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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 14, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 14, 2005 Tax Day means the start of spring turkey season By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune One group of Oregon hunters can’t wait for Friday’s tax deadline to come, but their zest has nothing to do with one of life’s two absolutes. Tax Day also marks the start of spring turkey season, and Oregonians are primed to make the best of the spring general season’s first three days of hunting for one of Oregon’s most popular game birds. "I’m so antsy about the turkey season I can’t stand it," says John Thiebes, a former Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist who is now the northwest field biologist for the National Wild Turkey Federation. "I just bought $80 worth of turkey calls." The calling starts Friday morning and will commence at season’s end May 31. The ODFW will be selling turkey tags throughout the season. The statewide limit is two male turkeys, or two turkeys with visible beards. However, turkey populations in southwest Oregon and other areas allow for the purchase of a third, bonus tag. Advertisement Turkeys inhabit much of the oak savannas and mixed-conifer forests across Jackson and Josephine counties. Hunters must ask permission before entering private lands. With the opening day falling on a Friday, hunters can expect a fine first weekend of hunting — even if they miss opening day. Even recent rains and foul weather, which tends to keep game-birds quiet in their roosts, likely won’t dampen the early part of the season, Thiebes says. Turkeys are in the midst of spring breeding, and hunters can take advantage of sex-crazed males by using hen calls early in the season. "I don’t think it’s going to rain hard enough to keep them from gobbling," Thiebes says. "The weather won’t be bad enough to dampen their spirits." Jackson County’s Rogue Unit is one of the three most heavily hunted for turkeys among Oregon’s wildlife management units. In 2003, the last year in which statistics are available, 1,165 hunters logged 5,145 hunting days, averaging almost 4½ days afield each. They bagged 384 turkeys for an average of one bird per three hunters. Similar results were logged by a smaller number of hunters in the Applegate Unit while Evans Creek’s 418 hunters averaged slightly better than one bird between two hunters. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Fasa Advertisement s