The lesson is a simple one: Hunters shouldn’t overlook small patches of timber standing along water sources and farmland.

“It’s not unusual to see a flock living in a little 3-acre patch of timber along a creek in central or east-central Iowa,” Gosselink said. “They follow the creeks, exploring, looking for food, and as long as there are enough trees for them to feel comfortable when they roost, they can set up a long ways from the nearest big timber.”

Hunters who choose to scout and find turkeys in isolated patches of woods need to develop a “milk run” of such small timbers.

“The advantage to hunting those small timbers is that you’ll probably have them all to yourself,” said Gosselink. “Plus, there’s probably one main feeding area, so your chances are good for predicting their movements and setting up in the right place.” The disadvantage, Gosselink noted, is that smaller timber stands are likely to hold only one or two toms, and they can be difficult to hunt. If the birds bust you, you’re probably done with that patch of timber for the day.

Tim Thompson, an IDNR wildlife management biologist in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area, said areas managed by county conservation boards are prime places to target turkeys.

“County conservation board areas are often better (for) turkey hunting than people think,” he said. “They’re well-managed, usually have enough timber to be attractive to turkeys and often get overlooked by hunters who assume that such small timbers wouldn’t be worth hunting.”

Thompson encouraged hunters to explore and scout “unconventional” habitat when preparing to hunt turkeys in Iowa.

“Turkeys have expanded all across the state into some habitats that we never thought they’d use,” he said. “For example, I got called last spring to go to the fourth floor of Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids to check out a report that a hen turkey was living on the roof. She spent a couple weeks up there. Who knows what she was thinking, but that’s where she wanted to be.

“We hear about a lot of turkeys in urban areas, get complaints that they’re sitting on people’s decks and eating out of bird feeders. A hunter might be surprised at the number of turkeys he might find if he made friends with some of the people who have wooded acreages on the outskirts of towns.”

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE POSSIBILITIES
Many turkey hunters resist hunting small timbers, urban borders and county conservation board areas, preferring to target their turkeys in traditional big timbers. Those hunters have plenty of public and private options in Iowa.

Last year, the IDNR ended its longstanding policy of holding three of our largest state forests as separate turkey hunting zones that required specific licenses. Yellow River, Stephens and Shimek state forests in northeast, southeast and south-central Iowa, respectively, are now open to any hunter possessing a valid Iowa turkey-hunting license. The change in regulations, however, has yet to substantially increase the turkey hunting pressure on the three forests.