In January 2006, Parks and Wildlife biologists trapped 15 gobblers and 34 hens off private property in Jack County and released them on 2,000 acres of undeveloped land south of the Lake Lewisville dam. Most of the birds seemed to have survived and are doing well.

On the other side of the state, the introduction in the mid-1980s of eastern subspecies turkeys in the Pineywoods of East Texas has succeeded in reestablishing the bird in an area where it formerly roamed. With money generated through hunting license and turkey stamp sales, and with assistance from the National Wild Turkey Federation, more than 7,000 eastern turkeys were trapped in other states and released in the tall timber country.

Additional releases have continued over the years, though they have been of varying success. The TPWD has partnered with Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches to use radiotelemetry devices to track the movement of eastern turkeys. The goal is to learn more about their preferred habitat and management practices.

In recent years, the annual spring harvest has been some 500 eastern gobblers. This spring may not be the best of springs for this subspecies in Texas, but at least there is a season. While the hunting is not likely to be spectacular, the season will be far from disastrous, Schwertner said.

For one thing, prescribed burning on forest land -- made possible by the settlement of long-pending litigation -- has helped to produce better habitat, and that will help the hunting in the long run.

But the drought-busting rains over most of the state didn’t have much impact on normally rainy East Texas. “The easterns don’t respond as readily to high rain,” Schwertner said. “And if it’s too wet, there can be some suppression of production.”

In South Texas, Circle T Ranch biologist Darrell White reported, hunters harvested seven gobblers in the spring of ‘07.

“If a hunter’s experienced, we just assign him a pasture,” White said. “If they are new to turkey hunting, I’ll take them out and do the calling.”

According to White, who prefers using a box call, the good thing about his part of Texas is that it doesn’t get much hunting pressure. That’s not to say it doesn’t have birds, but hunters tend to flock toward the “birdier” central corridor of the state.

No matter the satisfaction felt by seven spring turkey hunters on the ranch he helps manage, White did not consider last year a very good turkey season in his part of the state.

That’s because of a persistent drought, which did not start to break until about turkey season last year.

“In a drought cycle, you don’t have high success rate with the poults,” he said. “It really takes two years to recover. The first year after, you get jakes. The second year you start getting some good gobblers.”

Because of the wet spring, he continued, his part of Texas enjoyed a good May-July hatch last year. This spring should be a good one for jakes, the spring of ‘09 a good year for mature gobblers.

Indeed, Schwertner said, Texas will be set up for several more years of good turkey hunting if the state sees another wet spring this year.

“Of course,” he concluded with a chuckle, “even an average year in Texas is a really good year for turkeys.”

Mark your calendar.