HUNTING - SPRING TURKEY

PREPARING A SPRING HUNT
By Jim Foster

Springtime, for me, means one thing, turkey season is near. The spring turkey hunt is the best hunt of the year according to many hunters. Getting out in the field and calling a mature gobbler to within shotgun range is exciting and a thrilling hunt.

This season my calling skills will be tested first in the Northern woods of Idaho for a Merrium turkey, then I'll make the drive to the Texas Hill Country and the South Texas brush country to try for a Rio Grande sub species, with a limit of four gobblers I could stay busy. Texas has mostly the Rio Grande turkey but a healthy population of the Eastern variety is found in the Piney Woods of east Texas.

Many years ago, deer hunters killed most Texas turkey in the fall using deer rifles. Today that number has reversed with the largest number of gobblers taken is in the spring using calls and scatterguns.

As spring flowers bloom and the wild turkey breeding season draws near, the hens will follow the gobblers and breed with only the most dominant gobblers in the flock. What that means is there are a lot of gobblers that won’t have female companionship, but will keep on looking.

As the season continues the hens that have successfully bred will leave the flocks ready to nest. They will sometimes travel miles until a suitable nesting location is found.

Later gobblers will reverse the process and go to the hens. This is the reason that spring calling works so well. The better you can sound like a lovesick hen the faster the gobblers will come running.

But remember the wild turkey is a very formidable bird. He spends most of his life listening to the sounds of the woods and brush. He gathers, feeds, sleeps and breeds hearing the sound of other turkeys.

The turkey's eyesight has been said to be 10 to 12 times better than ours. Turkeys are very aware of their surroundings and something out of place is a warning to a smart old hen or gobbler.

Get out early and listen for a gobbler to sound off or you may hear them fly down from a roost. An owl or crow call will cause gobbling. Now you have a direction. Mark the location and move quietly as close as you can, sit down, arrange your camo and wait a few minutes then try a few light calls. Be very still, the gobbler may be on his way.

Hunters should find good to average populations of gobblers in most areas of Texas. Drought conditions still exist in parts of Texas. Spring rains could improve nesting and provide more feed. In spite of the drought there should be plenty of gobblers.

All in all turkey hunters this spring should see enough turkey to keep their interest. Don't forget that in addition to your Texas hunting license you must have purchased a Texas turkey stamp.

The one rule of turkey hunting that always applies is that the unexpected can and will happen at any time. It has happened to me again and again.

The 2008 Spring Turkey Season opens in the South Zone (54 counties) March 15 through April 27 and in the North Zone (101 counties) March 29 through May 11.

The Eastern Gobbler season (43 Counties) will be April 1 through 30 and has a limit of one Eastern Gobbler
Check The Texas Hunting Directory for the county where you plan to hunt for the seasons and bag limits.

If you have comments or news for Jim Foster please e-mail him at: jim@jimfosteroutdoors.com