LoUISIA1NA CONSERVATION REVIEW 
 
 
                           UTIT 11ITS HUNTING AND FUTURE 
THE WIDTURKEY                                                        IN LOUISIANA

 
 
HE WILD TURKEY! What a              Wild TL 
     thrill goes through the av-          Ex 
     erage hunting devotee at 
the very thought of lining up            By E 
one of these noble birds through 
the sights of a rifle or along the matted rib of his 
trusty old scatter gun. For, though deer, bear, or 
some other species of the big game that inhabit 
this continent have often proved alluring to the 
hunter, true sportsmen would far rather kill a 
wild turkey. 
   When the Pilgrim Fathers landed on the 
Atlantic Coast and proceeded to carve, with hymn 
book and bell mouth blunderbus, a colony out of 
a primeval wilderness, wild turkeys ranged from 
the Southern border of Canada southward into 
Mexico. The descendants of these Pilgrim Fath- 
ers, with typical American wastefulness and lack 
of foresight, hunted this great bird in and out of 
season. No thought was given to the proper 
protection and propagation of the wild turkey for 
the coming generations. The size and delicious 
flesh of the bird made it the quarry of every pot 
hunter, market gunner, and poacher throughout 
the land. 
   Louisiana, at a time not so long ago, boasted 
an abundant supply of these great game birds. 
Ruthless hunting, however, both in and out of 
season, the advent of the automobile, the motor 
boat, and the aeroplane, as well as intensive lum- 
bering operations throughout the State, have all 
contributed to a gradual restriction of its natural 
habitat and a sure decrease in the number of the 
wild turkey, with the result that today this bird 
is facing extinction. 
 
         EDUCATION AND COOPERATION 
   Conservationists realize that, unless immedi- 
ate steps are taken to properly propagate and 
protect the turkey, it will meet the fate of the 
passenger pigeon, the bison, and the prong horn 
antelope-wild life which was once plentiful in 
this country but which is gradually disappearing 
as civilization encroaches upon its natural haunts. 
So, though strict enforcement,-such as is now 
practiced by the enforcement division of the De- 
partment of Conservation, under the able direc- 
tion of Mr. J. B. Dauenhauer, Jr., who is espe- 
 
 
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y Facing        cially fitted for this position by 
lion            his previous experience as a law 
                officer,-is necessary to assure 
 COPE           proper protection and propaga- 
                tion, the main problem today is 
 one of education and cooperation. 
    A citizenry educated to the necessity of prac- 
ticing conservation would not look with indiffer- 
ence upon violations of the game laws and en- 
courage such violations by the purchase of the 
wild game sold by poachers. It would discourage 
violations by insisting, through public sentiment, 
that respect be shown the conservation laws, 
enacted for the assured future of our wild life and 
natural resources. With such cooperation on the 
part of the law enforcement officials and the 
sportsmen of the various parishes in which wild 
game ranges, the department would not have to 
continue its uphill fight for the present and future 
of Louisiana's wild life. There would be no reason 
why Louisiana should not resume her former 
place as one of the greatest game states in the 
Union or should not again be able to point with 
pride to the opportunities offered the hunter. 
    Ruthless slaughter of wild life and of flocks 
of wild turkeys is due largely to a lack of coopera- 
tion. The department's attention has been re- 
peatedly called to the fact that serious violations 
occur, especially during the close seasons, in cer- 
tain sections of the state, but though they have 
immediately sent representatives to investigate 
these reports, enough evidence to warrant arrests 
has not been, in most instances, obtainable. If 
wild turkey flocks were left undisturbed during 
these close seasons, undoubtedly they would dou- 
ble in numbers before the next hunting season, 
for Louisiana offers many natural propagating 
places for this great game bird. 
 
                   HISTORY 
    There seem to be no authentic records of the 
wild turkey's existence in Europe, Asia, or Africa 
previous to the discovery of America, although 
some of the older writers appear to confuse the 
turkey with the jungle fowl and the peacock. One 
writer expressed the belief that the turkey at one 
time existed as far south as Brazil. However, as 
it is the opinion of scientists and "wise men of the 
 
 
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