THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602110056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SOUTH MILLS LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
No creature on Earth is better at outsmarting ground-bound humans with guns than the wily wild turkey, a raucous, aerodynamically deprived native American fowl that returned to Camden County last week.
Three wild turkey gobblers and six hens happily whirred off through Camden's piney woods Friday after they were released for restocking by a group of conservationists with the National Wild Turkey Federation.
The turkey restocking in 13 northeastern counties is part of a statewide program sponsored by the federation and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
``Thoughtful hunters are good environmentalists, and they want to protect these birds as much as we do,'' said David Rowe, northeastern regional biologist for the Wildlife Commission in Edenton.
``If we give the turkeys about five years to multiply, then we can think about opening a turkey season.''
In several of the 13 counties in his 1st Wildlife District, Rowe said, the restocking program has been so successful that limited open seasons are again allowed.
``That's why we don't advertise exactly where we're restocking these wonderful birds in Camden,'' said Wilburn ``Wib'' Owens, a wildlife management expert with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in Raleigh.
``We don't want people shooting at them until several new families are established.''
Fortunately for the turkeys, it is well-known among thwarted humans that the birds often seem to escape a 12-gauge, full-choke load of No. 6 shot quicker than the average human gunner can say ``Oh, fudge!''
These fowl also rocket out of adawn-dark roost tree faster than a flight of Scud missiles. The unexpected early-morning commotion is often enough to scare the stuffing out of unready hunters. This also explains why there are more empty shell cases than dead wild turkeys.
Target turkeys presumably feel that this is a fair exchange for all that misdirected shot ruffling their tail feathers. Not for naught did the Founding Fathers argue that the wild turkey would have made a better national bird than the eagle.
``They are truly honorable wildfowl with wonderful eyesight and hearing,'' said Owens. He has been hunting wild turkeys for many of his 43 years and feels he has helped a lot of ammo manufacturers practice conservation among the turkey population.
Since 1973 the National Wild Turkey Federation has been working with state wildlife commissions to restock the country's turkey population.
From an estimated 2,000 remaining North Carolina wild turkeys in 1970, the restocked bird population grew to more than 85,000 turkeys in 1995, a Federation spokesman said.
``We work in all 100 counties of North Carolina,'' said Owens. ``And it is one of our most successful restocking programs.''
The Wild Turkey Federation and the N.C. Wildlife Commission jointly contribute funds to buy wild turkeys from areas that already have self-sustaining populations.
A recent group of transplanted birds came from Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., where the big turkeys seemed to thrive amid shot and shell.
Owens and Rowe work with local chapters of the Turkey Federation, which now has 120,000 members in 50 states and eight foreign countries.
Helping Rowe in the Camden restocking on Friday were members of The Coastal Callers, a new Turkey Federation chapter that has been started in Currituck, Dare and Camden Counties.
``We hope to continue with the turkey program in our coastal area,'' said James A. Miller, 26, of Harbinger, the vice president of the Coastal Callers.
Northeastern North Carolina provides a healthy habitat for the transplanted turkey.
``They eat a lot of greens and a lot of worms for protein,'' said Owens, the wildlife management expert in Raleigh.
Miller and Kevin Clark, 28, president of the chapter, were joined by other Federation officials for the inaugural restocking efforts in Camden.
Starting early in the conservation efforts was Morgan Miller, James Miller's 5-year-old son.
``He released the first bird,'' said Morgan's father. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
David Rowe of the state Wildlife Resources Commission releases a
turkey Friday in Camden County. Conservationists freed nine birds in
a restocking program.
A wild turkey alights near a grain bin on a rural Camden farm. The
wild turkey, its admirers say, is one amazing bird.
Photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Nine wild turkeys were released in Camden County in a program that
has eventually allowed hunting.
by CNB