Outdoor Brief

IT'S ALMOST TIME

Spring turkey hunting regulations available online

Hunters eager to apply for Nevada's 2011 Spring Wild Turkey Hunts don't have long to wait. The applicable regulations are currently available online at ndow.org/law/regs/huntregs/turkey/. Hard copies of the regulations and mail-in applications are available in the agency's regional offices. The online application process will go live Tuesday at www.HuntNevada.com.

Hunters must submit their tag applications by 5 p.m. Feb. 15. Paper applications must be delivered through a postal service; hand-delivered applications will not be accepted. Drawing results will be posted online March 4.

To apply for a wild turkey tag, hunters must have a valid hunting license for the time period beginning March 1, 2010, and ending Feb. 28, 2011, or they can purchase a new hunting license -- valid for the 2011-12 license year -- during the application process. Either way, successful tag applicants must have a hunting license valid March 1, 2011, through Feb. 29, 2012, while hunting under the authority of a 2011 Spring Wild Turkey tag.

Hunting season for wild turkeys is scheduled to get under way as early as March 25 in some hunt areas and remain open as late as May 5 in others. Private property is an issue in some hunt units, so hunters are encouraged to make arrangements for access before submitting their application. A day or two before the season opener is not the time to seek permission to access private lands. Those who start early generally have better luck finding a place to hunt in those areas where private property is an issue.

Hunters applying for tags during hunts 0135 and 0137 must submit paper applications available from landowners in the appropriate areas of Lyon, Churchill and Humboldt counties. The application must carry a landowner's signature. There is no tag quota for these hunts.

During the past few years, Nevada's wild turkey hunt has seen a significant increase in popularity among our hunters," said Martin Olson, hunter education coordinator for NDOW. "Some hunters who are new to turkey hunting compare the gobble of a mature tom answering their calls to the bugle of a big bull elk during the rut."