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I navigated the trail to a power line where the glow of light in the eastern sky hovered above the tree line ahead. Beyond those trees, a wild turkey gobbler was stretching on his limb, getting ready to greet the dawn. I closed the distance to within 100 yards, put an owl hooter call to my mouth, and let loose with "hoo, hoo . . . hoo, hoooooooo." Nothing. "Hoo, hoo . . . hoo, hoooooooooo." This time the question was answered by a resounding "GOOOOOOOBBBBBBLLE!!!"
Springtime in Maine is traditionally a time to catch a limit of brook trout and bag a mess of fiddleheads. It's a time to search thickets for antler sheds and last fall's buck rubs. Bird hunters pause when they hear the chest-pounding drumming of a ruffed grouse
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Historically, wild turkeys were found in York, Cumberland, and Oxford Counties, but land-clearing and unrestricted shooting caused their disappearance in the early 1800s. Efforts to bring back the birds in the 1940s and in 1960 failed. Reintroduction started again in 1977-1978, when 41 wild turkeys live-trapped in Vermont were released in York County. This fertile rafter (a group of turkeys), with the help of Connecticut birds and in-state trap-andtransfer efforts, has grown to an estimated 25,000 birds. Today, wild turkeys can be found in woodlots, fields, and rural backyards from past Greenville over to East Machias.
Maine was able to hold its first spring hunt in 1986, limited to 500 permits for York County. Since then, hunting permits have steadily increased to a high of 20,300 in 2005. While I've been an upland bird and deer hunter my whole life, turkey hunting quickly became a passion. It has everything I love about hunting: the drama, the strategy, and the beautiful spring mornings . . . without the things I don't: the cold of winter, the boredom of a tree stand, and the ever more crowded deer woods. Like many others, I pray the night before the lottery for the privilege to hunt these grand birds.
In 2006, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife will likely eliminate the lottery permit system and open spring turkey hunting to anyone. This places in jeopardy the safety and solitude of the spring hunt. The tradition of mastering turkey calls and coaxing a bird within range isn't going to appeal to everyone. Incidents like "drive by" shootings of turkeys loitering on roadsides and fields will likely increase. People stalking and shooting at decoys and endangering other hunters is a concern-a product of having more people pursuing the same resource in ever-limited areas. All this may tarnish the sport and result in further posting of private land. Part of me would rather deal with the uncertainty of a lottery drawing than harm the sacred nature of this springtime ritual.
I settled in at the base of a tree and staked my decoys at 20 yards. With a diaphragm mouth-call wedged in my cheek, I gently stroked the lid of my box call and was rewarded with another gobble. Concerns about Sunday hunting, increased posting, citizen referendums, and anti-hunting organizations seemed a million miles away. Right now, I had to convince this gobbler that I was a hen, prettier and sexier than those likely flirting with him at this very moment. Sure, he might strut in on a string, sashaying and pirouetting within range, all puffed up with a head ablaze in reds, whites, and baby blues. But just as likely, he'll run off with one of those hussies. And that's just fine; I was, after all, out here on this glorious spring morning, not to kill, but to have hunted.
Brad Eden is a resident of Frankfort, Maine and is a Registered Maine Master Guide. He is an artist, writer, and the owner and editor of Upland Journal Online Magazine.
