blake
Life Member
From the IDNR website:
Brush up on Safe Hunting Practices Before Spring Turkey Season Begins
DES MOINES - The aggressive gobble announced to the timber there was a new sheriff in town. Although dawn was a few minutes away, that gobble was answered from above as nearby hens flew down from their roost.
For the 60,000 Iowa turkey hunters, the spring season is just around the corner.
"There is a passion to turkey hunting that is hard to describe unless you've been out there as the woods have woken up," said Rod Slings, recreation safety program supervisor with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "I know turkey hunters who have been waiting for this day since last May."
Turkey hunting in the spring is a different type of experience. Hunters head to the woods while it is still dark, set up their decoys, and settle in to await the sunrise.
"Hunters should be going through their checklist, including brushing up on the safety tips," Slings said. Those tips include not wearing any patriotic colors - red, white or blue - to the field, visit with the landowner to see if anyone else has permission to hunt in the same timber, and to go over the hunt plan.
"Since spring turkey hunting can often be a solitary event, it is really important for hunters to leave a hunting plan with someone before they head out to the woods. Outline where you're going, if you will be hunting with someone and when you will return," Slings said.
It is also good advice to wear blaze orange when entering and leaving the field, and to carry a blaze orange bag to carry out the turkey, if successful, and decoys.
"You want to be identified as a person from all directions walking in and out of the woods," Slings said. "Turkeys don't wear blaze orange."
Slings said hunters need to be sure of their target and of what is behind their target.
"Knowing it is, in fact, a turkey, by positively identifying the beard and spurs of a turkey, and knowing what is behind the target is key. Think about who you go hunting with - it's people close to you: your family and your friends. Practice safe hunting," Slings said. "The ultimate goal is for everyone to get home at the end of the day."
For more information, contact Slings at 515-281-8652.
Brush up on Safe Hunting Practices Before Spring Turkey Season Begins
DES MOINES - The aggressive gobble announced to the timber there was a new sheriff in town. Although dawn was a few minutes away, that gobble was answered from above as nearby hens flew down from their roost.
For the 60,000 Iowa turkey hunters, the spring season is just around the corner.
"There is a passion to turkey hunting that is hard to describe unless you've been out there as the woods have woken up," said Rod Slings, recreation safety program supervisor with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "I know turkey hunters who have been waiting for this day since last May."
Turkey hunting in the spring is a different type of experience. Hunters head to the woods while it is still dark, set up their decoys, and settle in to await the sunrise.
"Hunters should be going through their checklist, including brushing up on the safety tips," Slings said. Those tips include not wearing any patriotic colors - red, white or blue - to the field, visit with the landowner to see if anyone else has permission to hunt in the same timber, and to go over the hunt plan.
"Since spring turkey hunting can often be a solitary event, it is really important for hunters to leave a hunting plan with someone before they head out to the woods. Outline where you're going, if you will be hunting with someone and when you will return," Slings said.
It is also good advice to wear blaze orange when entering and leaving the field, and to carry a blaze orange bag to carry out the turkey, if successful, and decoys.
"You want to be identified as a person from all directions walking in and out of the woods," Slings said. "Turkeys don't wear blaze orange."
Slings said hunters need to be sure of their target and of what is behind their target.
"Knowing it is, in fact, a turkey, by positively identifying the beard and spurs of a turkey, and knowing what is behind the target is key. Think about who you go hunting with - it's people close to you: your family and your friends. Practice safe hunting," Slings said. "The ultimate goal is for everyone to get home at the end of the day."
For more information, contact Slings at 515-281-8652.