The numbers are in for the spring turkey season. The Conservation Department says accidents from the spring turkey season came in at a record low. Spokesman Arleasha Mays says this year there were just two accidents. Mays says that figure is a 35-year record and both accidents were non-fatal. Mays says the department has seen a continual drop in accidents since it began requiring a hunter education program in 1988.
The department reports another drop – a drop in the turkey harvest. The number of turkeys checked came in at about 45,000, or 8 or 9 birds per square mile. That’s about 10 percent lower than last season. Spokesman Jeff Berenger says the combination of a poor hatch of turkeys in 2005 and the unusual cold snap in April were the biggest factors in the drop. Berenger says the state is home to between 500,000 and 600,000 turkeys.
AUDIO: Laura McNamara reports (:60 MP3)
