Oklahoma Turkey Season

[deermanok]

Saturday April 16th is opening day for spring turkey. The wildlife dept. pushed the season up 10 days this year with a one bird limit statewide.
Last season was pretty dismal. I put a lot of miles on the truck driving around to different locations. I only heard one bird gobbling and it was on private land.
I'm planning to go out Saturday even though I don't have high hopes of getting a bird.

 

[toytruck]

Preseason scouting for sign and sightings is a must to increase the odds. If you saw bird's during deer season or know where food sources are will really help too.
Good luck!

 

[ElDiablo]

Good luck! We just returned from a short trip to Colorado. Got into a few birds and a bunch of snow!

 

[deermanok]

The wild turkey population has taken a nosedive here in recent years. Hunters used to be able to take 3 birds but now they cut it down to only 1. I hunted and scouted a lot of places last year. There's just not many birds around anymore.

 

[toytruck]

I understand, the turkey population has really gone down in my county as well. I went out last month, never even saw any sign of any kind. Acorn crop was terrible last year, Agri crops gone to.
Spring gobbler season is just as good as deer hunting. Maybe even better now that I'm getting old. Carrying them vs dragging is much easier!

 

[ElDiablo]

Merriams (and Rios) have really taken off in Utah and Colorado. We called in three jakes and three toms within 20 minutes opening morning.

 

[deermanok]

Merriams (and Rios) have really taken off in Utah and Colorado. We called in three jakes and three toms within 20 minutes opening morning.

That sounds like the old days for me back in New England. I started turkey hunting in the 1980's. Those early years were great.

 

[Okie Hog]

The wild turkey population has taken a nosedive here in recent years.

Yes. Our deer lease south of Walters and our property in Garvin county had large turkey populations. This spring i've seen one turkey, a large hen.

i'm seeing increases in populations of coyotes and bobcats. The fire ants kill many young ground nesting birds.

Fire ant killer | The Horse Forum

 

[deermanok]

Yes. Our deer lease south of Walters and our property in Garvin county had large turkey populations. This spring i've seen one turkey, a large hen.

i'm seeing increases in populations of coyotes and bobcats. The fire ants kill many young ground nesting birds.

Fire ant killer | The Horse Forum

I hadn't considered the ants. Those things are nasty.

 

[fishdfly]

Enjoy your time, you get to go and lots of folks do not.

 

[Ninering62]

Preseason scouting for sign and sightings is a must to increase the odds. If you saw bird's during deer season or know where food sources are will really help too.
Good luck!

Yes absolutely, its a big help to scout an unfamiliar area before turkey hunting as one can end up covering a heck of a lot of ground in the search for them. Its a real good thing ( but much easier said than done ) is go out the eve before a turkey hunt & use Owl & Crow " shock calls " to locate them in the roost so to know where to set up the next morn. But out of the decades of turkey hunting, I've only gone out the eve before 2 times.

 

[Ninering62]

I hadn't considered the ants. Those things are nasty.

There NO - forgetting about the fire ants here in Fl. I almost can't set a foot or a knee down here without bein in or close to a fire ant nest. They are unavoidable & unforgettable here.