And, yes, it’s possible to kill turkeys on public lands in those regions. There are numerous wildlife management areas where turkeys can be found. Some of those are only open to draw-in hunts on selected dates, but some are open pretty much the same dates as the statewide season. You can check the regulations for any WMA you may wish to hunt by either picking up a copy of the current Oklahoma Hunting Regulations booklets from license vendors, or you can go to the Web site www.wildlifedepartment.com to view the general regulations and the site-specific regulations.

Let’s look at a few of the areas east of Interstate 35 where you might bag a turkey on public land.

In the northeast, wild turkeys can be found at both Kaw and Keystone WMA in the bottomlands along the Arkansas River. Both the public and controlled portions of Spavinaw WMA have good numbers of turkeys. I’ve also seen flocks of turkeys at Hulah, Birch, Oologah, Fort Gibson, Cookson, Eufaula and Cherokee County WMAs, and on the Rock Creek portion of the Osage County WMAs. The upper end of the Oologah WMA has an abundant turkey population, although they often spend a lot of time on adjacent private lands.

There are turkeys, too, on the Deep Fork WMA and the Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge, and at the Sequoyah NWR at Kerr Lake. The Heyburn Lake WMA in western Creek County produces a few birds almost every year, although it’s another of those areas where the birds seem to spend most of their time on adjacent private lands where they’re fed regularly by the landowners or leaseholders.

South of I-40, those lands around Eufaula and Kerr Reservoir are good in spots. Farther south, the lands around Hugo Lake and Pine Creek Lake can be good. And around Broken Bow Lake there is some of the best public-land hunting available for eastern birds.

It’s not uncommon for people to take a shotgun in their boats with them while fishing Broken Bow for crappie, bass or walleyes, during spring turkey season, for you never know when a strutting gobbler might present itself on a nearby shoreline.

I recall an April crappie fishing trip to Broken Bow several years ago on which I did not bring a shotgun. We heard a tom gobble up on a hill on the eastern shore of the lake early in the morning. About midmorning we saw what I believe was the same bird strutting and gobbling near the shoreline. He pretty much ignored us completely, even though we were within easy shotgun range. I had spent the previous two mornings trying to kill an eastern bird, but my gun was cased and stuck behind the seat of my pickup back at the ramp.

Cherokee and Adair counties in Eastern Oklahoma are among the best places for hunting eastern wild turkeys in Oklahoma. There are several tracts of public land that hold birds and there are many areas where birds are pretty plentiful on private properties.

I’ve seen turkeys on many occasions on the Tenkiller Wildlife Management Area on both sides of the lake. And the adjacent Cherokee Game Management Area on the west side of the lake has an abundant population of eastern birds.

The Cookson Hills WMA southeast of Tahlequah also has a big turkey population, but it is usually open only to hunters who apply for and get a permit through the annual controlled hunt drawings.

Those drawings will be coming up soon for the 2009 hunts. Hunters apply in the spring for the autumn deer hunts and for the following year’s spring turkey hunts on the more tightly controlled wildlife management areas. Usually the application period is open in late March and April and the deadline is sometime in early to mid-May. Hunters who want a chance at a permit for next spring should apply soon. Booklets describing the hunts and containing application forms can be found at wildlife department offices and at many hunting license vendors. Applications can also be completed online by going to the department’s Web site, www. wildlifedepartment.com, and clicking on the “controlled hunts” link. Hunters must have a current hunting license when applying and must pay a $5 fee. One $5 fee entitles the applicant to enter all hunt categories (deer, elk, antelope, turkey, and more.) if desired.

There are many states that have huntable populations of wild turkeys. And, as I said earlier, every Oklahoma county has turkeys. But if you want to see some of the biggest flocks of turkeys and densest populations of turkeys of anywhere in the nation, go to far western and northwestern Oklahoma. Those counties lying west of I-35 and north of I-40 are nearly all good hunting areas.