Central Iowa offers turkey hunters the large acreages associated with Lake Red Rock south of Des Moines and Saylorville Lake on the city’s northern border. Timbers closest to the city experience the greatest hunting pressure, but hunters who make the effort to walk the woods north of the state Route 210 bridge between Madrid and Woodward, along the Des Moines River south, west and north of Boone, will see less competition for birds than hunters who stay close to town.

The Des Moines River valley provides prime turkey territory throughout its length. In north-central Iowa, the Boone Forks WMA near Stratford offers 3,210 acres of upland and timber that hold healthy turkey populations. Hunters who scout the fingers of timber that wind away from the main stand may be surprised at the number of turkeys that explore these smaller areas.

Gosselink, Thompson, Chafa and Creery all emphasized that any hunter in Iowa who knows of a tract of timber larger than 10 acres is looking at potential turkey habitat.

“I grew up in Grundy County,” said Creery, “and once swore that there would never be turkeys in that county because everything is farmed. But friends tell me that they’ve seen turkeys there in some of the brushy strips along little creeks . . . . At some point during the year you can find turkeys just about anywhere in Iowa.”

BUCKSHOT OR BOW
Most hunters take their turkeys by means of shotguns, but Gosselink has noticed a substantial increase in the number of bowhunters pursuing gobblers. “We started keeping tabs on bowhunting in 2001 and had 2,000 hunters get bowhunting turkey licenses,” he said. “In 2007 we had more than 5,000 hunters buy bowhunting licenses.

“I think that some of our hunters are looking for a new challenge. And getting a turkey with a bow is definitely a challenge. You’ve got the challenge of getting them close enough to kill with an arrow, plus the challenge of hitting them in a part of their body that’s not pretty much armored with feathers. If you take a turkey with a bow and arrow, you’ve accomplished something.”

An advantage of hunting turkeys with bow and arrow is that bowhunters can hunt all four of the spring turkey hunting seasons in Iowa, starting on April 14 and ending on May 18. Shotgun hunters must choose one of Iowa’s four distinct spring seasons during the same time frame. The 2008 Youth Turkey Hunting Season, for hunters younger than 16 who hunt in the company of a licensed adult hunter, is the weekend of April 11-13. Regardless of weaponry, Gosselink says he’s noticed a trend among hunters who can’t get enough turkey hunting in general.

“They’re in it for the experience of being in the woods, the challenge of calling and working a gobbler close,” he said. “Guys get both a shotgun and bow license, get their birds, then go back into the woods with a friend and do the calling while the other guy does the shooting. They just plain enjoy turkey hunting whether they get to kill a bird or not.”

Fortunately for fantail fanatics, Iowa’s “average” turkey hunting prospects for the 2008 spring hunting seasons promise plenty of birds wherever in Iowa there’s enough trees to roost turkeys; it’s just a matter of finding the birds and calling them close enough so you can tag ‘em and take ‘em home!