Fall Turkey Opener

By Mark Melotik, Executive Editor ScoutLook Weather

What’s one of the few things better than calling in a big Minnesota spring gobbler? Calling in a pair of the majestic birds, more or less simultaneously. This heart-thumping scenario played out in front of me during a recent late-April hunt in the state’s southeastern corner, near the quaint and scenic city of Houston.

All morning, at regular intervals, I had been broadcasting my three-note hen turkey calls—”yawp-yawp-yawp!”—and now, not one, but two deafening gobbles came thundering back from the steep, surrounding bluff country. Both seemed surprisingly close. Soon I glimpsed a large dark gobbler sneaking in from the right, his eyes locked on my three-decoy spread set just five yards from my portable blind. As I squirmed into position for the severe right-angled shot, my laser rangefinder showed the big tom at 36 yards—precisely where the cagey longbeard reconsidered and turned back.

Before I could feel any disappointment another loud gobble erupted behind me; in seconds I was at full draw and focused on a second gobbler circling in to the left. At the 25-yard shot the longbeard launched into flight but the loud crash behind me, just seconds later, signaled my aim had been true. And I was one very happy Minnesota turkey hunter.

Whether your weapon is bow, shotgun or crossbow, and whether your goal is a neat new experience in unfamiliar terrain, a delectable wild game dinner, or maybe adding a Midwest eastern wild turkey to your latest grand slam, Minnesota is a must-see destination for turkey hunters nationwide. An exciting new turkey hunting structure, and some impressive numbers, tell the story.

Minnesota issued 49,919 turkey permits during the 2017 spring season, including 11,249 archery permits, more than a 112-percent increase over the 5,291 issued in 2015, the result of recent expanded opportunity (which continues) that allows archers to hunt the entire season. Hunters registered a total of 11,854 turkeys during the 2017 spring hunt, which was the third-highest harvest ever recorded and above the 5-year state average of 11,442 birds. If you’re wondering, Minnesota’s turkey-hunting heyday is now.