D4

Jim Foster
On the rivers & in the woods

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Call them muskies with feathers.

It wasn't all that long ago that muskies, a non-native fish, invaded the St. John River system to become a key sportfish and spawning a new recreational fishing industry.

Now, wild turkeys are doing much the same thing, crossing the Maine border into New Brunswick and establishing, in the opinion of some, breeding populations that are now creating a population of wild turkeys that are native to the province.

In the opinion of folks like Rob Wilson, who is starting a Saint John branch of the National Wild Turkey Federation, that's just great. On the day we chatted, Rob was packing his bags for a spring turkey hunt in Maine, money he'd rather spend in his home province, hunting our own turkeys just as soon as they are numerous enough to be hunted here without harming their population.

But the province is having none of it, saying they can't afford the cost of managing another species of game bird and calling turkeys "exotic" species which they stridently discourage.

Too late, Rob contends.

"They're already here. They're growing naturally now. I would think within 10 years we'll have a spring and a fall turkey season, like Maine does now," Rob says.

Wild turkeys can be found on the west side of this province, in parts of the St. John River Valley, near Chipman and elsewhere. And NWTF members say they've already done all the studies that show wild turkeys can survive this province's tough winters; in fact, the presence of reproducing flocks amply demonstrate that. They argue it would cost the province nothing to implement a season and in fact would bring precious revenues to the province.

Turkeys are the most extensively hunted bird in the United States and is wildly popular in parts of Canada as well. Their fans here in New Brunswick can't understand how provincial authorities figure the birds aren't hardy enough for our winters, when their numbers are growing in northern Maine.

Rob points out that in 1978, there wasn't a known turkey in Maine, at least not of the feathered variety. Today there are more than 60,000 birds. None of them recognize the international boundary line, Rob points out.

N.B. NWTF chapters raise money to pay for transplanting birds and to study their whims. They don't encourage nor condone the practice of letting just anyone import birds into the province to be set free, as only wild relocated wild birds are suited to be transplanted. Farm-raised birds aren't genetically suited to living in the wild and when released are usually eaten by coyotes, shot by poachers, hit by cars or dilute the gene pool of truly wild turkeys that are already here.

Rather, NWTF branches are sort of like Ducks Unlimited: they promote the birds, raise public awareness and try to expand their habitat.

Turkey fans note that not long ago, there were no pheasants here, a truly exotic species. Now there are thriving populations in many areas of the province, including right in downtown Moncton. So why not turkeys? "Turkeys are far more suited to surviving here than pheasants," Rob contends.

This new branch would be the second in New Brunswick, including Rob's group, which would be centred around Saint John but which accepts members from all over the province, and a Sussex group led by Leo Moore, which does the same. Contact Moore via e-mail at mvision@nb.aibn.com. You can reach Rob at robw@nbnet.nb.ca

n Jim Foster is a Times & Transcript reporter and an avid outdoorsman. His column appears Thursdays.