Mainely Outdoors: Talkin’ Turkey in The County

My premier turkey hunting experience in Maine took place in 1999 and I traveled all the way down to Portland for the outing. A couple of years later, I hooked up with a guide in Jefferson so I only had to drive to Augusta for the following few spring hunts. Last May and the year before rural Bangor was my gunning site and this year — finally, I can hunt wild turkey in Aroostook.
While fishing opportunities perk up this month each year, hunting options have been limited to groundhog, coyote and crows. Add to that the notable decline of deer hunting success and regional sportsmen are in dire need of alternative shooting challenges. Like myself, a growing number of Crown of Maine outdoorsmen turned to the wily wild turkey as a spring quarry and have been traveling to mid and southern Maine or even New Hampshire or Vermont to bag a bird. Now we can hunt much closer to home.
In 1977 a group of 41 wild turkeys from Vermont were caught, transported and transplanted in southern Maine after several previously failed attempts in1986. A total of 605 anxious gobbler gunners entered the first lottery for 500 permits,—and ended up harvesting only nine birds!
Maine’s wild turkey season is 25 years old this spring; the lottery is long gone, allowing every interested sportsman to purchase a permit, there’s a youth day each season, a fall hunt was established, and now there’s even a two-bird spring bag limit. In 2008, 17,587 hunters bagged 6,348 gobblers, and with the flock prospering and staking out new territory in our region, success rates are likely to increase.
Brian Smith, the director of the National Wild Turkey Federation in New England and Atlantic Canada said, “Maine offers the highest quality hunt in New England. We have the highest success rate and the least amount of hunter interference. There so much more land here, and so much more public access. It’s not like other states.”
For most Aroostook shooters, getting into turkey hunting proves fairly simple and inexpensive since they already own much of the necessary clothing and gear. Most County outdoorsmen already own a shotgun since their enthusiastic grouse, woodcock, duck and goose hunters. Twelve gauge shotguns are the most popular for turkey, but a few sports go for the extra range and heavier load of a 10 gauge. Many youngsters and small-framed women prefer a three-inch 20 gauge and enjoy regular success. A few really adventurous sportsmen experienced in archery attempt to down a big gobbler with a bow.
Waterfowl hunters not only have shotguns but also a wide range of camouflage clothing to help them blend into the brush and homemade blinds along field edges. A camo face mask, gloves, hat and raingear are musts to hide in plain sight. Turkeys have exceptional eyesight so poorly hidden hunters will never coax a bird within range.
Veteran turkey hunters use a variety of mouth calls or hand-manipulated box or slate calls to entice gobblers, but electronic, hand shaken or automatic push-button hand calls work well for the novice. A hen turkey decoy adds not only a source for the false calling, but offers a focus for the real gobblers eyes as it approaches near the hiding hunter.
A soft camo cushion or low seat to ease hours of sitting stationary on uneven rocky ground and some camo cloth to lay out over bushes and break up the hunter’s form are big pluses. Also essential for every hunt are a compass, flashlight with fresh batteries, a sharp knife or multi-tool, and either topical insect repellant or a ThermaCELL device.
Unlike waterfowlers who must use steel or non-toxic shells, lead is still legal for turkey. I’ve experienced excellent results with three-and-a-half inche 12 gauge buffered loads of size five lead shot. These Winchester shells use special shot cups and wads to yield tight patterns, extra distance and dependable knock-down power.
Wildlife Management District (WMD) 10 and especially WMD 11 provide the best access for central Aroostook veteran or rookie turkey hunters. The northernmost border of these two zones is formed by Madagamon Road, Route 11 to Knowles Corner, Route 212 to Smyrna Mills and then Route 2 to I-95 through Houlton to the Canadian boundary. Hunters should scout along Route 2A between Linneus and Haynesville and Route 1 between Hodgdon and South Amity.
Be sure to request landowner permission and the farmers may even have tips on where they have spotted turkeys regularly. Pay close attention to pastures, cut grain fields and corn fields, especially early in the morning, and check tree lines near feed fields for roosting birds at night.
It’s turkey time right now and the season runs through early June. When deer hunting on the decline it’s great to have another wild and wary quarry in Aroostook, especially during the spring when other gunning options are so limited. By the way, the rewards don’t end with a successful hunt, wild turkey is delicious tablefare.