Turkey Season Starts April 15
by Ed Mitchell
It's time to chalk up the old box call, maybe practice a lick or two with that new diaphragm. Opening day for spring gobbler hunting is April 15 in most of Idaho, May 1 in the north.
Turkey numbers should be at least as good as they were last year, if not a little better. We cannot expect quite the explosion of numbers we saw just a few years ago because most places in Idaho that can support turkeys has about as many as the habitat will support. In fact, turks have been hanging out in a few places that surprise the biologists, places so high in elevation they should be suffering nose bleeds at least.
Not long ago, wild turkeys in Idaho were a phenomenon, a little like spotting Sasquatch. Now I am beginning to hear complaints about turkey depredations. That's a sure sign of success. When I heard that a gang of turks descended on the Fish and Game Director's grape crop and ate every last one, I knew wild turkeys had finally really arrived in Idaho.
Reports from last summer and my own observations in the southwest indicate we had a good hatch. With virtually no winterkill, finding turkeys should not be a problem this spring.
The turkey harvest numbers in the last two years are roughly the same at about 5,000 statewide. That does not make Idaho the turkey hunting capitol of the world but, considering that we were proud about just a couple dozen 20 years ago, it is an amazing increase.
You might have expected the harvest numbers to have jumped last fall after the fall seasons were expanded considerably but participation in those hunts was fairly low and hunting conditions in the southwest last spring were less than ideal. The increase in tag fee might have taken a few less serious folks out of the game, too.
With lots of birds and hunters overcoming tag sticker-shock, I expect participation to be higher this spring, so do not be caught napping when the first fly-down of the season happens.
Copyright 2001 Spring Creek Communications
BOOKS FROM AMAZON.COM
Innovative Turkey Hunting : Advanced Tactics from Brad Harris & Mark Drury
Jim Casada, Brian Lovett(Editor); Paperback
Spring Gobbler Fever
Michael Hanback; Paperback
Wild Turkeys : Hunting and Watching
John J. Mettler; Paperback
Wild Turkey (Hunting & Fishing Library)
by Gary Clancy
Spring Turkey Success (1999) - VHS
Hunting Wild Turkeys in the West
by John Higley
Wild Turkeys: Hunting and Watching
by John J. Mettler
In The Turkey Woods
by Jerome B. Robinson