Here’s what’s new for turkey hunting season

By Julie Harris, Bangor Daily News Staff

A state biologist said hunters looking for spring turkeys are more likely to find them in the woods, thanks to the amount of acorns and other edibles there.

Youth day opened Maine’s spring turkey season on April 26. The season opened to everyone else starting April 28, and runs until May 31.

It was a relatively mild winter with no heavy snow and the August reproduction was one of the highest in recent years, so there should be plenty of birds out there, said Kelsey Sullivan, a bird biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The only cold spell was in January for about three weeks, but Sullivan didn’t expect that many birds were affected by it. Turkeys can withstand brief periods of cold, he said.

Only one turkey has tested positive for avian flu out of the more than 100 birds that have died from it in the state, he said. He didn’t see avian flu as a real threat to the turkey population at this time.

Hunters may self-register their turkeys online again this year. It will be the third season, and seems to be successful, he said.

Bag limits are the same as last year. Two bearded turkeys may be killed in Wildlife Management Districts 7 and 9-29 and one in WMDs 1-6 and 8. A permit for $20 is necessary beyond your regular hunting license unless you have one of the licenses in which it’s already included, such as a Super Pack.

Turkeys may be killed with firearms or by archery.

Turkeys have spread out throughout Maine and into New Brunswick. They are most plentiful in southern and central Maine, although Sullivan has had reports from Cumberland County that fewer birds are being seen.

They may not be showing up in the fields because of the food in the woods, he said.

The next step in the turkey management plan will be to band some birds in the next couple of years and to update bag limits based on findings of the banding study, Sullivan said.