In about a half hour Kevin Garnett--just acquired by the Celts in an unprecedented 7-player deal, and newly appointed by the media and fan base as the savior of a once-floundering franchise--will throw out the first pitch during the Sox-O's game down at Fenway.
But if that isn't crazy enough, all the wild turkey contacts I talk to here in Maine, and across the board in NH, VT, and NY State, are speaking in terms of a super hatch. Fifteen turkeys and three hens. Ten poults and a hen. Etc. Etc. For the fall turkey man, that's all the news you want going into September and beyond . . . The spring '09 season ought to be exceptional as well as longbeards go . . . even '08 if you don't think twice about taking a spring jake.
From what I've seen locally, that's absolutely true, as I found yet another southern Maine flock as recently as this morning. Ironically, my buds down south are talking just the opposite: rainy nesting periods yielding poor results.
For me it'll be New Hampshire, New York, Maine and Vermont, just five tags (not counting hunts with buddies as they try to get birds--it's all good!), but the inclusive time period--if you count NH's bow-only opportunities that I hunt every year--is Sept. 15-Dec. 15. No complaints here as that 101-day season goes . . . factor in the hatch--and the possibility that three proven gunners (Pierce, Allen, and Garnett) will actually concentrate on playing the kind of solid fundamental team basketball the NCAA still puts out (and the, ahem, Spurs)--this ought to be an interesting fall . . .
--Steve Hickoff
(N.W.T.F. photo)
