Wisconsin 08 fall turkey application deadline approaches
MADISON – There will be 95,700 wild turkey permits available to hunters for the fall 2008 turkey hunting season, an increase of nearly a thousand over the 2007 fall season. Permit levels were finalized by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Turkey Advisory Committee after consideration of hunter interference rates, previous fall permit levels, another record spring harvest, and predicted spring turkey production.
2006 WI Wild Turkey Stamp Design
by Tim Schultz
The application deadline for the fall season is Aug. 1. The season runs Sept. 13 through Nov. 20 with a bag limit of one turkey of any age or sex per hunting approval notice. Hunters must bring their tagged turkey to a designated registration station no later than 5 p.m. the day after it is harvested.!
Turkey hunters harvested 12,010 turkeys in the 2007 fall season, for which 94.800 permits were available. There were no hunting accidents reported during the 2007 fall season.
The $3 application for the fall season can be purchased: over the Internet through the Online Licensing Center; at DNR service centers during their regular business hours (check service center link for hours of operation, which vary by service center; service centers are closed Saturdays); at license sales locations; or by calling toll-free 1-877-WI LICENSE (1-877-945-4236). In addition to this application, hunters are also required to purchase a 2008 Fall Turkey License and Stamp unless they have previously purchased this license and stamp or are currently a 2008 Conservation Patron license holder.
Permits remaining after the drawing will go on sale beginning at noon on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. The permits will be available on-line and at license vendors (DNR Service Centers are closed Saturdays). The fee for these permits will be $10 for residents and $15 for non-residents. Purchases are limited to one permit per day until each zone is sold out. Purchasing permits does not affect a hunter’s preference status for future Spring or Fall Turkey Permit drawings.
Because the number of leftover turkey permits for the fall season is only a quarter of spring sales, DNR customer service and licensing officials do not expect computer problems with fall sales. In addition, the agency has been working with the private vendor that handles permit sales to make changes to the computer system to better handle high sales volumes, and backup plans are in place to avoid having hunters have to wait in line as they did last spring. Additional work continues by the licensing system contractor and DNR staff to ensure that the problems that caused last spring's computer crash are not repeated.
What’s new for Fall 2008?
* Zone Consolidation will begin with the fall 2008 turkey hunting season. The number of turkey hunting zones (pdf; 236kb) will be reduced to seven large zones instead of the 46 zone structure. There is still the same amount of total turkey hunting area. Each of the new zones combine a number of the smaller zones to give hunters more flexibility to move about in search of wild turkeys.
* In the fall 2008 season ONLY, hunters may use dogs to hunt wild turkeys IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ONLY: Crawford, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Sauk, Vernon, and Wood. This is a pilot program that may be extended for the 2009 fall season as well.
* Blaze orange clothing and blaze orange on ground blinds is required for turkey hunters statewide during the youth deer hunt (Oct. 11-12) and during the October gun hunt in certain units (Oct. 16-19). Check the 2008 Fall Turkey Hunting Regulations for more information.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon Fandel (608) 261-8458 or Scott Hull (608) 267-7861
