IOWA SPRING TURKEY HUNTING OUTLOOK
English: Iowa Department of Natural Resources logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) By Joe Wilkinson Iowa Department of Natural Resources Spring turkey hunters in Iowa should notice more birds. Dry conditions in 2012 meant a better hatch and first year of growth for poults. As about 45,000 hunters head to the woods through April and May, that can’t hurt their chances of taking a gobbler. “Across the state, we had about a 25 percent increase. North central and northeast Iowa had great increases in reproduction,” notes DNR forest research biologist Todd Gosselink. East central and southwest Iowa showed healthy increases, too…though with fewer overall sightings. Poults with hens, sighted by DNR field staff and other cooperators during the late summer, together with fall bowhunter observations, and eventual harvest of year old ‘jakes’ the next spring help formulate Iowa’s hatch and brood success index. Iowa’s turkey season opens with the April 6-14 youth season. The regular seasons fall in l...