Seminar showcases art of turkey hunting

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ORONO – Wild turkey season is the most dangerous time to hunt in many of the 49 states where such hunts are held. But since the May hunt began in Maine 15 years ago, there have been no fatalities, a fact state biologists attribute to the annual information seminars, which are being held now around the state.

Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife upland game bird and waterfowl biologist Andy Weik said the nature of the hunt almost makes the seminars a necessity. Turkey hunting is like a difficult dance. To bag a bird, you have to know how to call it in; and to learn how to call it in, you almost have to attend a seminar.

“It’s like no other hunt. Unless you were bowhunting deer and calling it in, but it’s even different than that,” Weik said.

As National Wild Turkey Federation member Larry Pike explained at Sunday’s seminar at the University of Maine, the birds are wary of sounds and colors, and calling them in with artful success is not easy.

Hunters must sit covered head to toe in camouflage, sometimes for hours, waiting for the bearded jakes (1-year-old males) and toms (older males). Hens, about 95 percent of which are not bearded, are not legal to shoot.

Because one tom will mate with many hens, Weir said, there is no danger of depleting the population by shooting the toms in May. After much of the breeding takes place in April, he said, many hens remain on their eggs – and out of the picture during the hunt.

The toms, meanwhile, are still strutting, fanning their tails, and gobbling. They are blind with purpose during the mating season, but, unlike other animals, such as bucks, they remain wary.

So must the hunters.

“It’s not a hunt where you are stalking the bird,” Pike said to about 60 who attended the seminar at the UMaine Field House. “The best way to kill a bird is to know ahead of time where it will be.”

Pike suggests camouflaging everything from your bug repellent bottle to your gun to remain indistinguishable to the birds and to remain safe in the presence of other hunters.

Any red, white or blue in a hunter’s outfit or gear could be mistaken for the bright colors of a jake’s beard. By the same token, any bright colors would give the hunter away to the birds.

“Their eyes are like 10-power binoculars,” Pike said. “You want to stay in the shadows, work the shadows.”

On Sunday, Pike gave a 30-minute lesson on how to fool the bird with sounds. Like a one-man band he performed on various birdcalls, simulating the “fly-down cackle,” the “spit and drum,” the “confidence call.” The lesson went beyond duplicating the sounds of a hen – a big part of the game is in knowing when to imitate her mating call.

“If you come in competition with another hen for a tom, whatever she does, you do,” Pike advised. “She cackles, you cackle; she yelps, you yelp. It’s going to make her mad. She’ll come in for a visit, and as she comes, so comes the nearby tom. So make her ugly.”

While the lesson showed the interaction between hunter and animal that has made the hunt so popular, Weik said caution would remain paramount as its popularity grows.

With permits up from 3,500 last year to 7,000 this spring and the area of the hunt having expanded, it could grow as interest increases. In the past three years the number of applicants has more than doubled to 20,000, Weik said.

Deirdre Fleming covers outdoor sports and recreation for the NEWS. She can be reached at 990-8250 or at dfleming@bangordailynews.net.

Seminars

March 26 ? Skowhegan, Community Recreation Center, 6:30 p.m.

March 27 ? Rumford, Mountain Valley High School, Room 302, 6:30 p.m.

March 27 ? Sanford, Sanford Fish and Game Clubhouse, Route 4, 7 p.m.

March 30 ? Augusta Sportsman Show, Cushnoc Auditorium, Augusta, 7:30 p.m.

March 31 ? Augusta Sportsman Show, Cushnoc Auditorium, Augusta, 2 p.m.

April 1 ? Augusta Sportsman Show, Cushnoc Auditorium, Augusta, 1 p.m.

April 4 ? Rockland, Johnson’s Sporting Goods Store, 51 Park St., 7 p.m.

April 12 ? Unity College, Room 1B (above the pub), Unity, 7:30 p.m.

April 14 ? Old Town, Old Town Trading Post, 1 p.m.

April 14 ? Sanford, Sanford Fish and Game Club, 9 a.m.-noon.

April 21 ? Durham, Durham Rod and Gun Club, Route 136, 9 a.m.-noon.