| OFAH FILE: 842 | For Immediate Release |
Fall wild turkey tags at select ServiceOntario centres
Tags for new fall hunt not available through IVR
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) is informing hunters who intend to purchase wild turkey tags for the new fall hunt, that the tags are not as widely available as the spring version.
With few exceptions, hunters wishing to purchase a wild turkey tag will need to travel to a Wildlife Management Unit (W.M.U.) that will have an open wild turkey season this year. Within these specific W.M.U.’s, tags will be available at ServiceOntario centres and from licence issuers that stocked wild turkey tags in the spring. Issuers outside the designated W.M.U.’s who specifically requested tags may also have some availability. There will be no fall wild turkey tags available through the Interactive Voice Response (I.V.R.) system.
This past spring the Ministry of Natural Resources (M.N.R.) announced the opening of a fall wild turkey season in parts of southeastern and southwestern Ontario. The new fall hunting regulations include an open season for W.M.U.’s 64, 67, 68, 73, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 84, 89, 90, 92, and 93. Regulations for the fall season vary from the spring, with hunters allowed to take one bird, which can be of either gender. The fall season runs from October 14 to 26 in 2008.
To accommodate interest in the wild turkey certification courses, the O.F.A.H. ran several sessions in early September. The next opportunity to take the mandatory Wild Turkey Hunter Education Certificate course for those wishing to hunt wild turkey will begin in February, with registration anticipated to open in January.
Wild Turkey Facts:
- The O.F.A.H. initiated the highly successful program to bring back the extirpated eastern wild turkey to Ontario more than twenty years ago.
- There has been a wild turkey hunting season since 1987, and during that time, wild turkey populations have continually increased. Conservative estimates place Ontario’s turkey population at over 70,000 birds.
- Since 1987, the O.F.A.H. has trained 78,300 wild turkey hunters in seminars held across Ontario.
- Last year, wild turkey licence sales contributed $936,789 to the M.N.R. Special Purpose Account.
With 82,000 members and 655 member clubs, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is the leading fishing, hunting and conservation organization in Ontario. For more information visit www.ofah.org.
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