“Turkey numbers in the northern tier of counties like Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Kalkaska tend to be spotty,” she said. “There are good pockets of birds, but you have to scout to find them. There are some very good pockets of birds in the central portion of the area. The birds here relate heavily to large rivers and the bottoms. You’ll find lots of birds in Missaukee, Wexford and Osceola counties. The southern counties have just been inundated with turkeys, and in many places they’ve almost become a nuisance. Hunters should find some very good hunting in Oceana, Newaygo, and Mecosta counties.”

Winter feeding is probably most important in the northernmost counties of Area K.

“We’ve been trying to promote recreational feeding versus feeders,” explained Maturen. “People are somewhat confused by the feeding bans, but there’s nothing that says you can’t feed turkeys. With recreational feeding, the birds aren’t so concentrated and there’s less chance for the spread of disease.”

How important is winter feeding to maintaining turkey numbers in Area K? “Well, I like to say that, ‘it’s either a fed one or a dead one,’ ” said Maturen.

For more information on turkey numbers and hunting opportunities in Area K, contact the DNR field office in Baldwin at (231) 745-4651. For more details on the winter feeding program and joining the Michigan Wild Turkey Hunters Association, call (231) 832-2575.

SOUTHERN MICHIGAN

Turkeys in southern Michigan continue to prosper.

“We’re pretty close to the saturation point as far as turkey numbers in this neck of the woods,” said wildlife biologist Mark Bishop. “You know when the turkey-car accidents are picking up that it is an indication there are a lot of birds.”

Bishop said he oversees Barry and Kalamazoo counties and spends a great deal of time in Calhoun County.

“My early feeling was that we had a horrible nesting season,” admitted Bishop, “but as the season went on what we saw was smaller broods and smaller poults.”

Bishop said that the rains in the spring were pretty regional. Some areas got hit hard while others didn’t.

“In the end I don’t think nesting was a bad as we thought,” said Bishop. “Bowhunters (reported) seeing good numbers of birds.”

Without the severe winters that birds in northern Michigan have to deal with, it was obvious that southern Michigan was ideal habitat for turkeys and they would prosper. “We knew that if we put good genetics in good habitat we would have plenty of birds,” said Bishop.

Southern Michigan might just have some of the best turkey hunting in the state right now. But according to Linda Gallagher, hunters need to take advantage of it while they can.

“Like anywhere else, populations peak, then level off and then start downward as hunters take more of the birds and predator numbers catch up with the population,” claimed Gallagher.

But in a strange sort of the way the explosion of turkey numbers in southern Michigan has helped hunters in the northern part of our state.

“I think fewer hunters are heading up north to hunt now,” suggested Gallagher. “More of them are staying close to home to hunt where they’re seeing plenty of birds, and the hunt quality in the northern of the state has improved.”

UPPER PENINSULA

It seems that with Michigan turkeys these days, everyone is happy.

“Turkey numbers have just exploded in this part of the state,” said Crystal Falls wildlife biologist Craig Albright. “I think turkeys have done better up here than anyone expected.”

Turkeys are getting so numerous in Dickinson, Menominee and Delta counties that fall seasons are now being held to kill some of the surplus of turkeys.

“A lot of the credit goes to the devotion of several U.P. sportsman’s clubs,” said Albright. “Groups like Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County, the Bay de Noc Gobblers and similar organizations and their winter feeding programs are critical to having the number of turkeys we do up here.”

The organizations provide deer-proof feeders and advise residents who want to do recreational feeding on how to do it so that it benefits turkeys and not deer.

Albright said that winter surveys last year revealed that there were some 4,500 turkeys in Delta County. Dickinson County added another 3,300 to the tally, and Menominee County added another 2,800 birds. Twenty years ago, there were few, if any, turkeys in the U.P.

Turkey numbers in the eastern U.P. continue to expand, too, in spite of the fact that wildlife managers there see them more as a natural phenomenon than a viable resource that can be nurtured and expanded to provide a valuable recreational opportunity for sportsmen and sportswomen.

For more information on spring turkey hunting in the central U.P., contact the DNR field office in Gladstone at (906) 786-2351.

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Hopefully given a break from Mother Nature this past winter and with the helpful hand of devoted people, there should be plenty of gobblers this spring to test the skills of Michigan hunters.