Hunters who plan to take advantage of the upcoming spring turkey season have a good chance of bagging a gobbler thanks to a wetter and milder-than-normal winter.

“If you overlook the freeze we had, it’s been fairly warm,” Jason Hardin, wild turkey program leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), said. “We’ve had better rainfall than what we had last year. We already see parts of Texas starting to green up, which will help hens get in good physical condition going into the nesting season and hopefully get the breeding season to start off early. That also bodes well for the hunting season.”

Wild turkey production was down last year, so there won’t be many juvenile birds on the landscape this year.

That means we won’t have those two-year-old birds during the 2024 hunting season, but we do have quite a few two-year-old birds out there. Not having those jakes and jennies could actually make hunting a little bit better because the juvenile hens don’t typically put in a lot of nesting effort, so they’re out there in the landscape distracting gobblers. You ought to have a lot more opportunity for harvest.

The hunting forecast could change if drought conditions return or worsen as the spring turkey season approaches.

As long as we can continue to get timely rainfall events, just enough to keep some soil moisture and keep things green.

Turkey hunting is expected to be better in areas with riparian habitats in the Rio Grande turkey range.

We’ve seen a decline in the population along the eastern panhandle in Texas and parts of the Trans-Pecos, but in general, if you’re in the Rio Grande turkey range, you ought to be in pretty good shape.

The Texas Hill Country typically has some of the highest turkey harvest rates in the state and the largest number of hunters.

That’s probably the best landscape to go and get a bird, but there’s phenomenal hunting across South Texas, the Cross Timbers and the Rolling Plains.

During the spring turkey season, hunters can harvest Eastern turkeys.

There are a handful of counties in East Texas with an open season—those northeast Texas counties along the Red River from Grayson, Fannin, Red River and Lamar. Those counties have a handful of birds with Red River and Grayson probably having the highest density of birds in northeast Texas.

In southeast Texas, Polk, Nacogdoches, Sabine and Jasper counties have better chances of bagging an Eastern turkey.

Sabine and Newton counties are probably the best counties in southeast Texas to take a bird.

Because hunters can take Rio Grande and Eastern turkeys in the spring, and there can be some confusion, hunters should tag their bird based on what county they’re hunting in.

If you’re hunting in a county that’s designated as an Eastern turkey county, that’s the tag you use. Just pay attention to the county you’re in. Look at the Outdoor Annual app. It will be organized as either a Rio Grande or an Eastern county.

TPWD designates the following as Eastern turkey counties: Bowie, Cass, Fannin, Grayson, Jasper, Lamar, Marion, Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk, Red River and Sabine.

All Eastern turkey harvests, and turkeys taken in counties with a one-bird bag limit, must be reported via the My Texas Hunt Harvest app or website within 24 hours of harvest.

The following are spring one-gobbler counties: Bastrop, Caldwell, Colorado, Fayette, Jackson, Lavaca, Lee, Milam, Wharton and Matagorda.

There were no changes to turkey hunting regulations this year, but hunters are reminded turkey bag limits are an annual limit and not a per-season limit.

There are some counties that have a one bird bag and some counties with up to a four-bird bag. If you shot a bird or two during the fall, you would only have so many tags remaining for the spring. It is an annual bag limit.

Although it’s not a regulation change, some hunters may be trying something new when turkey hunting this year.

We did allow for digital tags this year. If you bought your super combo online, you had the option to choose to go tagless—essentially not having your typical or traditional hunting license in your pocket. It’s on your phone. If you harvest a bird and you do have that digital license, you will need to report your harvest via the app, and you’ll get a confirmation number showing that you reported that bird. Put that on some sort of a tag or a piece of duct tape or something to put it on the animal.

Spring turkey hunting season in the Rio Grande South Zone is March 18-April 30.

The season in the Rio Grande North Zone is April 1-May 14.

The Rio Grande Special 1 Turkey Bag Limit season is April 1-30.

The Eastern turkey hunting season is April 22-May 14.

A valid Texas hunting license and Upland Game Bird Endorsement are required to hunt turkeys.

All of this year’s regulations are available on OutdoorAnnual.com and via the Outdoor Annual app.

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CENTRAL TEXAS PECAN SHORT COURSE

The annual Central Texas Pecan Program will be conducted by the Texas AgriLife Extension Office in Mills County on Thursday, March 30th at the Mills County Civic Center at 1103 Cline St. in Goldthwaite. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the program will begin at 9:00 a.m. concluding at 2:30 p.m.

Topics and speakers will include:

• Pesticide Laws & Regulations, Mr. Scott Anderson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, CEA-AG/NR, Brown County.

• Pecan Varieties, Monte Nesbitt, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Program Specialist, College Station.

• Pecan Aphids, Monte Nesbitt, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Specialist, College Station.

• Am I a Failed Grower, or Do Things Just Happen, Dr. Larry Stein, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, College Station

• General Pecan IPM, Greg Wilson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Extension Entomologist, San Angelo

A total of 3 Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) will be offered for individuals with a Private Pesticide Applicators License. These will include 2 IPM, & 1 Laws & Regulations. The cost for this year’s program is $35.00 and includes a noon lunch. If you plan on attending, please RSVP by March 26th. Contact the Mills County Extension office at 325-648-2650, or email [email protected].

*I am currently the only one in the office right now so if you call to register, please leave a message.