(Radio Iowa) – The wild turkey season is just a few weeks away in Iowa and early indications are it could be a good one. D-N-R wildlife biologist Jim Coffey says birds should be plentiful. “We’ve had a couple of three back-to-back good brood seasons or summer brooding seasons, so that should result in some good numbers of turkeys on the landscape across most of the state this year,” he says. Coffey says ground nesting birds like pheasants, quail and turkeys do well in dry years.
“That’s probably one of the better reasons of why we have seen those numbers increase. All those birds that are small like that in the ground don’t do well with cold, wet springs. So that’s detrimental to hatching. And so when we have those drier and warmer springs, we tend to see better hatches and better survival of the young,” he says. More turkeys can be a good thing for hunters, but Coffey says it can also give the birds more warning.
“Sometimes numbers can hurt you a little bit too, because turkeys are very wary species, they use their eyes and their ears very well. They can hear better and see better than humans,” Coffey says. “And so their gregarious nature of being in groups allows them to see a lot of predators and see a lot of motion. And their number one defense is to run away from that motion.” Coffey says the weather can impact the hunt, mostly the desire of the hunter to get out.
“The birds are out there every day, and that was a lesson that my dad taught me a long time ago, is you don’t kill turkeys laying in bed. You’ve got to be out there. Turkeys are out there every day, whether it’s cold or rainy or wet or windy, but their behavior changes a lot depending on those weather conditions. And so we as hunters try to adapt to that and move into the better places that we can be during those specific times.” Coffey says windy conditions are probably the hardest conditions to hunt turkeys in as you can’t hear them gobble. And turkeys are more wary in the wind as they can’t hear what’s going on around them as well either.
The youth-only wild turkey season for residents age 15 and younger opens things up from April 10th to the 12th. Season 1 is April 13th to the 16th, season 2 is April 17th to the 21st, season 3 is April 22nd to the 28th, season 4 is April 29th to May 17th. The Resident Archery Only season is April 13th to May 17th.
