Spring gobbler season opening soon

Game Commission officials believe the upcoming gobbler seasons will provide good hunting opportunities locally.

The state's one-day youth spring gobbler season is Saturday. The general spring gobbler season is April 26 to May 26, and includes the Monday of the Memorial Day holiday. "Spring gobbler hunting statewide should be better than 2007," said Mary Jo Casalena, Game Commission wild turkey biologist. "Last year, hens entered the breeding season in good physical condition, the result of a mild winter with abundant food, allowing above-average nesting. Those young turkeys were further supported by warm, dry spring weather and an abundance of summer food, which translated into above-average reproduction and recruitment."

Casalena noted that turkeys are coming into the spring breeding season in good condition, which means a majority of the hens should be available to breed.

In 2007, about 7,500 special licenses were issued to allow hunters the opportunity to take a second spring gobbler, and 1,507 second gobblers were killed.

The season is challenging because it requires a hunter to call the bird within shooting range using a mouth, box or slate call. Since wild turkeys have keen eyesight and hearing, the slightest slip-up will send an approaching bird scurrying.

While not required by law, hunters are encouraged to wear a minimum of 100 square inches of fluorescent orange material on the head (a hat) when moving through the woods. Agency officials also recommend that hunters wrap an orange alert band around a nearby tree when stationary, especially when calling and/or using decoys.

Game Commission officials expect a slightly higher spring gobbler kill in Management Area 2G, which include all of Cameron County and the southern halves of Potter and McKean counties.

"Summer reproduction was the best it's been in four years and the two-year-old population is slightly above average, so look to harvest a jake or two-year-old," the agency reported. "Prospects look poor for harvesting older gobblers. The population is beginning to show an increasing trend, similar to the long-term average for this area, but below the state average."

The picture is similar for Area 3A, which includes all of McKean and Potter counties north of Rt. 6: "Prospects look excellent for jakes, twoand three-year-olds, but below average for older gobblers. Summer turkey sightings hit a record high, better than the heyday years of 2001 and 2002."