So no matter where you live in Oklahoma, turkey hunting opportunities are available. You can get virtually a guaranteed hunt by engaging one of the professional guides or commercial hunting operations in northwest Oklahoma. You can find your own lease or private tract. Or, you can hunt public lands.

If you’re a public land hunter, you may want to consider waiting until the season is well under way before making your trip. At Black Kettle and at Packsaddle and some of the other more popular WMAs, the first weekend or two of the season draws a virtual army of camo-clad hunters afield. But often by the third weekend or so the number of hunters has dwindled considerably and the toms are even more aggressive than they were the first few days of the season.

It can also be helpful to plan a trip on weekdays instead of weekends. That doesn’t guarantee you a spot all to yourself, but I’ve seen days during the week when you couldn’t find another hunter on some of the larger northwestern Oklahoma WMAs.

No matter whether you’re hunting on private or public lands, use caution. Dressing in camouflage and imitating the sounds of the prey you’re after is almost an invitation to an accident. If there is any chance that other hunters will be hunting near you, make sure they don’t mistake you for a wild turkey and send a swarm of shotgun pellets in your direction.

If you hunt much, you’ll see how unobservant and oblivious some hunters can be.

A couple of seasons back, I had already killed a nice gobbler and was sitting in my pickup truck, watching through binoculars as my son, backed up into a tiny clump of shinnery oak on a WMA with his compound bow, waited to ambush a flock of turkeys that sometimes walked a nearby path.

Two shotgun-toting hunters laden with hunting stools and a turkey decoy and other gear came walking down the trail and stood right by my son -- within 6 feet of him -- for several minutes, then strolled up over a ridge and disappeared.

Later I asked my son what the hunters were talking to him about. “Nothing,” he said. “They weren’t talking to me. They were just looking for turkeys. They didn’t even know I was there.”

The statewide dates for spring turkey season are April 6 through May 6, 2008. But because there are many variations in bag limits, open dates, means of taking, etc., from one county to the next and from one public-land tract to the next, it’s always a good idea to pick up a current copy of the Oklahoma Hunting Regulations booklet, or to go on line to check the specific regulations that apply to the county or area you will be hunting.

Resident hunters need a current hunting license and a $10 turkey permit for each bird harvested. Hunters visiting from outside of Oklahoma must purchase an annual non-resident hunting license ($137), as well as a $10 turkey permit for each bird taken. (The short-term small-game hunting license available to non-residents at a lower price isn’t valid for turkey hunting.)

Find more about Oklahoma fishing and hunting at: OklahomaGameandFish.com