blake
Life Member
From the IDNR:
NEWS: Spring Turkey Season Preview
by Joe Wilkinson
Posted: April 7, 2009
Cold temperatures, even a threat of snowflakes yet, keep winter hanging on. For Iowa's 40,000 turkey hunters, spring is as close as this Friday morning. That is when the three day youth season opens. The rest of us will wait until Monday, or one of three other 'mini' seasons circled on the calendar. Resident hunters can hold up to two turkey tags. Most are shotgun hunters, selecting one of those seasons. A second tag can be used only in the fourth season. A growing number of archery-only hunters can hunt across the four seasons, given the degree of difficulty in luring a wary gobbler into bow range.
Over the last three decades, Iowa's turkey 'deficit' has become a surplus, as stocking, woodland management and the big bird's breeding proficiency have wild turkeys as a prevalent game species again. Still, that leaves the hunter with the task of getting a gobbler close enough to set sights on him.
"Find where they're roosting. That's where you want to be first thing in the morning," advises Todd Gosselink, forest research biologist for the Department of Natural Resources. "Scouting is great; getting out there before the season, looking for scratch signs, feathers."
With a good mix of upland timber and crops, northeast Iowa has been a gobbler stronghold over the years. However, you may want to 'Head West.' "Western Iowa, the Loess Hills, is probably one of the stronger regions. There is a great mix of habitat there, with crops and timber," assesses Gosselink. "Typically, it gets less rainfall so you get good recruitment and good survival."
Don't dismiss rainfall and weather as turkey factors. The floods of 1993 and again in 2008, underscore how much of a factor weather is on nesting success and poult survival. "The flood hit at probably the worst time last year; right at the end of when turkeys were on the nest," recalls Gosselink. "We definitely lost nests; especially where turkey habitat is in the lower flood plains; north central, northern Iowa. I'm sure those areas were impacted."
Across Iowa, summer 2008 surveys showed a 12 to 18 percent reduction from 2007 in the number of poults seen with hens.
Iowa's spring turkey hunting tradition involves slipping into the woods before dawn. Gosselink says, though, not to discount those midday moments. "By midmorning, you can still hear some gobbling. You have to know where the turkeys are and then decide whether to travel," says Gosselink. "If you walk, use a shock call; a locater to get a bird to respond." He calls them 'second chance' birds. The hens that morning were either uninterested or have gone off to nest, depending on the time of season. Toms are a lot more responsive, when the real hens are gone and another one keeps calling out for him.
Your decision then, is to stay where you are...or walk halfway to that early morning gobbling and then set up for action.
Season dates:
April 10-12...Youth Season
April 13-16...Season 1
April 17-21...Season 2
April 22-28...Season 3
April 29-May 17...Season 4
Iowa's 2008-09 Hunting & Trapping Regulations booklet (online www.iowadnr.gov or at sporting goods counters) contains details ranging from shooting hours to type of shot or arrows to use and participation in youth season.
Call in that Bird
Iowa's reported turkey harvest has taken a nose dive in the last couple years. Biologists think the population is about the same. There are still 50,000 licenses issued. Why the drop? Not all birds taken are reported.
For years, the DNR sampled hunters with a postcard survey. Results showed hunter success up to 40 percent in some years; making Iowa the envy of turkey hunting states nationwide. Since 2007, a hunter harvesting a bird has been required to report it. Over that period, hunter success has dropped to 20 percent. "We did some compliance testing and found out that only 74 percent of hunters contacted had reported their bird," says Gosselink, of the Iowa DNR. Hunters are urged to report that turkey, via the DNR Web site or a toll free telephone number on their tag.
"Inaccurate reporting affects management decisions," stresses Gosselink. "It tells us about the population dynamics. If it drops, for instance, that (indication of over-harvest) might lead to a reduction in fall harvest."
Color Caution in the Turkey Woods
Spring turkey hunters dress in full camouflage and routinely produce sounds like a turkey. That spells out the need for caution in a big way. Safety officials urge hunters to pay attention to colors.
"We've stressed for years that hunters should not have any visible clothing that's white, red or purple-blue as seen on wild turkeys during the spring," says DNR Recreational Safety Officer Pat Jorgensen. "We have had an incident in which a shot was fired, because of a visible red 'gun butt' pad on a shotgun."
Jorgensen also advises blaze orange, even if just a patch on your vest--on the way in...and out. "If you do take a turkey, carry him out in a blaze orange vest or bag. Don't just sling him over your shoulder and walk out."
And while not illegal, safety advocates suggest not using any 'gobbler' type calls. It is possible another hunter might 'stalk' that call and be tempted by movement...or decoys. "There are so many realistic decoys now; even a full strut tom with a fanned tail," says Jorgensen. "That has dangerous potential. If you move with your decoys, stick them in your coat or cover them up before moving."
PM
Ron Wyllie
Southwest Iowa IBA Area Representative
[email protected]