So far, only 6 wild turkeys caught during LI hunting season

Three days into Long Island's second-official turkey hunting season, local gobblers appear to be evading the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Six hunters have reported bagging wild turkeys since the season opened on Saturday, state wildlife biologist Chip Hamilton said Monday.

"It's been a little slow," Hamilton said from his post at the state Department of Environmental Conservation's hunter check station in Ridge.

Some hunters blame the warm weather or the full moon. Others point to this year's bumper crop of acorns. Plenty of food on the ground keeps wild turkeys from having to wander too far to forage, Hamilton said.

The tally could increase over the next week because hunters have seven days to report a kill to the DEC.

Nearly 300 people have gone through the check station since Saturday. Most were there to hunt turkeys, Hamilton said. Some were hunting waterfowl or other animals now in season.

Last year, hunters bagged an estimated 100 wild turkeys during the first official Long Island season in memory. That hunt followed successful efforts to reintroduce the birds to Suffolk County in the 1990s.

An estimated 3,000 or so turkeys now make their homes on Long Island, according to the DEC.

The turkey-hunting season runs through Wednesday. Licensed hunters with turkey permits are limited to one bird apiece and can use a shotgun or archery equipment. Turkeys may be hunted on Dec-managed lands in Suffolk, such as the Otis Pike Preserve and Rocky Point Natural Resources Management Area. State and county parks are not open for hunting.

Hamilton said in the future the agency might institute a two-day Long Island season for youth hunters in the spring, when amorous male gobblers are on the prowl for hens.