Turkey hunting is becoming increasingly popular in Wyoming and the spring season offers hunters the first opportunity of the year to join the growing ranks of turkey hunters.

In recent years, more than 5,000 hunters have taken advantage of spring hunting opportunities and success usually tops 55 percent. That popularity means there are more hunters in the hills, and with that increase, Game and Fish hunter safety coordinator Jim Dawson urges hunters to take extra precautions to be safe. Dawson says that even though Wyoming turkey hunters have a very good safety record, hunters still need to take the normal common sense measures inherent with safe gun handling and hunting.

“The spring hunt is different than most other hunts in that hunters are wearing full camouflage,” Dawson said. “This means extra care needs to be exercised by hunters to be sure of their target and background.”

The National Wild Turkey Federation has a listing of reminders for turkey hunters:

• Never shoot at a sound or movement.

• Never shoot at a piece of a turkey. Make sure you can see the whole bird to determine if it is legal to shoot.

• Eliminate the colors red, white and blue from your turkey hunting clothing. Red is the color hunters count on to differentiate a gobbler’s head from the hen’s blue colored head.

• Be particularly careful when using a gobbler call. The sound may attract other hunters. If a hunter approaches, yell to alert him to your presence.



For the complete article see the 04-08-2009 issue.

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