BATON ROUGE – Those who gobble that a statewide start to the turkey season penalizes north Louisiana hunters could get the split season they're asking for next year.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will propose starting the season a week earlier in the south than the north for 2012 - likely on March 24 and 31.

The season has had a single statewide start since 2002. The end varies according to an area's estimated turkey population - 30 days for areas considered to have the most, and 23 and 16 days in areas with fewer birds. The A, B and C labels are scattered around the state.

As the weather warms up, male turkeys begin calling for a mate. That gobble is what lets hunters locate them.

Since it takes about a week longer for the north to warm up, people there - and especially in areas with 16-day seasons - said they had almost no chance to find a bird.

This year, Louisiana's turkey season opened March 19.Hunters reported killing 2,580 wild turkeys, including 673 "jakes" - males that were almost a year old, double the number of jakes reported in the previous two seasons.

Hunters reported killing 2,586 turkeys in 2009 and 2,221 in 2010, with 323 and 345 jakes, respectively.

Just where the department will propose setting the line between north and south for next season is "the $64,000 question," Stafford said.

That map will be ready for the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission's July meeting, when the formal proposal will be made.