By season’s end, I had the legal limit of three nice toms in the freezer. With work, and family commitments to attend to, Robert hunted just long enough to acquire a fine, big longbeard. After that, he wisely called it quits for the season.

From where I sit in Northern California’s Shasta County, I’d say that turkey hunting here doesn’t get much better than it was in 2007. And there were glowing reports from several other areas as well.

But how are things shaping for the 2008 spring season? The carryover from 2005 and 2006 means there will be a good number of two- and three-year-old adult toms around.

Add in the one-year-old jake toms left over from last spring, and you should hear plenty of gobbling in the woods this year. At least that’s the gist of what the biologists, turkey guides and outdoor writers interviewed for this forecast had to say.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Randy Botta, associate wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game in the South Coast Region, had this to say about his territory in San Diego County:

“Last year, the average number of poults with individual hens was around four or five, which is slightly fewer than 2006. Still, that’s not bad, and it appears that a high percentage of the poults were recruited into the population.”

Botta noted that familiar hunting areas on the Cleveland National Forest, primarily the Palomar and Descanso Ranger Districts, are still producing birds, though the turkeys may not be quite as numerous this year.

While abundance and distribution do vary from year to year, Botta said the turkeys are actually continuing to expand their range in the region. For example, they’ve spread into portions of Riverside County and western San Diego County. Also, some turkeys are now found on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands in southern and eastern San Diego County.

Botta said that as usual, private land supports higher densities of turkeys. Hunters who gain access to such areas have greater chances for success. However, those who do their pre-hunt footwork should enjoy at least fair success on public land.

For further information on Botta’s area, call the DFG branch at (760) 751-4023.

Meanwhile, in Kern County, Don Geivet, resources manager for the huge Tejon Ranch just south of Bakersfield, said he’s seen several groups of turkeys around, including hens with a fair number of poults.

“A lot of places in Southern California suffered from dry conditions last spring,” said Geivet. “But we had some timely rainfall here in the mountains. There was plenty of water, feed and cover for the turkeys, so I expect spring hunting to be pretty darn good around here.”

The Tejon offers guided turkey hunts, as well as DFG sponsored junior hunts. Contact the Tejon Ranch Company at (661) 663-4208, or visit www.hunttejon.com

COAST RANGE TO
THE SIERRA NEVADA
It was drier than usual in the central part of the state, just like it was just about everywhere else last spring. But turkeys remain abundant throughout the region. However, there are some minor ups and downs to take note of.