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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1978)
Stalking the wild turkeys Hunters find plenty of And on this floor e talked® iut hersd Bill DeSola, a sophomore building construction major, builds multi-level model of a future restaurant. Battalion photo by Mike Bailey 'g- light ia a irm in e early M □ cowboy tiging United Press International WASHINGTON — Some enterprising Americans, tired of plastic wrappings, supermarket crowds and routine experiences, may have an urge to take to the woods this year in search of the fam ily Thanksgiving turkey. The birds are plentiful. Individual state game commission reports es timate the population as being be tween 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 in 47 states, says Ted Lynn, a biologist for the National Wild Turkey Fed eration in Edgefield, S.C. The group consists of hunters and con servationists concerned about the wild bird’s fate. But great skill is needed to outwit the birds, which have become the second most popular game animal in the country, says federation presi dent Rob Keck. After locating a gobbling tom, the hunter (in camouflage from head to foot, sometimes including the gun) uses a series of calls to lure the prey. Keck says a wild turkey’s eyes are so keen it can pick up the same de tail in one second that a man can see in 10 seconds. A former national champion turkey caller and hunter with 21 years experience. Keck says hunting skill lies not only in perfect ing calls, but also in being able to determine what calls to use. He says a challenging kind of yelp threatening a tom turkey’s territory is needed if the bird has found a mate or has a harem. If the tom appears to be searching for an appropriate hen, the hunter should try to duplicate a mating call, he said in a telephone interview. Among sportsmen, spring is the most popular hunting period be cause of the solitary nature of the tom during the mating season. In the fall. Keck said, turkeys live in flocks, so a hunter first rushes in and tries to break up the flock. Then he imitates a “lost call,” trying to lure a turkey within 30-40 yards to be sure of making a clean kill instead of injuring the bird. But the real key is patience and the ability to stay motionless. Keck said. Experts say the huge wild turkey population exists today because con scientious hunters, conservationists and state wildlife and game agencies helped the birds survive poor land management and the human popu lation expansion of the early 1900s. Although the wild turkey was never considered an endangered species, Duncan MacDonald of the Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service said, “poor conser vation practices drove the bird from all of New England, much of the northern Midwest and caused a de crease in its population in most songs. sh them* B use prohibited in Britain; users still eluding \smokeys United Press International [LONDON — Breakers and Rub- fer Ducks and eluding Smokey the |5ar are rapidly becoming more common in Britain as the Citizens |and radio craze begins to take Dwboy 1 jut the» ;d. ;ongs;i tan dog nt to! lent. 1 Ly® r |old. Chantf 1 * However, British CB operators are eluding Smokev (CB slang for taxtof Dolice) illegally. Use of the Citizens nd is prohibited; Spokesmen for the Radio Regu- [tory division of the British Home Jffice maintain CB is unacceptable dn Britain because the frequency it ftses, 27 to 29 megahertz, already his sonm s been assigned to model rplanes and electronic paging de ices in hospitals. Home Office offi- |als say CB transmissions interfere [ith these signals. Some CBers dispute the claim, guing that voice transmissions are a different pitch and tone and life, d the son? i farms -isoners e itate, /es. irk: rs” 'V« ( of sla'f er sayii thesis- would never affect the other signals. The Citizens Band Association, an organization which claims no illegal broadcasting activities, has pro posed altering CB transmissions to a vacant VHF frequency in the 235 megahertz range. The Home Office turned them down. Accordingly, some CB promoters claim the British government is at tempting to squelch freedom of communication. Unlike the U.S., which has the Radio Act of 1934 to guarantee broadcasting freedom and a federal agency (FCC) to regulate it, Britain has no such guarantees. “I think we have to consider the enormous disadvantages of having a vast army of people who can com municate with one another easily,” said Lord Wells-Pestell, speaking for the Home Office. “Social discipline outweighs social advantages,” said a Home Office spokesman. While the CB can be and has been put to constructive use in the U.S. and other places, it is fre quently used to break the law. Speeders, prostitutes and criminals, among others, have been known to use it. So Home Office officials have indicated there is little possibility of CB restrictions being eased, at least in the near future. However, illicit use of the Citi zens Band continues to swell. The airwaves around London are in creasingly busy in the vicinity of 27 megahertz. Sets are being smuggled into the country by travelers returning from the United States or Europe, or by truck drivers returning from Ger many or Italy. A 40-channel unit re tailing