For Delaware outdoorsmen, the vibrant green of springtime brings closure to the dull gray months that follow the end of January’s deer and waterfowl seasons, and many are beginning to focus on three main warm weather activities: yard work, fishing, and turkey hunting.
Clear-thinking outdoorsmen quickly recognize that yard work and fishing opportunities will persist throughout the late spring and summer months, but the window of opportunity for hunting Delaware turkeys is short. Delaware’s 2013 spring wild turkey season runs for only four weeks from April 13 to May 11, so turkey hunters will have to postpone other outdoors activities until their gobblers are bagged.
With no time to waste, Delaware turkey hunters should begin scouting hunting locations immediately (if they haven’t done so already), and they should start organizing the calls they will take to the woods.
For success-oriented turkey hunters, pre-season turkey scouting is crucial, especially in the last two weeks leading up to the opening of the hunting season.
Pre-season scouting is as simple as driving by farm fields in or near hunting grounds to look for turkeys or walking through the woods and fields of hunting areas to look for turkeys and turkey signs, like tracks, feathers, droppings and scratch marks. Several morning and evening scouting trips can provide hunters with enough data to determine turkey feeding and roosting patterns, which can help them pinpoint optimal hunting locations.
In-season scouting is perhaps even more important than pre-season scouting. Male turkeys tend to move around their ranges in pursuit of females as the spring hunting season progresses, so hunters should continuously attempt to locate and track the mature toms.
In fact, scouting turkey hunting locations the night before a hunt can be extremely productive. Since turkeys roost in trees at night, a good tactic is to stealthily observe turkeys in the woods or fields at dusk the evening before a hunt. Once the sun sets, turkeys will move toward their evening roost locations. If hunters are lucky, they may see the turkeys fly to their roosts. If not, hunters can assume that the turkeys are roosting in the general vicinity in which they were last seen. Hunters should then set up near the roost location at least an hour before dawn the following morning with hopes to call in an early-morning gobbler after he flies down from his roost.
With only a little more than a week left to prepare for opening day of the turkey hunting season, turkey hunters should check to make sure their vests and packs are properly stocked with the turkey calls needed to maximize their chances of harvesting a mature tom.
Mature and immature male turkeys (toms and jakes, respectively) will respond to female turkey (hen) calls during the spring mating season, so it’s wise for hunters to bring several turkey calls along on their hunts.
Various types of turkey calls are available, each with different benefits and distinct sounds. Circular wooden or plastic pot calls with slate, glass, ceramic or metallic striking surfaces are great for creating various turkey sounds. However, it’s a good idea for hunters to pack several styles of pot calls with their gear since different surfaces, strikers, and bases produce different sounds that may sound like different turkeys. Since pot calls require two hands to operate, hands-free diaphragm calls should be in every turkey hunter’s pack, as well. Turkeys possess phenomenal vision, so hunters should not risk excess movement when calling as birds come into range.
Additional Information
- Delaware’s 2013 spring wild turkey hunting season will run from April 13, 2013 to May 11, 2013.
- Private land hunters may hunt all 25 days of the season.
- Public land permits can only be used on the property for which they are issued. Season segments for public land permits are:
- April 13 – 19
- April 20 – 26
- April 27 – May 3
- May 4 – May 11
- Youth Day – April 6
- Hunting Hours – 1/2 hour before sunrise until 1:00 p.m.
- All turkeys must be checked at an authorized turkey check station by 2:30 p.m. on the day the bird is killed.