Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Stats suggest spring harvest no turkey
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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Until a few years ago, the only way spring turkey hunters could track how a season was unfolding was to follow anecdotal reports.
If they and their buddies were having a good season, they tended to think things were going well statewide. If thing had been tough, things must be tough everywhere.
Using that criteria, I'd be tempted to say this season is going gang busters.
Just about everyone I know has killed at least one gobbler, and a few of my friends have tagged out with three birds.
Heck, things must be great when even the normally unlucky guy writing this column can kill one.
Fortunately, we don't have to rely only on what we're hearing to get a fairly good picture of how things are going.
In 2005 the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries began allowing hunters to check in their spring gobblers over the phone. This year the system was expanded to allow Internet checking.
The data are available pretty much instantly to game department officials. So to get a feel for the season we no longer have to wait weeks -- or months -- after the season until all of the information comes in from checking stations.
Still, we have to be somewhat careful when analyzing the electronic check numbers.
Because hunters still have a choice between personal and electronic checking, the electronic numbers aren't exact. Adding to the inexactness, the percentage of hunters using electronic checking has been changing each year -- and not by a consistent amount.
Even taking the variables into account, it appears almost certain that hunters are killing more gobblers this season than they did in 2007, when the total kill ended up at 14,090.
Through Saturday, hunters had reported 5,303 gobblers by phone or via the Internet. Through the fourth Saturday last season, the phone count was 4,462.
That would put the year-to-year increase at 19 percent.
Participation in the electronic checking has increased every year since hunters gained the option. It was up 4 percent the second year and up another 6 percent last year.
Even assuming that it makes an 8 percent jump to 50 percent overall this year, that would still mean this season is outpacing last year by more than 10 percent.
Strange things could happen between now and the season's final day on May 17. Bad weather on one or both of the remaining Saturdays could reduce hunting pressure and have a significant impact on the kill.
For example, telecheck numbers had been up 21 percent as of a week ago. So it's quite possible Saturday's windy weather hurt the hunting.
Barring a prolonged stretch of bad weather, it seems more than likely the total will be up a fair amount when all the numbers are tallied.
How much?
If the kill ends up climbing 10 percent overall, that would put it at about 15,500. A 15 percent jump would put it at 16,200, while a 20 percent jump would put it at 16,908.
I'm betting that the telecheck participation numbers will bump up about another 5 percent, which would translate to a kill increase of about 14 percent. That would put the total kill at right about 16,000.
The average kill has been 15,403 over the past 10 years. The low during that period was 11,922 in 1998 and the high was 18,345 in 2002.
Judge approves beach driving deal
Visitors to North Carolina's Outer Banks will be able to continue driving on beaches at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore now that a judge has approved an agreement between the sides involved in a legal battle over beach access.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle signed the consent decree reached between the National Park Service and two environmental groups that had sued to keep off-road vehicles off several sections of the beach.
The National Audubon Society and Defenders of Wildlife wanted to end driving at six popular fishing areas, arguing that allowing driving on the beaches while the Park Service developed a permanent management plan could harm fragile birds and other wildlife.
Critics of the attempt to close the beaches said, among other things, that such a move would cripple the Outer Banks economy because vacationers would head elsewhere if they weren't allowed to drive on the beaches.
The compromise plan will put in place a few changes to beach driving rules.
The most notable one, particularly for anglers, is that driving will not be allowed on any seashore beaches from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. from May 1 through Nov. 15 to protect nesting sea turtles. The exception is that the Park Service may issue permits for nonessential night driving from Sept. 16 through Nov. 15.
The plan also put in place strict buffer zones to protect imperiled sea birds during the nesting season.
Additional details about the agreement, including maps showing areas currently affected by seasonal bird protection closures, are available at nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/off-road-vehicle-use.htm.
And, of course, discussions remain lively on Internet message boards dedicated to surf fishing.
