Photo by Craig Holt Wild turkeys at six southeastern counties will be safe from an early-opening hunting season in 2007.

North Carolina Sportsman Magazine has learned a proposal by a Wildlife Resources commissioner to have a special split-season, early-opening date for 2007 spring wild turkey hunting at six counties in his southeastern district has been rejected by the N.C. Legislative Rules Review Committee -- before it met.

Originally, the committee was to rule on the proposal by April 20, but, according to a N.C. Wild Turkey Federation official, a lawyer for the committee already has reviewed the proposal and said it violated the January public-hearings requirement for such game-laws changes. The Rules Review Committee, the NCWTF official said, won’t need to study the proposal now.

Steve Windham, a District 4 commissioner from Winnabow in Brunswick County, had asked the WRC to accept a substitute for a previously rejected turkey-season opening-date (April 10 season start statewide) proposal. He asked the WRC to accept a new six-county substitute approximately a week after the agency rejected his April 10 idea at its March 1 meeting.

Windham’s substitute would have opened turkey season for Robeson, Bladen, Pender, Columbus, Brunswick and New Hanover counties the first Saturday in April while other counties would open the second Saturday. A special youth hunt at those six counties would have been held the last Saturday in March. WRC commissioners voted to accept Windham’s six-county split-season proposal during a special teleconference a week after voting on other wildlife law changes for 2006-07.

However, once the proposal was publicized, it met opposition from the NCWTF and many N.C. turkey hunters. There were concerns such an early opening date would create a rush of hunters into the six counties, gobblers would be killed before they could mate with female birds, and more hen birds would be killed than normal, each scenario likely causing a reduced spring hatch of young turkeys. Opponents also said the way the proposal was handled violated the public-hearing requirement.

Many turkey hunters sent letters to the Rules Review Committee, asking it to reject Windham’s idea. If the committee received 10 letters, it would have been required by law — without ruling on the proposal’s legality — to pass the proposal to the N.C. Legislature, where it would have been considered by the House and Senate.

Now that won’t happen either.