Spring turkey hunting
March 30th, 2006 by Administrator
Spring turkey hunting soon to be played out statewide
Out & About
Matt Williams
Spring turkey hunting is seasonal rite, a captivating game that is played out across wide variety of geographical landscapes.
From the Panhandle flatlands to the bottomland thickets of the Pineywoods, the sport beckons more than 74,000 hunters into the field each year.
Spring turkey hunters will be out in force in coming weeks. The gobbleronly season opens April 1. It runs through May 14 in 153 counties, April 30 in the 43 East Texas counties where turkey hunting is legal.
Naturally, the best hunting occurs in areas with the most turkeys. In Texas, the Cross Timbers, Hill Country and South Texas regions are the hotspots.
All three regions are Rio Grande country. Rios are native to Texas and represent the highest percentage of the state’s annual turkey harvest.
Eastern turkeys aren’t near as plentiful as Rios. But it hasn’t always been that way.
Once native to millions of acres of land east of the Trinity River, the eastern wild turkey was eradicated from its range during the early 1900s by settlers who lumbered the woods and decimated the habitat.
The birds have since rebounded in some areas, thanks to restocking efforts and habitat management practices that began in the late 1980s.
Matt Williams Full camo is a must when attempting to bring turkeys into shotgun range, 40 yards or less.
The overhaul was a joint venture orchestrated by the National Wild Turkey Federation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Forest Service and a host of private landowners.
More than 7,000 wildtrapped turkeys from other states have been transplanted across East Texas since the restocking program began.
The birds came at a cost of $525 apiece, funded with money generated by the sale of turkey stamps, public hunting permits and donations from individuals and conservation organizations.
The forest service has performed control burns on hundreds of thousands of acres, creating optimum habitat conditions for turkeys to live and, ultimately, multiply.
Years of successful reproduction among the transplants has resulted in countywide seasons throughout the
Pineywoods and in parts of the Post Oak Savannah.
Some of the best hunting opportunities in these regions occur on public land.
Ask 10 spring turkey hunters to reveal their affinity for the sport and most will say it revolves around the thrill and challenge of luring a mature longbeard into close shooting range.
Special to The Orange County News Fresh tracks, droppings and strut marks are reliable indicators that turkeys are frequenting certain areas.
Blasting a spring gobbler at 200 yards with a high-caliber rifle is legal on most Rio range. But it isn’t an acceptable method to most members of the spring turkey hunting fraternity.
The essence of spring turkey hunting is tapping into the turkey’s verbal line of communication by using various styles of calls. The idea is to fool a turkey into thinking you are something you are not.
Spring seasons are set to coincide around the wild turkey’s breeding cycle. Gobblers (male turkeys) gobble to attract receptive hens and to discourage other gobblers. Turkey hunters utilize mouth and hand operated calls to imitate a hen that is playing hard to get.
Sometimes the simulated sound of a seductive hen yelp or purr is more than a revved of Tom can stand.
He answers back with a thunderous gobble, then comes barreling in with feathers ruffled in a haughty display of self importance.
Other times the bird might refuse to answer and go the opposite direction. Such situations can be frustrating to spring turkey hunter, particularly to one who lacks the patience to cope with it.
At times spring turkey hunting can be so easy that it hardly seems worthwhile. Other times it can be so frustrating that it will make a hunter swear he will never go again.
Anyone who has spent much time chasing spring gobblers can relate to those scenarios. It is the challenge that keeps us coming back, year after year, season after season.
Wild turkeys are blessed with extremely good eyesight and excellent hearing. Thank goodness their sense of smell stinks. Otherwise, they would be invincible.
- Standard turkey hunting attire is full camo, head to toe. Choose a pattern that suits the habitat. The idea is to blend with the landscape, not stick out like a skin head in a roomful full of hippies.
Lightweight leaf wear is an excellent choice for spring turkey hunting. The suits have a thin, mesh backing that allows air to pass through and keep you comfortable on those warm, spring days.
- No matter what type of camo you wear, be sure to protect yourself with a good insect repellent for warding off mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers. Repellents containing DEET come highly recommended.
- One of the best ways to increase the odds of a successful hunt is to spend as much time as possible scouting ahead of time. Be in the woods during prime gobbling time, right at daylight. Once it gets light, cover plenty of ground looking for tracks, strut marks, droppings and other fresh sign.
- Just about any shotgun in a 12-20 gauge is sufficient for killing turkeys at close range. Most serious turkey hunters prefer a 12 gauge chambered to accept three inch magnum shotshells.
It is important that the shotgun be equipped with a full or super-full choke. The full choke constricts the shot to a tight pattern, which increases the odds of putting more pellets in the kill zone.
- The best shot? Premium No. 6 turkey loads hard to beat.
- It is always best to shoot turkeys in the head and neck. Aim at the base of the neck, hold steady and squeeze the trigger.
- Never attempt to body shoot a turkey, or a shot at a flying bird. Doing so boosts of the odds of mortally wounding a highly prized game bird that will never be recovered.
- Texas hunters are required to take all eastern wild turkeys to an official TPWD check station within 24 hours of harvest. Recording the birds’ weight, beard length, spur length and county of harvest provides keep wildlife experts with valuable turkey management data.
MATT WILLIAMS is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by e-mail at mattwilliams@netdot.com.