Spring Gobbler Season Underway in the Bend Area

By Jim Freeman

Spring gobbler season is officially underway in the Big Bend area with Ohio youngsters taking first shot at the birds yesterday morning.

The regular Ohio spring turkey season opens a half-hour before sunrise on Monday morning and continues through May 17. West Virginia youth get a chance on April 25, followed by the regular season which runs from April 27-May 23.

The wild turkey was native to our woods at the time of settlement, but it didn’t take long for habitat destruction and unregulated hunting to destroy Ohio’s wild turkey population. According to the Ohio Division of Wildlife the wild turkey was extirpated from the state by 1904. However, thanks to the efforts of sportsmen and state wildlife departments, the wild turkey has staged a successful comeback and is now one of the most highly sought-after game animals in our woods.

Spring wild turkey hunting carries its own safety considerations; for instance the hunter dresses in camouflage from head to toe, and sits on the ground, attempting to lure in their prey by pretending to be another bird.

However, looking through Ohio hunter injury incident reports for the past few five years doesn’t really show a lot of turkey hunting-related incidents, at least when compared to deer gun season (34 total incidents/seven fatalities) compared to spring turkey (10 incidents/zero fatalities), or even squirrel hunting (15 incidents, zero fatalities).

For the record, hunting is actually one of the safest outdoor pastimes with over 99.9 percent of all participants enjoying a safe hunt. Statistically you are more likely to get hurt driving to your hunting spot, and definitely more likely to get hurt riding your four-wheeler into the woods.

Most of the incidents can be explained by a shooter’s failure to follow the four basic rules of firearm safety: keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times, treat every gun as if it is loaded, always be sure of your target and beyond, keep your finger off of the trigger until you are ready to fire. All hunters should follow those basic rules at all times.

When it comes to turkey hunting, the first step in hunting safe is hunting legal. Many of the game laws are meant to protect humans from other humans, or from themselves.

Turkey hunters should exercise extra caution when calling in a bird, and not use the gobble call which replicates the sound of a legal, male turkey. Also, turkey hunters should never wear colors that are associated with wild turkeys: red, white, blue or black. Hunter orange is OK, but only in big patches. A small patch of orange should also be avoided.

If you suspect another hunter has crept in on you while calling, or if you see another hunter, clearly identify yourself by calling out. At that point the hunt is over, so don’t make a small wave or other gesture that the other hunter can possibly mistake for a wild turkey. Shout out! Remember, he or she is expecting to see a turkey, so don’t be the turkey!

Likewise, you should make positively sure that what you see approaching is a legal bearded gobbler; if you don’t see the beard, don’t shoot! Make sure you know what is beyond your target.

Make sure to double check the game laws in your respective state before heading afield. The springtime in the mid-Ohio River Valley is a beautiful time to enjoy the outdoors, don’t ruin it for yourself or anybody else by being careless! And if you do go, make sure to take along a youngster to share the tradition.

Jim Freeman is the wildlife specialist for the Meigs Soil and Water Conservation District and a long-time Ohio Hunter Education Instructor. His column, In the Open, generally appears every other weekend. He can be contacted weekdays at 740-992-4282 or [email protected]