Photo by Travis Faulkner

Turkey hunting in Michigan has come a long way. Wild turkeys can be found just about everywhere in the Lower Peninsula, and prospects for killing a bearded bird there this spring are excellent. Upper Peninsula turkeys have a tougher time making it through winter, but hunters usually do well in the central section of the U.P.

The turkey's ability to evade hunters far exceeds what they appear to be capable of. Most hunters have a challenge on their hands when it comes to outsmarting a big tom. No matter how many birds there are, shooting one is more than a matter of luck.

"Calling is essential," said Tim Payne, a Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist in the Southeast Management Unit. "You're trying to call a tom away from other hens, so try to sound like a lonely female looking for a friend."

If you don't have a place to hunt, our state has plenty of public land on which to shoot a gobbler.

"We have well over 48,000 square miles of public lands in Michigan, and you can hunt turkeys on just about all of them," said Michigan DNR upland game specialist Al Stewart. "Statewide, the turkey population is looking pretty good, and they're spread out fairly evenly. There really isn't any one place that's better to hunt than anywhere else, though the highest concentrations of birds are in the lower third of the state."

The opportunities for Michigan turkey hunters weren't always as good. Birds were present in good numbers up until about 1900. After that, overharvest completely eliminated them from the state. During the 1950s, the DNR began restoring turkey populations, and in 1964, the first fall season was launched. Four years later, a spring season was introduced. During the 1979 turkey season, there were only 4,000 square miles open to gobbler hunters, and just over 8,000 hunters utilized them. During 2006, there were 102,000 hunters statewide.

If you need a place to hunt, these public lands hold plenty of promise for this spring's turkey season and many more in the future.

NORTHWEST MICHIGAN
"This part of the state is good for turkey hunting, and there's a lot of public land to hunt on," said Mike Donovan, a wildlife biologist with the DNR's Northwestern Michigan Management Unit. "The winter of 2005 was pretty mild, and people are seeing more turkeys than in recent years. I've been seeing my own as I'm out and about."