The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules on July 10 approved an amendment to the Fish and Wildlife turkey-season rule setting a fixed start date for the fall archery turkey season.

Under the amendment, the fall archery turkey season will begin on Oct. 1 and run through the Friday before the regular deer season rather than beginning on the first Saturday in October. Fish & Wildlife said the change aligns turkey archery with the beginning of the deer archery season, removes a moving-date uncertainty and slightly increases opportunity for fall archery turkey hunters.

Hannah Smith, general counsel for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the committee the change was proposed in response to a petition to the Fish & Wildlife Board and is consistent with the big-game management plan’s encouragement of liberalized fall archery opportunity where appropriate. Smith said the department does not anticipate a significant impact on turkey populations, noting that fall archery takes are often incidental by deer archery hunters already in the field.

Committee members asked about the petition process; staff noted that any person may submit a written request to an agency to ask it to adopt or amend a rule and that a petition by 25 or more persons requires the agency to initiate rulemaking on an existing practice or procedure. The committee approved the amendment (filed as rule 25 B 12) by voice vote.

Fish & Wildlife said the change was intended to reduce confusion for hunters and to align seasons where overlap commonly occurs.