Turkey Hunters Set to Take to the Woods: Spring Season Could Prove Another Record-Breaker As Birds C

Apr 05, 03:53 PM

Current Headlines: By Rod Kloeckner, Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.

Apr. 5--A healthy wild turkey population could mean another record-breaking harvest for hunters in Illinois.

The spring turkey season begins at 6:01 a.m. Monday and runs through May 10 in Southern Illinois, and all indicators are pointing to a bountiful supply of gobblers and bearded hens.

"Guys are reporting seeing turkeys in places that you wouldn't ordinarily think turkeys would be," said Brian Mahan, a district wildlife biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "I would say that some of your readers have probably seen turkeys on the outskirts or even within the city limits of Belleville, Fairview Heights or O'Fallon.

"Any place you have these new subdivisions going in wooded areas and the like, I'm sure there's turkeys in some of those areas."

Mahan, who is based in Sparta, said it's not uncommon to find turkeys near residential areas. He compares them to deer, coyotes and red foxes, which are often sighted in urban settings.

"Biologists are discovering throughout the nation that turkeys are much more adaptable then we originally thought," Mahan said. "We thought turkeys needed large, large acreage of undisturbed woods and things like that, but we're finding that as long as there's some trees nearby and crop fields and things like that for food, they do quite well."

Last year, hunters in Illinois harvested a statewide total of 16,140 turkeys, topping the previous record of 15,563 set in 2004. By comparison, the first modern turkey season in Illinois in 1970 netted 25 birds.

Marion County had the highest local kill total of 363, followed by Jefferson County (363), Randolph (337), Madison (314), Monroe (204), Washington (158), St. Clair (133), Bond (132) and Clinton (101).

Hunters are allowed one gobbler or bearded hen per permit, with a maximum of three permits. Hunting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise until 1 p.m. Different techniques are used in the spring as opposed to fall turkey hunting.

In the fall, turkeys generally move in flocks. Springtime is breeding season, and hunters use their calls to imitate a hen to try and attract the attention of a gobbler.

A turkey's brain may be tiny, but Mahan said they are some of the smartest -- and most cautious -- animals around. Wild turkeys have excellent vision and are very mobile; they can run at speeds up to 25 mph and fly up to 55 mph.

"Turkeys in general are so difficult to hunt because they're so paranoid," Mahan said. "When you're hunting turkeys, you have to remain very still, especially when the turkeys are in the general area. You can't be waving away mosquitos or anything like that. They'll see that movement from a pretty good distance away. They're eyesight is very, very good.

"A deer will look at a hunter standing in the woods and think it's a tree. A turkey will see a tree and think it's a man and leave."

Turkeys like open areas for feeding and mating and use forested areas as cover from predators and roosting after dark.

Mahan said Southern Illinois, in particular the Kaskaskia River area, provide excellent habitat for turkeys.

"The turkey population is doing very, very well," Mahan said. "The Kaskaskia River area has a large block of undisturbed woods and the tributaries leading into that river. As a result, you're going to have a pretty good turkey population as compared to say, more of the open counties where you don't have that many blocks of timber."

Contact reporter Rod Kloeckner at rkloeckner@bnd.com or 239-2663.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.

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