hunt (LTH) program. This program, which has been going on for the past several years, operates under a different set of rules. It is open to first-time turkey hunters of any age, who can participate in only one LTH program for a given species. Learn-to-Hunt programs are conducted by sportsmen’s clubs and other groups that secure permission to hunt on private land and recruit hunters and mentors, both of whom must attend a turkey-hunting workshop.

LTH hunters are limited to one carcass tag, valid only during their LTH program. In past years, LTH programs were generally conducted the weekend before the first spring hunting period, but that weekend is now reserved for the youth hunt. This year, most LTH programs will likely take place one week earlier, March 31 to April 1.

As of this writing, DNR officials were considering some changes for the way leftover tags are sold because of last year’s bottleneck. Hull could not say what changes would be made, but he did say one possibility was that the total number of leftover permits for each zone may not be made available for sale on the first day. The date leftover permits would go on sale was also not available as of press time.

MORE CHANGES?
It is likely that permit numbers in recently opened zones will increase in future years as turkeys become established in the northern parts of the state. If a severe winter kills a significant number of turkeys in a unit, however, permit numbers will probably be reduced the following spring.

One major proposed change is a severe reduction in the number of turkey zones from the current 46 down to seven. Each zone would encompass several current zones. The new zone structure will be proposed at this year’s spring hearings. If it passes, Hull expects it will be in place for spring 2009. State parks would remain separate zones as they are now.