OCR Text |
Show doc - ht'' 4 y ont V - Fal - ,,,.' stsl x . - ,rf - Hi, sect n ,S 's sir f, . - Mar. I I - y coi fc ' ? - - i al'4 W f: vhet Poached Turkey 16 Floyd Coles of the Division of Wildlife Resources holds one of abuk two turkeys that were recently left near Cedar City. Wild Turkeys i Being Poached : j jam i In 1957, the Division of Win. nio Resources transplanted Wild Turkeys from the Kiabab National Forest in Arizona to the Cedar Mountains. Game Manager Flovd Coles of the DWR in Cedar Ci'ty has been monitoring the popula- f, uon, and feels like poaching is def Jj initely having a negative impact in the birds. c?r Coles indicates that during the - winter months the birds are hard y AO pressed to find food, thus becoming itions less cautious, even to the point of red a appearing tame at times. Unfortu-tivej Unfortu-tivej nately, these "tame" birds become ire t the victims of poachers, ot gn 'e rec According to Coles, this poach-ineSi poach-ineSi ing acuvity near Cedar City is limiting lim-iting the population growth of the ivails Merriams Wild Turkey on the west i,00fl side of the Cedar Mountain range, g abc since these wintering birds are the laymc same birds that' will inhabit the e tto spring and summer ranges at higher of at elevations, us." s L'nukc diost suites. Utah has only a small limited turkey population. Wild turkeys are hunted in only three areas of the stale, with an annual harvest of thirty to fifty male birds. Coles feels that the total to-tal birds poached throughout the year is at least as high as the legal harvest. When asked how sportsmen can help solve this problem, Coles had several suggestions. Local sportsmen sports-men could monitor wintering flocks and obtain information (like license plate numbers) of poachers, observe the wild turkeys fipm greater distances dis-tances (which would cause the birds less stress), and avoid driving on any of the big game winter ranges which are the same ranges that the birds are using. Coles went on to say that the DWR officers will be issuing citations cita-tions to any individuals that are harassing ha-rassing wildlife on these winter ranges, whether its turkeys or big game, in an effort to assist wildlife survive the stresses of winter. |