There is still dip in the bowl from the Superbowl Party, but it is time to start thinking about Turkey in Kentucky. It is coming up on eight weeks to go before the start of Kentucky’s Spring Gobbler Season.

It is about this time when I start looking for a day with a high temp of 50F or higher and no rain. That is solely for my comfort. The turkeys could care less. That is when I return to camp and go out scouting for the first time. I’ve already missed a couple such days that happened in January, but I was busy with other stuff in town. This year, I doubt we will have any thing like that until March, but mid-February is usually when I start looking hard.

Ammunition should be up on the shelves. Really, December and January are the better times to go looking for turkey ammo on the web. However, learn to anticipate the rush. I’m still well supplied, with turkey ammo, but I found some 16 Gauge squirrel loads on sale.

March 1 is when the 2025 licenses go on sale. In case you need it, here is the Kentucky site:

Scouting

Back when I was pro-staffing at Turkey and Turkey Hunting, a lot of guys were of the opinion that scouting before season was not a good idea. I differed from them; I had been doing it long enough before I heard it was a bad idea, that I knew something about it. As y’all know, I try to go out before season and record material for my podcasts. Here is what I’ve learned.

I try to be as unintrusive as possible. I go out well before what would be legal hunting and sit quietly. I may only 50 yards from a roost, but they never see me. Normally, I try and stay well back. I’m not trying to see turkeys. I just want to hear them. Mostly, I’m marking size of the flock and comparing to previous years. I have been on the property for a quarter century, and a lot of these birds’ habits have not changed since my first season. Kentucky does not allow calling before season, but I would not recommend it anyway.

What about bumping birds? Most years, the pre-season comes and goes and the worst that has happened is coming around the side of the house and frightening a few hens out in the field. However, I have been out on the property and encountered birds. Surprisingly, the more this has happened in a given year, the better the season has been. I have run into flocks out hiking, and I have plopped down in the dark and found myself in the middle of the late-winter mega-flock when the light came up. I ended up spooking dozens of birds, but I ended up filling both my tags that year. None of this incidental contact in March has been of detriment to my success in April.

The one thing I would advise against is repeatedly allowing turkeys to bust you on your scouting trips, especially near the set-ups you intend to hunt. Turkeys will remember places where they have encountered predators and learn to shy away from them. Hens will teach poults. However, I have to say this can only go so far. Turkeys have been busting me around the farm since the first fall, and they still are in abundance on my property and that of the neighbors. If they were that skittish, they’d have run off ages ago.

Weather

By now, I’m starting to watch the weather. I don’t believe any forecast that can predict what is going to happen as far out as The Opener at this point, but I can believe general climate predictions. The USGS is predicting this to be a La Nina kind of year, and the forecast reflects that:

I would recommend any turkey hunter to be familiar with the terms La Nina, El Nino, and the ENSO cycle.

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/how-el-ni%C3%B1o-and-la-ni%C3%B1a-affect-winter-jet-stream-and-us-climate

The bottom line: This year is going to be warmer and wetter than average. The easiest way to interpret ENSO data is to look at this chart:

Think back to years listed in this chart. This year’s La Nina episode is weak to moderate and will weaken more as the spring progresses. The weather you encounter this turkey season will probably match the conditions of previous years with similar ENSO ratings. Remember that the ENSO events usually start in the previous fall and continue through the winter.

Shotgun Patterning

It used to be that I would run a few rounds through my shotgun before season, but I have not changed loads since 1996 and I was always dead-on at 40 yards. I stopped doing it. Not everyone is that sanguine, and some folks just need to push the envelope. Hence, this is the opening of Sighting-In season. I see guys burn $300-600 a year on chokes and ammo trying to squeeze the best out of their equipment. Personally, I don’t like the punishment to my shoulder.

What do I use to sight-in? I use something like this printed off on standard copier paper:

I disagree with the bullseye. The point of aim should be at the base of the neck. However, I’m not picky. I use a cardboard backing, tape a sheet of newspaper over that to see the whole spread and then paste one of these targets over the newspaper. I attach it to an old forsale sign frame.

Here are pics from 2022, the last time I sighted in.

Notice, I’m sitting in roughly the same position as when I hunt. There are two reasons for this. You want your cheek weld and all that to match your actual hunting stance. Secondly, the last thing I want to do is experience the recoil of this gun and this load from the prone position or from the bench. This load is comparable to a .416 Rigby elephant gun. Standing or sitting, the recoil kind of rocks you back gently, so it is far more comfortable.

Gear

Now is the time to get out in your gear and make sure everything is jake. Do not wait for the opener to find your jacket is too thick to get a good sight picture. Get the rips stitched. Replace a worn boot lace– keep the old one for a turkey tote. Get it all in one sock. I try and have an all-up dress rehearsal about this time of year to make sure everything works and fits.

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