Province's first turkey hunt pushed back to 2021

COVID-19 has put New Brunswick's first-ever wild turkey hunt on hold for a year.

The turkey hunt was supposed to start this weekwith opening day Monday. But the two weekseasonended up being pushed back until May 2021.

"As a result of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the mandatory State of Emergency Order, it will not be possible to introduce a wild turkey hunt in 2020," said Natural Resources spokesperson Kelly Cormier in an emailed statement to CBC News on Wednesday.

• Province's first turkey hunt set for May

"Once government operations return to normal, work will continue to make the necessary regulation changes for a wild turkey season to occur in the future."

Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland, who is a previous vice-president of the Canadian Wild Turkey Federation,has been pushing for a turkey hunt in New Brunswick since he was appointed in 2018.

"I've been talking about that since shortly after taking office that I was committed to seeing a management strategy implemented for wild turkeys in 2020," Holland told CBC News in March.

"Of course, the spring is the ideal time to be able to implement that."

A new sport in New Brunswick

Terry Smith, president of the Canadian Wild Turkey Federation, said the season's postponement is disappointing but the federation is already gearing up for next year.

"It was going to be very popular. A lot of interest," Smith said. " It was going to be a new hunt. A new sport."

Smith said there could be up to 5,000 wild turkeys in the province. Hehas also seen an increase in wild turkey sightings in the last two months in the Chipman, Sussex,Edmundston, St. Stephen and Woodstock areas.

"Our population is going to grow again next year."

Meanwhile, residents can apply for the province's moose draw starting on May 19until June 12. The moose hunt takes place for five days in September.

A jump in turkey sightings

The hunt has been sought by provincial hunters since sightings of the birds increased in recent years.

At the same time, there have been concerns the bird numbers have been artificially raised by the introduction of domestic turkeys to the wild. These turkeys can't survive in winter climates.

Last November, the New Brunswick Bird Records Committee voted to add wild turkeys to the province's official bird list, which meant the province now had an established population.

But the committee only did so for counties bordering Maine.

"The wild turkey is now a non-native resident, with a self-sustaining population, in the western counties of New Brunswick bordering Maine," said the committee in the minutes of their November meeting.

"The status of isolated populations of wild turkey outside those counties remains unclear."

400 turkey tags up for grabs

At least 400 turkey tags are going to be up for grabs in a lottery. And any New Brunswick resident will be able toapplyfor the draw, even those who don't live in zones that allow turkey hunting. For the firstseason at least, there will be no non-resident permits.

Anyone receiving a tag will also need to complete atraining course on turkey hunting.

The wild turkey hunt would've taken place in five wildlife management zones of the province. This would've includedthe Minto and Chipman areas, both in Queens County, which doesn't border Maine.

It appears someone is releasing turkeys into New Brunswick's wilds

6 years ago

Duration 0:59

Turkeys likely raised in captivity are showing up in various backyards and some suspect it is no accident.

There are up to 80,000 wild turkeys in the state ofMaine.

"It's going to be a great sport," Smith said.