May 1 -- for a few lucky Albertans, today was opening day — for turkeys, that is. And I know at least one guy who scored within 20 minutes of legal light!

For myself, I wasn't drawn this year. Maybe next year, maybe the year after. Actually — there is serious talk of opening the season up here in Alberta in the next couple years. It could be that by the time I'm up for my draw tag, I won't need it.

I'm fine with that. Where ever there is an open season, it means populations are high. Just look West, to the Kootenays and Okanagan regions of BC. Or to Manitoba — sure you have to be a resident, but there are still a lot of turkeys in that province. Or, of course, you could head into Canada's turkey Mecca, Ontario. Residents and non-residents alike can hunt gobblers there.

It's only a matter of time before these wily birds are strong enough in population in Wild Rose country to warrant an open season. Personally, I can't wait. The cool spring air, the lush greenery, calling a flighty tom to within a stone's throw — it's a thing of beauty. And the table fare? It'll be the best meal since Christmas.

Bring on the turks!

On another note, I feel I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Syncrude Duck Disaster. It is a tragedy, these 500 dead ducks — and one that could have been avoided if ALL the tailing ponds were monitored properly. What do I mean by "tragedy"? Well, it's not the dead ducks that concern me, after all, 500 ducks could easily be shot in a day in Alberta during waterfowl season, the tragedy is in the senseless waste. After all, we work hard to conserve our birds, and use the resource responsibly. Dead ducks in a tailing pond is not "responsible resource consumption."

But let's all act rationally. Nothing can be done to bring back the ducks, but we can learn from this. Obviously someone at Syncrude dropped the ball, but let's wait and see what kind of amends the company makes. I'm betting that along with the fine they'll surely get Syncrude will make a large cash donation to a conservation group. (And they'll be making doubly sure it never happens again.) Perhaps this event will even bring about a new, cleaner era in oil sands production.

And what of the Alberta government? Perhaps stricter monitoring is the order of the day, especially during migration periods. Perhaps stricter regulations should be brought in too — after all, it's up to the government to monitor corporations, not the other way around.

Conservation only works when we work together: corporations, governments, NGOs and sportsmen alike. Let's not waste time pointing fingers and calling names, let's just try and salvage what we can from this event and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Ever.