Turkeys Eastern Style
By Matt Williams
 

If turkey hunting experiences toted a dollar value, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Eastern wild turkey program leader John Burk and I could probably sell just one of ours for a cool million bucks.

That's a healthy price tag, indeed. But take it from me; fond memories can be a very valuable commodity, particularly those that are hatched in virgin turkey woods on a crisp spring morning. Such was the case late last March as Burk and I crept along a white oak ridge located deep in the heart of Loco Bayou Hunting Club in western Nacogdoches County.

Opening day of the county's inaugural spring gobbler season was still three weeks away, but field reports from club member Randy Ivy indicated that the birds were revved up and ready for love. A short series of seductive yelps from Burk's diaphragm call told us the timing was perfect for sucking the birds into photo range.

"Gobble-gobble-gobble! Gobble-gobble-gobble!"

"There he is," said Burk. "Let's get across this creek and look for a spot to set up. He sounds like he's pretty hot; he's not more than 150 yards off."

About 25 yards ahead we came across an old logging road intersection at the crest of a ridge bordering the hardwood bottom. That's when Burk jabbed his hen decoy into the ground, laid flat on his belly 15 yards in front of it, and instructed me to find a suitable vantage point behind him.

Another short series of yelps told us the Tom turkey was well on his way to la-la land.

"Gobble-gobble-gobble, gobble-gobble-gobble."

Three minutes later, Burk yelped once lightly and the gobbler exploded again-this time from less than 20 yards away! Then something weird happened. For some reason the bird circled behind me, disappeared in the underbrush and that still silence that every savvy turkey hunter hates momentarily fell over the woods.

Had we been pegged? Not hardly. Burk yelped lightly and the woods erupted in all directions.

Gobblers-big ones-were everywhere. In a matter of seconds, fourmature Toms were strutting tight circles around our helpless damsel, pecking and spurring her madly in a passionate effort to lure her into the dark woods below.

Naturally, that's when tempers began to flare. Huge wing spans and spindly pink legs filled the viewfinder as one of the most revered experiences of my career unfolded before my eyes. It was truly one of nature's greatest shows. And believe it or not, it was far from being over.

With the decoy now lying flat on its side and sporting a few battle scars, the four Toms lost interest and slowly began slipping away. But not before Burk did them dirty.

The wildlife biologist issued a series of aggressive yelps and orchestrated a deafening gobbling session at 10 yards that literally took the birds' breath away. At that we stood and faced one another with the proudness of two guys who'd just witnessed a heritage being reborn.

"You've just witnessed Eastern wild turkey hunting at its finest-pretty neat, huh?" said Burk. "Unbelievable," was the only response I could muster. Truth be known, there's not a hunting event any more fascinating than witnessing a wild turkey gobbler coming to a call.

With its colorful tail feathers fanned and head displaying brilliant shades of blue, pink and red, North America's largest game bird is truly a sight to see as it struts and drums a peculiar tune at 20 paces in hopes of winning the heart of a lovesick hen that is not even present.

Many hunters will get the chance to experience this thrill for the first time next month as seven more East Texas counties are added to the list of counties in which Eastern gobblers may be hunted during the spring. The newest additions-Lamar, Delta, Hopkins, Gregg, Angelina, Sabine and San Augustine counties-will join Red River, Marion, Nacogdoches, Cass, Harrison, Cherokee, Newton, Jasper, Bowie and Trinity counties. This means a total of 17 East Texas counties will have a 1998 spring gobbler season from April 13th to the 26th.

That in itself is an incredible success story. A quick glance into the distant past explains why.

A century ago, Eastern wild turkeys occupied as much as 30 million acres of land east of the Trinity River. Then came the influx of early settlers who leveled the region's virgin timberlands with little or no thought of reforestation.

This, combined with lax game laws, facilitated the virtual slaughter of the turkey population. Records indicate that the birds were shot by the hundreds and sold at markets for as little as 6 cents apiece. Wild turkeys were nearly extinct in East Texas by the early 1900s and, despite early restocking efforts dating back to 1924, the total flock was estimated at only 100 birds in 1942.

Though most were unsucessful, numerous efforts to help restore turkey populations were made during the three decades that followed. Then, in 1979, a major stride was taken. Dr. Jim Dickson, a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Nacogdoches, remembers that step.

"All of the birds that were restocked up until that time consisted of either pen-raised birds, Rio Grandes or Rio Grande/Eastern hybrids, none of which did well in terms of survival or reproduction," notes Dickson, acting president of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF). "We learned through trial and error that the only way we were going to re-establish our native population was by stocking wild trapped Eastern birds."

Using funding generated from the sale of public hunting lands permits, plus donations from the NWTF, various timber companies and private individuals, since 1979 TP&W has "block stocked" over 6,000 Eastern wild trapped turkeys in 59 East Texas counties. Those turkeys, purchased from neighboring states at a cost of $500 to $525 each, naturally have fared much better in some areas than in others. That's largely because of the diversity of land use practices around the region.

Eastern turkeys are totally dependent upon forests to meet their habitat requirements during the course of the year. Unfortunately only certain parts of some counties contain good turkey habitat, resulting in isolated pockets of birds instead of widespread distribution. That, says Burk, could promote some misconceptions among patrons who aren't educated on the ins and outs of wild turkey management.

"The thing that really scares me about opening these seasons is I've got to do it on a countywide basis-I can't just open a portion of a county," he says. "Problem is, only a portion of a county may contain good turkey habitat, and that's where all the turkeys are going to be. Meanwhile, the rest of the county may not have any turkeys, and those folks think we (TPWD) are off our rocker for opening the season.

"What people have to realize is that wild turkeys aren't any different than deer. If they cut down a stand of oaks and plant pine trees or coastal bermuda, the turkeys are going to leave. The lands that have good habitat and have been managed properly have good populations of birds, whereas those lands that haven't been managed don't have any birds and, quite frankly, never will until the landowners change their management strategies."

Burk, who has studied, researched, hunted and harvested Eastern gobblers in many different states, offers the following advice to East Texas nimrods planning to go after an Eastern Tom next month.

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