Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.metro From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Wild turkeys gobble up Maryland ground Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 15:00:28 EST Message-ID: Lines: 68 \SE B;METROPOLITAN \SS (WS) \HD Wild turkeys gobble up Maryland ground \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT HAGERSTOWN, Md. HAGERSTOWN, Md. - Twenty years ago, only 2,000 wild turkeys roamed Western Maryland, but a trap-and-release program has re-established the large game birds in nearly every county of the state. An estimated 12,000 wild turkeys live across the state because of a Department of Natural Resources relocation program. Wildlife officials trap turkeys in 40-by-60-foot camouflage nets shot from cannons. "They shoot it over the top of them about 20 feet into the air. Like rockets, they sail over the heads of the birds," said Ed Golden, regional manager for the Forest, Park and Wildlife Service. "You go out and get them out of the net, weigh them, tag them, sex and age them. Then you put them in a crate and take them to the new area," he said. The state Department of Natural Resources began an intensive trap-and-relocate program for wild turkeys in 1979. The department has trapped about 660 wild turkeys, primarily in Western Maryland, and moved them to re-establish their population in other parts of the state. "They are in all counties except Prince George's, but they should have them there by the end of the year. In Cecil County, they haven't taken off the way we have liked," Mr. Golden said, adding that the problem could be related to illegal hunting, weather or the presence of wild dogs. Wild turkey populations are expanding in Calvert County and the middle and lower sections of the Eastern Shore, he said. While the estimated 15,000 turkey hunters in the state can find the birds in nearly every county, hunting is restricted to Western Maryland in the fall and to specified counties in the spring. Hunters killed 370 wild turkeys during Maryland's five-day fall season, which ended Nov. 10. Hunters were allowed to kill any turkeys west of Interstate 81. Last year's harvest was 360 turkeys. The state allows hunters to kill bearded turkeys, primarily gobblers, from April 17 to May 15 in Allegany, Calvert, Caroline, Garrett, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Washington and Worcester counties. Turkey hunting in the spring is also allowed in Dorchester County south of U.S. 50, Kent County east of U.S. 301 and Wicomico County east of U.S. 13. "Unless you've heard one of these gobblers sound off on a spring morning, it's hard to explain," said James Gilford, chairman of the Maryland Wild Turkey Advisory Board, which monitors the bird's population. "What the hunters do is try to imitate a hen," he said. "It's quite a challenging thing because turkeys have extremely good eyesight and hearing. They're very wary." Some people enjoy finding and watching turkeys in the wild. Last weekend, the Wild Bird Co. in Frederick sponsored a turkey walk. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM