The Oak Ridge Reservation has a thriving population of turkeys. In the 2006 hunts, hunters took 39 turkeys, with the largest tom weighing nearly 24 pounds.
Hunts will be held March 31 - April 1 and April 14 - 15, with 175 hunters participating each weekend, according to Neil Giffen, wildlife management coordinator for ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division.
Hunters, who were previously selected from a draw conducted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, will be limited to one catch. Hunters will also have to check in at the reporting station on Bethel Valley Road on the eastern end of the reservation to have their turkeys checked for possible radioactivity.
Signs will be posted on roads open to hunters. Driving vehicles into the woods, fields, pastures, foot trails or rights-of-way are prohibited. Hunters may not enter the area prior to one hour before sunrise and hunts will end at noon.
Legal hunting equipment for the hunt consists of 20-gauge or larger shotguns and muzzle loading shotguns, along with long bows and compound bows using legal hunting arrows with broad heads. Rifles and handguns are prohibited.
A scouting day will be held from 6 a.m. until noon Saturday, March 24 for hunting permit holders only. The check station will be open from 7 a.m. until noon on the scouting day for any questions. No friends, relatives, colleagues or others will be permitted to scout. Hunters may not possess hunting equipment during the scouting day.
ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.