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Sportsman's Alliance of Maine Updates from SAM News from the State House About us Outdoor Kids Contact us Home 205 Church Hill Road, Augusta ME 04330 Telephone: 207-622-5503 FAX: 207-622-5596 email: members@samcef.org
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Events
Free Fishing Days 2009: May 30 and May 31 For all things "fishing" in Maine, see the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife site.
Turkey hunting and the Longbeard Society from DIF& W's Spring Turkey Hunting Guide The Maine State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) has established the Longbeard Society, which operates much like Maine's Biggest Bucks Club, to recognize hunters who have taken trophy wild turkeys. To qualify, a turkey must have been legally taken in Maine and have a minimum beard length of 7 inches. Beard and spur length measurements must be made with a device that is accurate to 1/16 inch. In order to standardize measurements, all length measurements must be recorded in eighths. Each beard must be measured from the center point of the protrusion from the skin to the opposite end of its longest bristle. Each spur must be measured along the centerline of its longest dimension, from the point at which the spur protrudes from the scaled leg skin to its tip. If you are interested in knowing how your turkey scores under the NWTF scoring system, you can calculate it by this formula: Weight (in pounds) plus ten times the length of each spur plus two times the beard length. For example, a 19-pound gobbler with both spurs one inch long and a 9-inch beard would be scored as follows: 19 pounds + 10 x both 1" spurs + 2 x 9-inch beard 19 + 10 + 10 + 18 = Score of 57 Turkeys weighing 22 pounds or more, or having beards of 10 inches or longer, or having spurs of 1-1/4 inch or longer must be measured by an official Maine State Chapter scorer listed on registration form PDF. In order to register your trophy and join the Longbeard Society, you must be a current member of the National Wild Turkey Federation. The Maine State Chapter will issue a Longbeard Society patch to each member who registers a qualifying turkey and pays a $5.00 registration fee to help cover the program's expenses. The Society's top entries are listed annually in the Maine Gobbler Grapevine newsletter, which is sent to all NWTF members in Maine. (This text is credited to the National Wild Turkey Federation).
2010 State of Maine Sportsman's Show next year will be held Friday, April 2; Saturday April 3 and Sunday, April 4, 2010 at the Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. To those of you who recently attended the 2009 show, we thank you and hope we'll see you next year!
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