DANBURY — “Everyone’s been saying it — we’ve got a lot of turkeys this year, and it’s going to be a good week,” said Bob Weeks of Smith River Trading Post in Danbury.

State Fish and Game officials say there are more wild turkeys in the state than usual, and turkey hunters are set to take advantage of that during the state’s five-day shotgun turkey hunting season that begins today.

Ted Walski, New Hampshire Fish and Game’s turkey biologist, said fish and game surveys show there are 40,000 or more wild turkeys roaming New Hampshire grounds this season.

This year’s turkey nesting counts in the state show 6.7 poults, or young birds, born per hen. The average is about five poults, he said.

“The semi-drought in May and June was actually very beneficial to the turkeys, it made it easier for them to make their nests in the ground,” he said.

Hunters must pay a $16 permit fee to hunt with a shotgun, and are limited to taking only one turkey for the week.

Fish and Game urge hunters to be careful in deciding when to shoot to avoid hitting more than one bird, and they ask that hunters not pursue flocks visible from highways and roads for safety reasons.

The fall turkey season does not bring as many turkey hunters to Skip’s Gun and Sport Shop in Bristol as the spring season does, as in the spring, hunters are allowed to use turkey calls.

“In the fall, you pretty much have to get lucky and fall into them,” said owner John Williamson. “But I’m seeing lots of people coming in talking about all the turkeys there are this fall.”

The fall archery season for turkeys is already going. It runs from Sept. 15 through Dec. 15. Bow hunters also are restricted to a one-bird limit.

Weeks, whose trading post is also a check-in station for hunters, said he’s only had one turkey brought in from a bow hunter this fall.

“But that’s not unusual, it’s harder with a bow,” he said.

Sales of shotguns and ammunition have gone up in recent days, he said.

“There’s been a lot of people waiting for shotgun season because there are so many birds out there,” he said.

dseufert@newstote.com