Expert: Don’t Be A Turkey

Scores of the region’s hunters, their pockets loaded with slate, scratch, diaphram and locator calls, already are prowling turkey country.

No matter that it’s still officially winter and that there’s snow in Eastern Washington’s foothills and mountains. Or that the opening of the spring turkey season is nearly two months away.

This is the time of year when the most serious hunters follow the birds from their wintering grounds to nesting areas. The hunters know they must locate several flocks before the season opens April 15, so that they’ll have a fairly good chance of bagging a gobbler.

In the Northwest, turkeys usually start nesting in early April.

Turkey hunting is the fastest-growing hunting sport in the Inland Northwest. Each year hundreds of neophytes join the ranks of turkey hunters.

When Ray White, a veteran turkey hunter, scheduled a clinic for Feb. 11 at the Outdoor Sportsman sporting goods store, he figured the turnout would be a good one. He was amazed when more than 75 would-be gobbler hunters sat for 3 hours while he talked about turkey hunting.

You can bet that nearly all those hunters, as well as hundreds of other new hunters, will join the veterans in turkey country on opening day, a Saturday.

Another factor will add to the hunting pressure. This spring, for the first time, a Washington turkey hunter can take as many as three gobblers, one of each subspecies. To qualify for more than one tag, a hunter must apply to the Fish and Wildlife Department’s upland bird manager by March 31.

All this means that turkey country, especially on public land, will look like the Blue Mountains did 15 years ago. A hunter behind every tree.

Already, most owners of property where there are turkeys are booked solid for the first few days of the season. Nearly all limit the number of hunters they’ll allow on their property at any one time.

Consequently, hunters who haven’t made arrangements to hunt private property will have to look for spots on Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and state land.

“Turkey hunting is dangerous,” White said at his clinic. “In fact, it’s the most dangerous hunting sport in America today.

“Hunters wear camouflaged clothing. When a hunter sneaks along quietly, he will sound like a turkey. When that hunter uses a call, he will attract other hunters, a few of whom see what they want to see, a tom turkey.”

White had some advice for would-be turkey hunters.

“If you arrive at a spot where you know there are turkeys and you hear one or two other hunters calling or you see a hunter’s car, leave the area,” he said. “Don’t be a jerk and spoil somebody else’s hunting.

“You can return later. Maybe those hunters spooked the birds, or they didn’t know much about hunting.”

By locating several flocks, White said, a hunter always has another place to go if he sees or hears hunters in one or two places.

The third week of February is the time to start scouting, he said.

“There’s often a little snow on the ground to make tracking easy,” White said. “Flocks are starting to migrate to the nesting sites.”

When a hunter locates a nesting area, White said, he should mark the location on a large scale map so that he can return later. A few serious hunters even record flock locations on a hand-held GPS (Global Positioning System) device.

“It’s easy to forget the exact location of a flock,” he said.

Turkey hunting can be expensive, White said. Just buying such basic equipment as turkey and locator calls, camouflaged clothing and turkey loads for shotguns can easily run more than $200. A hunter, White said, should have at least three different turkey calls, as well as owl, crow, coyote and other locator calls.

The biggest expense is the cost of gasoline for scouting and hunting. A hunter who scouts at least once a week before the season and then spends several days hunting easily can spend $400 on gasoline. Friends who hunt together often share the cost of gas to cut costs.

All this for a bird that has a brain no larger than a walnut.