for $50 in discount stores in the U.S. is blackmarketed here for $180 to $200. had ■' irs’o'f’ 1 above 1 ! Mawr, Seeger, rseas | the raised® 111(1 foN ; ata^ i d worM = taW ks ■ lopmei and ia* 1 - e stai"! mericA ore opl r-y sod' Hum _xch a =.ycai ^htenef that* 1 1 norite. ss erve -heag® mtryH .estra" 1 cnalA® .ultum 5 wvu w w w w w wvu w iai w ire w w w w w w w w* w trv tru trv mi tn* w w i INTERESTED IN POETRY? PROSE? ARTWORK? PHOTOGRAPHY? LAYOUT? P.R.? THEN COME JOIN MOEBIUS THE TEXAS A&M STUDENT LITERARY MAGAZINE NOV. 29 y. 1ST MEETING: WEDNESDAY 7:30 P.M. RMS. 305 A&B RUDDER TOWER SPONSORED BY MSC ARTS COMMITTEE wwmivumiwmiwmtmimi MMIM Urt RA RN ** ** »m »U» | I K* ** im ** R* R* **** ******** rt* ***** W * other areas.” It survived primarily in the South and Southwest. The turkey’s favorite habitat is hardwood forests, where the berries and nuts from oak, beech and other trees it feeds on are readily availa ble. Massive logging in these forests and loosely enforced or non-existent hunting laws were among the factors that brought the turkey’s estimated population to a precarious low of 10,000-20,000 by the 1920s. Benjamin Franklin described the wild turkey as “respectable” and a “bird of courage. ” He lobbied for its adoption as the national symbol be cause of its keen eyesight and other “superior attributes” and because it was indigenous to North America. Franklin called the eagle, which became the national symbol, “a bird of poor moral character.” Gene Smith, the editor of the federation’s Turkey Call magazine, agrees with Franklin’s evaluation of the turkey but is glad the eagle won out. “After all,” Smith said, “who wants to shoot a national symbol?” Cnunu)> Cm\\A 4103 S. TEXAS AVE Bryan Place Bldg. 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PLAIN TALK FROM ARMCO ON FINDING A JOB How about trying more carrots, fewer sticks? Every time government wants to give America something —yet doesn’t want to tax people directly to pay for it—the result is usually a law requiring business to pay the freight. Too little gas or oil? Make business rebuild factories to use coal. Utility bills too high? Make business subsidize homeowners. Want cleaner air and water? Make indus try install additional layers of pollution control equip ment. Want less risk for people at work? Make business re-engineer every piece of equipment to remove all human responsibility. The cost of all this is enormous. Wasted money results in inflation and lost jobs. Companies often grumble about the sock-it-to- business situation. But we do get things done when people demand them, and that’s more than most insti tutions in this imperfect world. The fact is we are the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs. It’s not the responsibilities themselves that worry us. It’s the way in which new tasks are saddled on our backs We’re hit with deadlines. Slapped with fines. Handed detailed orders on exactly how we must try to solve each problem, by people who aren’t familiar with science or engineering or finance. We’re forced to spend vast sums with no re course. Either these costs pour right on through to the prices we have to charge, or we have to eat the costs ourselves—^leaving less to spend on research, better products and jobs. What can America do about this situation? We wish our government would use more carrots and fewer sticks. Plain talk about CARROTS AND STICKS The power of government is just as great when it’s used to pull, rather than push. Why not let gov ernment help set America’s goals, and encourage each company to pick the most effective, least expen sive means to reach them? That one idea could save untold billions of dollars for everybody. Bashing the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs is stupid. We need more cooperation—not conflict—between busi ness and government. Just think how much more we’d all get done if government would tap the experience and imagination of business people, not force us to focus on technicalities and procedures. Let’s stop making the busi ness system spin its wheels trying to skid through a minefield of fiendishly detailed, horribly long-winded and hopelessly obscure regulations. If America will set clear goals and provide a few carrots, business will find the ways to get things done quickly and economically. Next time somebody says we ought to make busi ness do something, perhaps you’d like to ask that person to think up a good carrot to use, instead of a stick. It’s important to you and the 17,000,000 other Americans who’ll be joining the hunt for jobs over the next ten years. Good luck in your search for a job. Let us hear YOUR plain talk about jobs! Well send you a free booklet if you do Does our message make sense to you? We’d like to know what y on think. Your personal experi ences. Facts to prove or disprove our point. Drop us a line. We d like your plain talk. For telling us your thoughts, we ’ll send you more information on issues affecting jobs. Plus Armco’s famous handbook. How to Get a Job. It answers 50 key questions you’ll need to know. Use it to set yourself apart, above the crowd. Write Armco, Educational Relations Dept. U-6, General Offices, Middletown, Ohio 45043. Be sure to include a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope.