BOB HARRIS
------------------------------
Outdoors and Free
Volume 1, Issue 49

Fall Turkey Shotgun Season Is Here
By BOB HARRIS
Outdoors and Free
Friday, October 12, 2007

There is no doubt that turkey hunting in New Hampshire has become very popular and that the fall turkey shotgun season should be successful. The fall five day shotgun season for turkeys opens on Monday, October 15 and goes through Friday, October 19 in select Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) in the Connecticut River Valley and southwest portions of the state (WMUs D1, D2, G, H1, H2, I1, I2 and K). According to Fish and Game, these areas have New Hampshire’s densest wild turkey populations.

Participants in the fall shotgun turkey season will need both a $6 turkey license and a $11 fall shotgun permit, in addition to a current N.H. Hunting license. Your license needs can be purchased online at: www.HuntNH.com or from any Fish and Game license agent. The fall shotgun permit entitles a hunter to take a single turkey of either sex with a shotgun during the fall shotgun season. The turkey must be tagged with the "fall" tag that comes with the regular turkey license.
2007 Fall Archery Season
One wild turkey of either sex may be taken by archery.
  • Sept. 15 - Dec. 15: WMUs B, C1, C2, D1, D2, E, F, G, H1, H2, I1, I2, J1, J2, K, L, M
  • Areas CLOSED to fall turkey hunting: WMU A
  • Limit: One wild turkey, either sex
  • Legal methods: Archery only
  • Hunting Hours: 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset.
  • Registration: The fully feathered, intact turkey must be registered and sealed within 24 hours of the time of taking.
Fall Shotgun Season
New Hampshire has a 5-day fall shotgun season only in WMUs D1, D2, G, H1, H2, I1, I2 and K (the Connecticut River Valley and southwest portions of the state); these areas constitute the state's most dense turkey populations. The 2007 fall shotgun turkey season will run Monday through Friday, from October 15 - 19, 2007.

Participants in the fall shotgun turkey season need both an $11 fall shotgun permit and a $6 turkey license, as well as a current N.H. hunting license.

The fall shotgun permit entitles a hunter to take a single bird of either sex with a shotgun. Hunters can take only a single turkey during the fall, either with bow and arrow during the archery season, or with a shotgun during the shotgun season. The bird must be tagged with the "fall" tag that comes on the regular turkey license.
Shooting hours for the fall season will begin one-half hour before sunrise and end one-half hour after sunset. The fully feathered, intact turkey must be registered and sealed within 24 hours of the time of taking.

Click here for fall shotgun turkey hunting strategies.

Hunters are restricted to taking a single turkey during the fall, either with bow and arrow, during the archery season, or with a shotgun during the fall shotgun season provided the hunter possesses a fall shotgun permit. The turkey must be tagged with the "fall" tag that comes with the regular turkey license. The fully feathered, intact and tagged turkey must then be taken to a turkey registration station and sealed within 24 hours of the time of taking. For a list of turkey registration stations, go to www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_turkey.htm.  Shooting hours for the fall season begin one-half hour before sunrise and end one-half hour after sunset. 

During the 2006 first-ever, limited fall shotgun turkey season, 824 hunters purchased permits. They killed a total of 122 turkeys from the eight WMUs open to fall shotgun turkey hunting, all in the western half of New Hampshire. "The modest harvest of 122 turkeys was only 3.4 percent of the May 2006 spring season and will have little impact on the state’s overall turkey population," stated Fish and Game’s Turkey Project Leader, Ted Walski.

New Hampshire’s fall archery season for wild turkey runs from September 15 though December 15 statewide, except for WMU A, which is closed to fall turkey hunting. A total of 208 turkeys
were taken by hunters during the fall 2006 archery season. Incidentally, when hunting with a bow, it must be at least a 40-pound pull bow. Arrows must have the archer’s name and address on them. Fixed-blade broadhead arrows must not be less than 7/8 inch in width. Retractable-blade broadheads may be smaller than 7/8 of an inch wide in flight, but not less than 7/8 of an inch when open.

Don’t think that turkey hunting is popular? According to N.H. Fish and Game Department, nearly 20,000 hunters purchase New Hampshire turkey hunting permits annually. However, most hunt during the spring gobbler season. Turkeys had disappeared from the state, through market and substance hunting and habitat loss, by 1854. In 1975, our Fish and Game Department released 25 wild turkeys in the state. Through careful management, based on good science, and the great work of Fish and Game’s Turkey Project Leader, Ted Walski, that initial introduction has grown to more than 36,000 turkeys today. This population is a true wildlife restoration success story, thanks also to the Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program.

November 22 marks Thanksgiving Day and there could be no finer tablefare to celebrate with than wild turkey on the table.






Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at: outwriter2@aol.com
 

Past Columns  >>>

2007
>
Bob Harris 10-05-07:  Trouble at Glen Lake
> Bob Harris 09-28-07:  Are You Ready for Pheasant Season?
> Bob Harris 09-21-07:  A Dangerous Assault On Our Second Amendment Rights
> Bob Harris 09-14-07:  Cyanobacteria - No Luck O’ the Irish here
> Bob Harris 09-07-07:  Upland Bird Hunting and The Dogs Used To Roust Them
> Bob Harris 08-31-07:  Largemouth Bass virus found in Lake Winnipesaukee
> Bob Harris 08-24-07:  Farewell To Fish and Game Executive Director Lee Perry
> Bob Harris 08-17-07:  Time to sign up for a Hunter Education course
> Bob Harris 08-10-07:  Another invasive algae threatens New Hampshire waters
> Bob Harris 08-03-07:  Crappie fishing in New Hampshire
> Bob Harris 07-27-07:  Lake Winnisquam to get public boat access site
> Bob Harris 07-20-07:  Hearing set for proposed 2008 Freshwater Fishing rules
>
Bob Harris 07-13-07:  Good fishing luck only comes to those who believe
> Bob Harris 07-06-07:  Hunters have a chance to take an additional antlerless deer in WMU "M"
> Bob Harris 06-29-07:  Courtesy is a MUST at the boat launch
> Bob Harris 06-22-07:  What’s happening in New Jersey could happen in New Hampshire
> Bob Harris 06-15-07:  Check Your Watercraft Thoroughly Before Launching
> Bob Harris 06-08-07:  The HSUS Isn’t What You Think It Is
> Bob Harris 06-01-07:  River bass are powerful
> Bob Harris 05-25-07:  A website for outdoors women
>
Bob Harris 05-18-07:  Vicious attack by a butterfly
> Bob Harris 05-11-07:  The Mini-Tandem Streamer
> Bob Harris 05-04-07:  Tandem Streamers - The Size Counts
> Bob Harris 04-27-07:  Come Have Fun at N. H. Fish and Game’s All-Fish Exposition
> Bob Harris 04-20-07:  Trout ponds open April 28th
> Bob Harris 04-13-07:  Come and enjoy "Discover Wild New Hampshire Day"
> Bob Harris 04-06-07:  It's time to enjoy landlocked salmon fishing
> Bob Harris 03-30-07:  New Hampshire Fish and Game Executive Director Will Be Missed
> Bob Harris 03-23-07:  Turkey hunting seminar April 14th
> Bob Harris 03-16-07:  The most sweeping gun ban ever introduced in Congress
> Bob Harris 03-09-07:  A backdoor assault on our right-to-carry in New Hampshire
> Bob Harris 03-02-07:  A call to action on Fish & Game funding
> Bob Harris 02-23-07:  Come Enjoy the 5th Annual Fly-Fish New Hampshire Show
> Bob Harris 02-16-07:  Snowshoe Hare Hunting Workshop Offered by N.N Fish and Game Department 
> Bob Harris 02-09-07:  Need to ride snowmobiles responsibly and safely
> Bob Harris 02-02-07:  The joys of wildlife watching and photography
> Bob Harris 01-26-07:  Many New Hampshire waters are open for fishing year-round
> Bob Harris 01-19-07:  Tell Governor John Lynch you care about Fish and Game funding
> Bob Harris 01-12-07:  Come and Enjoy the 31st Toyota Eastern Fishing & Outdoor Exposition
> Bob Harris 01-05-07:  Fox television joins movement to ban trapping

2006
> Bob Harris 12-29-06:  A successful year for deer hunters
> Bob Harris 12-22-06:  Marine fisheries law enforcement activities increased in 2006
> Bob Harris 12-15-06:  December - a beautiful time for pheasant hunting
> Bob Harris 12-08-06:  The ice will be coming.  Be ready, be safe.
> Bob Harris 12-01-06:  Let's all help support the NH Fish & Game department
> Bob Harris 11-24-06:  The bear facts
> Bob Harris 11-17-06:  Become a volunteer ice fishing instructor
> Bob Harris 11-10-06:  Take a kid hunting this fall




> About Bob Harris

 


Copyright© 2007, Goffstown Residents Association.  All Rights Reserved.