Step Outside

Bearded hen from Junction, Texas. Contributed photo Everyone remembers when and where they spotted their first wild turkey. The author has to roll his mind all the way back to Junction, Texas circa 1987 to recall his first sighting of the majestic wild turkey. To tell the absolute truth, that 11-year-old East Texas youngster didn't know exactly what type of birds had strutted by his deer stand that November morning. The story he told at camp that day got quite a few laughs from the seasoned old group of hunters. One can imagine the laughter that erupted from that crew when the boy told his father that "a swarm of huge, corneating buzzards walked by my deer stand." You see, the only birds the boy had ever seen that size were buzzards.

The Rio Grande turkey might have become the State bird of Texas if the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs hadn't petitioned the Senate on behalf of the Mockingbird in 1927. That was a great decision on the part of the Senate as hunting the state bird is usually frowned upon.

Spring turkey season opened last weekend, and hunting should be good for most of April. With any luck this column will have a picture of a gobbler in it by the end of the month. The author knows what a turkey look like now and spends as much time as possible chasing them with a bow and shotgun every spring.

Turkey numbers are growing in East Texas due to the turkey restoration programs by TPWD during the 1980's. TPWD and the National Wild Turkey Federation trapped and transplanted over 7,000 birds to East Texas through the programs duration.

Turkey hunting means traveling for anyone from Leon County, but not as far as one might think. Populations of turkey are growing in the Piney Woods and Northeast Texas.

Day leasing land for turkey hunting can be pretty affordable and turkey hunters will find the woods less crowded in April. Calling a gobbler into shotgun range is a challenge that not enough people have experienced or can truly appreciate.