Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge to expand fall turkey hunting

Federal officials are expanding fall turkey hunting at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, adding acreage to the reservation-only hunting program in its second year.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week that it had approved fall turkey hunting on 330 acres in the Helm’s unit of the wildlife refuge near Cheney, bringing the total acreage open for fall turkey hunting to more than 2,200.

Turnbull’s expansion came alongside a batch of decisions to expand or limit hunting and fishing on refuges across the country. It was the only change announced for Washington, and while it’s small, it’s a significant addition for Turnbull, where hunting access has historically been limited.

“We’ve gradually been trying to provide more opportunity, and this year’s opening is one more attempt to do that,” said Kelly Moroney, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s project lead for Turnbull and other refuges in the region.

Turnbull includes more than 23,000 acres of pine, wetland and riparian habitat outside of Cheney. Elk, moose and waterfowl use the refuge, among other species, and its a prime destination in the region for wildlife watching.

Hunting has long been limited to a youth waterfowl hunt and a special permit elk hunt. Fall turkey hunting began in 2023 on 1,883 acres in the refuge’s Long Lake unit, off Mullinix Road.

The hunts are managed through the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Private Lands Hunting Opportunities program and are available by reservation only.

Refuge managers limited the hunts to just the fall season to protect nesting waterfowl in the spring, according to Moroney. While fall turkey hunting is less popular than spring turkey, plenty of hunters took advantage of the opportunity to hunt the refuge.

Reservations were available four days a week – Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays – and were limited to two hunting parties of up to four people. Dean Nizer, the WDFW private lands biologist who oversees the Turnbull reservations, said the refuge had hunters booked on 56 of the 68 days it offered last year.

The high use convinced officials to begin working to open the Helm’s unit, which is across the road from the Long Lake unit. A parking lot and kiosk have been built there to give hunters information.

Nizer said reservations for the Helm’s property should be available next week. It will be open on the same days as Long Lake, but because it’s smaller it will be limited to one party of up to four hunters per day.

That should make for good hunting, Nizer said.

“The amount of people that are going to be there when you are is a lot less,” he said.

That doesn’t mean it will be easy.

“Last year, I was hearing from people that it is a little bit more challening because it’s the fall,” Nizer said. “Fall hunts are a little bit different than spring hunts.”

Instead of trying to call a gobbler directly to them, fall turkey hunters have to get more creative. Nizer said listening can pay off, as hens might be more talkative than gobblers or jakes. Or hunters can try to locate the roost and spot and stalk the birds.

Moroney, an avid turkey hunter, said there are a decent number of turkeys in the area, but they might not always be where hunters want them.

“At times, there’s a lot of birds on the refuge,” Moroney said. “Other times, they’re on neighboring lands.”