Here’s my latest column that appeared in The News Journal on April 2, 2009.
Spring turkey hunting takes dedication — and a game plan
With recent estimates placing the size of the Delaware wild turkey flock around 4,000 birds, more first-time turkey hunters are taking to the Delaware woods each spring in pursuit of gobblers.
Although few have seen them, Delaware absolutely has eastern wild turkeys. Thanks to efforts by the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and neighboring states, wild turkeys were re-introduced to Delaware in 1984. Once thought to be gone from Delaware forever, wild turkeys now inhabit forested areas and agricultural fields in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties.
Although turkey hunting is not yet received with the same fervor as deer or waterfowl hunting in Delaware, it is slowly catching on. Delaware offers a spring turkey hunting season, which this year runs from April 11 to May 1 and controls the turkey harvest by offering a limited number of public land turkey permits and restricting the number of birds a hunter can harvest. Public land turkey permits are issued via a lottery system, and each permit is valid for a specific hunting area and season segment. Private land hunters may hunt turkeys during the entire season, but all hunters are limited to harvesting only one bird per year.
If you are planning to hunt Delaware turkeys, have a game plan. Trust me. Waking up at 3 a.m., driving to a hunting spot, swatting mosquitoes, sitting in poison ivy for seven hours, and encountering zero turkeys is not the best way to spend a morning.
Turkeys are smart birds, but they tend to follow established routines. Spending some time scouting your hunting areas before opening day can increase your chances of success. Look for turkey tracks, feathers, and scratch marks, and try to observe turkeys as they move from their roosts in the morning and to their roosts in evening. If you find patterns in the birds’ daily routines, plan to set up your hunting locations near their travel routes.
In addition to preseason scouting, spend some time and money making sure your gear is adequate. With turkeys having eyesight that may be better than a deer’s and with you sitting at the turkey’s eye level, it’s important to have camouflage that matches the surroundings of your hunting spots. Cover as much of your body as possible and remain as still as possible when turkeys are present.
Likewise, bring several turkey calls out with you, but more importantly, know how to use them. Eastern wild turkeys typically begin breeding in early spring, so mature male turkeys are actively competing for mates and are more apt to respond to hen calls. Turkey hens will yelp, cluck, purr, cackle, cut and putt, but the sound that attracts the most responses by gobblers is the yelp. Learn to produce the hen yelp on your turkey calls by listening to actual turkeys in the woods or by listening to audio files that can be found online.
Steven Kendus’ Hunter’s Journal appears monthly in The News Journal. Kendus is the author of “Hunting The First State: A Guide to Delaware Hunting.” Follow his blog and podcast at www.eastcoasthunting.blogspot.com. Contact him at skendus@HuntingTheFirstState.com.