Photo Credit: National Wild Turkey Federation
Hawaii's "spring gobbler" season starts the earliest in the United States, commencing on March 1. This begs the question: Is the Aloha State hunt actually a "winter" offering?
Maine's spring turkey hunt runs the latest in the country, ending June 2. Forget that most northern New England residents have traded shotguns for spinning rods by then . . . the male turkeys will still be gobbling, even within earshot of inland trout fishers and even coastal striper anglers.
Texas and Missouri weigh in with the most estimated turkeys, with roughly 600,000 birds in each state. Delaware (3,000 turkeys), and Nevada (2,000 birds) have the fewest.
What states allow sportsmen to take a handful of gobblers? A spring turkey hunter can take five in Alabama, and five in South Carolina.
A "New England Slam" might look like this: Connecticut (two bearded birds on state land, or three on private land). Massachusetts (one bearded turkey per day, two per season, or one per season if a fall bird is taken). Rhode Island (one bearded turkey). Vermont (two bearded turkeys per spring season; three bearded turkeys for youth). New Hampshire (one bearded turkey). Maine (one bearded turkey).
An adult hunter in this region could conceivably take ten birds this coming spring . . .
--Steve Hickoff
