CROSS TIMBERS
My friend Ronnie Parsons hunts a sprawling ranch at the western edge of the Cross Timbers region. He spends lots of time on the ranch in the spring and summer. Most years he sees lots of turkeys, but in spring and summer 2006 his report was grim.

“I have seen zero turkey poults this year,” he said. “I think the drought conditions that existed all summer on our ranch caused the turkey hatch to be essentially zero. In the months of June, July and August 2006, we only had .04 inches of rain. I would estimate that the existing turkey population is down about 15 percent from last year. The 2007 spring season will be down from last year because of die-off and predation.”

Blake Hortenstine, a wildlife manager who oversees more than 20,000 acres in Shackelford and Stephens counties, also shared his thoughts on the 2006 turkey crop. “On the large ranch I manage in Shackelford County, I don’t remember seeing any poults this past summer,” he reported. “It was very dry. That ranch still has a large population of adult birds, so spring hunting should still be good in 2007, but there won’t be much recruitment of young birds. On the Stephens County property we saw just a few poults, but it was also very dry during the nesting period.”

Judging from those two experts’ observations, the prospects for young turkeys is poor, but there should be enough 2- and 3-year-old gobblers to keep things interesting. Some of my best-ever spring hunts have taken place in counties in the western half of this region like Shackelford, Tom Green and Irion.

EDWARDS PLATEAU
The year was 1986. Early in the morning, I sat armed with a scoped rifle in a tower blind, taking on the role of a sniper, and, from that elevated vantage point, downed a gobbler strutting in the distance. It wasn’t quite the close encounter with longbeards bagged at bow or shotgun range that I’ve come to crave these days, but that McCulloch County tom will always be memorable -- because he was my first.

Twenty-plus years have elapsed since that hunt took place, and this region of the state is still a hotspot for great turkey hunting. Year after year, the Edwards Plateau region of Texas is home to thousands of turkeys and, combined with the Cross Timbers region, it’s home to the majority of spring turkey hunters. I asked Max Traweek, TPWD biologist in Kerrville, for his thoughts on the upcoming spring season.

“Due to the 2006 drought, very few turkey poults were raised in most of the Hill Country this past summer. There should be adequate brood stock available in all areas, though, and turkey populations have the potential to bounce back dramatically given good range conditions during future years. Although hunting could be tough during the 2007 spring season due to a lack of yearling birds, the traditional winter roost areas and those tracts nearby should have plenty of turkey action this coming spring.

The 2007 spring season should be OK for birds 3 and older, thanks to timely rains from 2002 through 2004. Fewer jakes will be in the mix, and that could make hunting a bit tougher, as you’ll have to out- smart older birds.