Why Would A Wild Turkey Be By Itself - T-Tees - Your Answers Await, Life's Questions Unraveled

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Had a hen turkey in the backyard yesterday. Alone. I’ve seen more than a few adult hens wandering about recently with no poults.

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Sure, it is possible that the hen has a nest nearby and is simply out feeding. But most of the nesting should be done by now. A more dire suggestion is that the unusually persistent rains and cold nights have killed the majority of the poults, who are vulnerable at this time of year.

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They have not yet developed feathers and thus have no protection against the wet, then lethally cold conditions.

Yes, hens can lose an entire clutch and go nest again, laying more eggs. But that cannot happen indefinitely.

Biologists I’ve questioned this year are split on the extent of this spring’s weather kill, but all agree that some young birds are probably gone.

Why shoot doves?

Last week’s column on the slim possibility of dove hunting being legislated into New York’s future drew plenty of questions. Some were from people who don’t like hunting; others simply don’t like me. But most were from non-hunters who sincerely wanted to know why anyone would want to shoot a dove.

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Satisfactorily explaining that to anyone who does not hunt birds is difficult, if not impossible. Most do not find the answer acceptable, and understandably so.

I mean, should we tell the non-hunter, “We should be able to shoot doves because 42 other states do;” or “We want to shoot doves because it is great wingshooting sport;” or how about “We want to shoot doves because there are lots of them and we ought to be able to kill a few.”

True, doves can be excellent table fare. They are practically diet food since one burns more calories getting meat off the bones than are provided by the tiny breasts.

Consider that crow hunting is regulated but legal and there is a season on merganzers, and people do not eat either. Can’t explain that one satisfactorily, either.

Other aspects of the column were also questioned. It was pointed out, for instance, that the mourning dove isn’t the bird of peace, as was noted in the column. My bad, there. Turns out the bird of peace is the white turtle dove, a subspecies of the European turtle dove. They do not exist in North America and, thus, are safe from American gunners.

The statement that seven New England states do not have dove hunting seasons was challenged because there are only six New England states. Actually, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service cited seven northeastern states, not New England states.

An interested observer also noted that the photo that ran with the column was a rock pigeon, not a dove. That one confused me, too. For the record, columnists do not select photos to be published.

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Fly tying open house

Badger Creek Fly Tying in Freeville will host its 10th annual Open House from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

Joe Cambridge and Clayton Maybee will conduct fly tying demonstrations and Carol Farkus will give free casting lessons.

The shop is located at 622 West Dryden Rd. in Freeville.

For information, call Mike Hogue at 347-4946, email him at [email protected] or visit the website www.eflytyer.com.

Bills affect federal funding

The New York State Conservation Council strongly supports Senate Bill S693 and its companion Assembly Bill A4844, which provides for an analysis to determine the full cost and resultant impact of providing free hunting and fishing licenses to specific groups.

With a steady stream of bills proposing free or reduced-cost licenses to various groups – usually 20 to 25 per session – the council believes that an understanding of the costs involved and the development of a common process for handling these proposals is needed.

The Council is particularly concerned about any negative impact on the Conservation Fund.

License sales are one of the factors that determine the state’s share of federal excise tax funds distributed under the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. Free licenses are specifically excluded from the distribution formula.

In the 2015-2016 license sales year, free licenses and tags cost the Conservation Fund $1,174,936 in revenue. This was compounded by a resulting loss of $309,306 in New York’s federal aid apportionment, resulting in a total loss of almost $1.5 million to fish and wildlife restoration funding.

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The Council feels that the state is obligated to acknowledge that there is a cost to free and discounted licenses.

S693 has passed the Senate and A4844 has been reported out of the Environmental Conservation Committee. Both bills are currently in Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

The Council’s Memorandum of Support for this bill can be found on its website www.nyscc.com.

Dave Henderson’s outdoors columns appear in the Press & Sun-Bulletin and Ithaca Journal on Thursdays. If you have a comment or data pertinent to the columns, send it directly to Henderson Outdoors, 202 Prospect St., Endicott NY 13760 or email it to [email protected].

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