Spring Turkey Hunters Enjoy Decade High Success

Washburn's Outdoor Journal / June 4, 2016

Photography courtesy of Lowell Washburn, all rights reserved.

Iowa turkey hunters harvested 12,173 gobblers during this year’s five-part spring hunting season which ended May 22. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the harvest represents the largest number of spring turkeys bagged since hunters were first required to report their harvest beginning in 2007. Nearly 51,000 licenses were issued for the 2016 spring seasons.

Hunters enjoyed their greatest success in the timber rich counties adjacent to the Upper Mississippi River and in counties along southern Iowa’s Missouri border. The highest harvest occurred in extreme northeastern Iowa where 410 gobblers were reported from Allamakee County and 583 gobblers reported from Clayton County. Wild turkeys were bagged in private and public woodland areas statewide; Grundy County was the only Iowa county reporting no [zero] harvest.

Hunters in Cerro Gordo County reported a harvest of 117 gobblers; the highest bag for North Central Iowa. A bag of 102 birds was reported from Worth County, 54 gobblers from Winnebago County, and 30 from Hancock County.

In spite of their apparent abundance, wild turkeys remain Iowa’s most wary and challenging game species. During the past ten years, less than one in four hunters has been successful in bringing home a turkey dinner.

LW

About The Author

Lowell Washburn

Born in North Central Iowa, Lowell Washburn has enjoyed a lifelong interest in the out of doors. He began photographing wild birds at age 10, and outdoor photography soon became his passion and eventually a career. Washburn is best known for images that portray migratory waterfowl and other wetland wildlife in their natural habitats. His best photographs are often obtained after spending hours floating amid natural marshlands, half submerged within the dark confines of a floating muskrat house blind. Upon completing military service as a sergeant with the Fourth Infantry Division in the central highlands of South Vietnam, Washburn returned to Iowa in 1970. His wildlife photos began appearing in Iowa newspapers in 1971 and he began authoring outdoor news columns in 1978. Today, his photos and writing have appeared in over 50 national and international magazines including Outdoor Life, International Wildlife, Field&Stream, Ducks Unlimited, Pointing Dog Journal, the NAFA Journal, and others. After working as a naturalist for Iowa’s county conservation board system, Washburn was recruited by the Department of Natural Resources in 1984. His primary duties included statewide communication with Iowa newspaper, television, and radio news agencies with a primary goal of increasing the level of public awareness and appreciation for Iowa's natural resources. During his tenure he also served as staff member for the Iowa Conservationist Magazine and for the DNR’s Iowa Outdoors Magazine. Washburn retired from the DNR in 2010. In addition to wildlife photography, his ongoing outdoor passions include falconry, traditional bow hunting, waterfowling, spending time with hunting dogs of all types, and herpetology.

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