There is something very special bout spending time in Texas during the spring when fields are adorned with Bluebonnets and Indian Paint Brushes. The mere thought of hunting turkeys in the spring brings to mind gently flowing Hill Country streams and the resounding thunder of a big gobbler answering those plaintive hen yelps. To the best of my memory, this spring will be my forth-fourth year to hunt turkey in Texas. After a couple years of good hatches, numbers should be excellent in many areas.
The terrain in Texas is far too diverse to give a ‘blanket’ account of what it’s like to come to the Lone Star State for a spring turkey hunt. With the exception of very limited hunting for eastern turkey in counties in northeast Texas along the Texas/Oklahoma border and a handful of counties in southeast Texas, the majority of turkey hunters in Texas are after the Rio Grande sub species and Texas has lots of them! As do wild turkeys everywhere, Rio’s winter along creek or river bottoms and its common to see hundreds in popular roost areas. Usually in late March, the huge flocks of hens and gobblers break up, the hens heading to field edges and meadows to make nest and of course, the gobblers began roaming in search of receptive hens.
On a good Texas ranch, it’s not uncommon to have several gobblers within hearing distance answer your call and the run-and-gun method often works best. Some days, gobblers will be sounding off all over the ranch and then, as though a switch was tripped, other days they go silent. Just because you don’t hear them doesn’t mean they are not there. Even on these ‘quiet’ days on a good Texas ranch that you know is loaded with turkeys, gobblers will still respond to your decoy and calling, they just might not announce their arrival with a resounding gobble.
Bob Hood was the outdoor editor for the Ft. Worth Star Telegram for over four decades and my turkey hunting mentor. Bob had a saying, “Patience kills more turkey than calling”. When in a good area that is holding birds, it’s sometimes best to stay put and wait for them to come to you rather than trying to take the hunt to them by walking and calling. This is especially true on those days when the birds are silent and won’t announce their location by responding to your calling with a gobble.
While turkey are very widely dispersed from north Texas, throughout Edwards Plateau, South Texas, the big ranches out in far western Texas, The Panhandle and even Trans Pecos Region, there are definite hot spots within each region. Through the years, I’ve hunted spring gobblers in all but the Trans Pecos region and have watched the sport grow through the years. Most ranches that book spring turkey hunts fill up fast and many have a waiting list from year to year.
I remember when I first began hunting Texas turkeys in the spring. Back in the late seventies, most turkeys were sniped around corn feeders by deer hunters in the fall but a few “old school” hunters had mastered the art of calling them in the spring. This was way before decoys were widely used and I remember hunting with an old timer that had gobbler tail feathers (fan) attached to a stick. He duped many gobblers by concealing himself well and slowly waving the feathers above his makeshift ground blinds. Little did he know that he was one of the first (other than the Native Americans) to use a technique that modern day turkey hunters “discovered” a few years ago!
Turkey hunters from back east or the southeastern states that are accustomed to hunting Eastern birds are often amazed at the sheer number of turkeys they encounter on a Texas hunt. Rio’s travel a great deal on most ranches while feeding. Rare is the Texas ranch without corn feeders and Rio’s often incorporate stops at each feeder into their daily feeding patterns. Setting up to hunt along ranch roads leading to these feeders is a good way to intercept actively feeding birds.
My favorite and often most productive method of duping a big longbeard when hunting land that I am not familiar with is walking along slowly, stopping every 100 yards or so and calling. If a gobbler answers, I’ll use a piece of camo I always carry to fashion a make shift blind, set my decoy out between the blind and the direction I head the gobbler and attempt to call him in. Rio’s can be easily spooked by over calling and I will let the turkey dictate my cadence. If he is hammering back every time I hit the box call and coming on the run, I call every 30 seconds or so. If he only occasionally gobbles, I will keep my eyes peeled for a sneaky old tom to simply pop out of the brush unannounced.
You can locate scores of Texas hunting ranches offering spring turkey hunts with a Google search. With the season at hand, many will be booked but it’s still possible to find an outfitter with openings during the middle or latter part of the season. Often late season hunting is better than early season because more of the hens are locked down on nest and gobblers are on the prowl looking for a little late season action.
Snake protection while turkey hunting – wear snake proof boots or snake gaiters
As any Texas hunter knows, the Lone Star State has more than its share of rattlesnakes and hunters are advised to wear snake proof boots or leggings, the majority of good Texas turkey hunting land is also home to rattlers. About the time gobblers begin gobbling, rattlers crawl out of their winter nests and begin soaking up the warming rays of spring. They are often lethargic when they first come out of hibernation and don’t rattle as often as when their metabolism gets stronger. We old Texas spring turkey hunters have learned not to depend upon that “buzz” as much as our eyes to avoid an up close and personal encounter that has the potential to end a good hunt. Walk slowly and keep an eye on the next spot your foot is heading! When constructing make shift blinks, be especially careful. You will probably be setting on the ground, possibly in very close proximity of a rattler. Savvy hunters take a long stick or limb and scrape around the ground where they plan to set up to hunt. This may sound like an unnecessary precaution but through the years, I can remember a couple of times when this little trick might have saved me a trip to the local hospital. Copperheads are possibly more troublesome than rattlers in many areas. They don’t rattle and are notorious for lying still until they are stepped on. Don’t let the possibility of encountering a snake keep you from coming to hunt the Rio Grande turkey capital of the world, just come prepared. I haven’t had a close call with a poisonous snake in years, possibly because I keep my snake boots on and my eyes to the ground!
Best snake boots: Lacrosse Venom II Wellington Snake Boots
Snake gaiters: Knight and Hale Real Tree Snake Gaiters
I highly advise inquiring about a turkey hunt with add on hog hunt. Wild hogs are more widely dispersed across the state than even our plentiful Rio Grande turkey and most outfitters see them as another opportunity to book hunts around. Since the majority of wild porkers are killed after the sun sets, an after dark pork procurement hunt makes sense. You can chase turkeys during the day and hogs after the sun sets! Some ranches offer hunts with thermal scopes and others provide stand hunts over lighted feeders where the crosshairs on your scope set at low power will suffice nicely.
TEXAS SPRING GOBBLER SEASON DATES
Because Texas is such a large state there are two different seasons for spring turkey hunting, the north zone and south zone. In the north zone, season opens March 30 and runs through May 12. The south zone opens a bit earlier, opening day is March 16 and season closes May 14. The different in ‘openers’ is designed to coincide with peaks of the breeding season which always begins a couple weeks earlier in the warmer southern portion of the state. Eastern gobblers (which can only be hunted with shotgun and not over bait) runs from April 22 through May 14, well after the peak of the breeding season. There are far better states to travel to for hunting eastern turkey, Oklahoma has a strong population of eastern birds, especially in the southeastern portion of the state. For Rio’s though, it would be difficult to find a better state with more diverse habitat or more birds than Texas. Cost of a non resident turkey tag is $126 and available through https://tpwd.texas.gov/business/licenses/online_sales/. With a very liberal bag limit of 4 turkey and lots of outfitters offering turkey hunts, it’s easy to see why a spring trip to chase Texas gobblers has become so popular through the years.
