Roger Applegate would like some people to consider hunting a turkey for their Thanksgiving feast rather than buying one.
Applegate, small-game coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, can't say how many wild turkeys are roaming the state, but farmers are calling in more complaints about the birds this year than usual.
"The best way to deal with the problem is to hunt turkeys in the fall," he said.
Fresh kill or not, many people will indulge in a Thanksgiving feast with a turkey centerpiece.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American ate 14 pounds of turkey in 2002 with a good deal of the consumption around Thanksgiving. Based on the bureau's preliminary estimate, 263 million turkeys will be raised in the United State this year.
But some people will completely avoid turkey.
Vegetarian Nancy O'Connor, director of education and community outreach at the Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Iowa, makes a tofu turkey for her family's Thanksgiving feast.
"I realize for people who eat turkey that this may sound strange," O'Connor said. "But it's about honoring dietary needs and it's a playful way to deal with a holiday that centers around food -- specifically meat."
Past Thanksgivings were awkward for her family until she found a recipe for tofu turkey in 1986. This year, O'Connor offered a class at The Merc on how to make a tofu turkey that drew 14 students.
"We had a mix of people," she said. "Some were vegetarians and others were people trying to prepare something special for vegetarians attending their Thanksgiving meal."
O'Connor said some people who ordinarily didn't eat meat might eat turkey on Thanksgiving. But making a tofu turkey is a way for vegetarians to have their own holiday tradition, she said.
Hunting for turkeys in the fall is a tradition Applegate said he hoped to see regain popularity. The fall hunting season began Oct. 1 and goes through Nov. 30, then starts again Dec. 13 and ends Dec. 31. Unlike the spring turkey hunting season, hunters in the fall can harvest toms, which are male turkeys, and hens, which are female turkeys. In spring, only toms can be hunted.
"It's a little bit different hunting for them in the fall than in the spring, but it's not any less exciting," he said. "There's just not as big of a tradition in doing it."
Turkeys aren't as easy to find in fall as they are in spring, which is considered prime time for hunting turkeys.
"Turkeys breed in the spring, so you got the toms out there gobbling," said turkey hunter Keith Morgison, of Lawrence. "Plus, the spring is a nicer time weatherwise."
Turkeys were hunted year-round until the bird began to disappear in the early 1900s. They became protected and it wasn't until the 1970s that turkey hunting seasons were created, Applegate said.
"But the spring seems to be the time," he said. "On outdoor television channels, you'll see turkey hunting shows on back-to-back for hours in the spring. Fall turkey hunting just doesn't seem to be part of the culture anymore. But I would love it if people would harvest a turkey for Thanksgiving."
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