The sight of a longbeard like this coming in to calling is what Oklahoma turkey hunters live for. An abundance of mature gobblers should be strutting in the field this season. Photo by Russell Tinsley

Opening day of last year’s spring turkey season dawned to typical weather for a Western Oklahoma morning: bright, sunny and windy — howlingly windy! I strained unsuccessfully to hear any distant turkey sounds. Frustrated at picking up no gobbling from the distant roost, I continued to scratch out hen yelps on my aluminum friction call. In vain: No gobblers responded.

After moving often and calling in hopes of striking a turkey, my hunting partners and I decided to drive to town for lunch. While exiting the property, Justin Plunkett, my brother Ronny and I located two separate flocks heavy with gobblers on a wheat field nearly a mile away. Optimism renewed, we grabbed lunch, made a game plan for that afternoon and, after a quick nap, suited up to redeem the day from that lackluster morning.

We left our motel amazed by the changes awaiting us; wildfires fueled by 50-mph wind gusts now blanketed the county. The sky emanated an eerie red glow painted by the dust and smoke. With visibility limited to a quarter-mile, we drove through the haze to our turkey spot.

Nearly 20 miles away, we drove out of the mire, and though the wind still gusted at gale force, we arrived in a hopeful mood at our turkey spot. Ronny climbed into my Double Bull blind with his compound bow, while Plunkett and I headed toward the last spot we had glassed the turkeys.

I called, and then listened for a response, before walking over some sand hills, eventually making a complete circle and returning to a small rye field near the truck. Suddenly, I spotted movement 80 yards ahead and saw a flock of 20 turkeys feeding in the rye field — and heading our way. I jerked Plunkett to the ground.

We hurriedly pulled up our face masks, trying to blend in with the scant saplings around us. The turkeys sensed something was awry, most of the flock jumping into the air and flying directly over us. Thirty yards away, two mature toms periscoped their heads, intrigued by their airborne cohorts. Plunkett and I settled on a nervous redhead each and, with tandem blasts, leveled the pair. We gathered the toms for photographs and then retired to a distant hill just in time to watch Ronny prepare to arrow a magnum-sized tom strutting just outside of bow range.

The next morning I connected on another nice tom after calling in several others. Although my hunts have admittedly been known to be unorthodox at times, I had taken two-thirds of my three-tom limit in two days. Truly, Oklahoma turkey hunting is about as good as it gets!

BIOLOGISTS’ OUTLOOK
With flock numbers increasing in most counties, the state’s turkey hunters can expect another excellent spring. Statewide the flock is estimated at 129,284 turkeys — up slightly over 5 percent from last season’s estimate of 123,000 birds.

However, according to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s turkey experts, the drought of last summer caused the hatch to be down slightly from previous years. The drought significantly affected much of the state’s habitat, causing many species of wildlife to suffer.