Northwest turkey hunters, including those in Klickitat County, might want to consider themselves lucky.
Unlike in the eastern U.S. where turkey numbers have plummeted and states are thinking about reducing seasons and bag limits, turkeys here are doing just fine according to Stephanie Bergh, the WDFW District 9 wildlife biologist.
“We’re still looking good here,” Bergh said. “We don’t monitor turkeys, so I don’t have data, but anecdotally we haven’t noticed any major changes.”
Wild turkey hunting opens Saturday statewide, and runs through May 31.
Bergh reported that last year’s snowy spring may have hurt nesting success, but that the wet conditions provided plenty of forage through late spring for young turkeys that did survive. That should have offset any losses.
“The April snow storms were kind of a mixed bag. But the snow did not stick around for long,” she said.
While last year’s hatch will provide opportunities for jakes, which are immature males, most hunters will be looking for mature toms that are two to five years old. Jakes do comprise some of the harvest, and they are easier to call in.
Spring turkey hunting involves using hen calls to draw the tom turkeys into range. While the rules do allow hunters to take bearded hens, which are rare, un-bearded hens are illegal to harvest.
Conditions this spring have been very similar to last year, with lots of late snow and cold, and weather forecasts for the start of the season are not optimal.
Still, the birds will be active regardless of the weather, and hunters that stick it out in the wet could be rewarded.
The daily limit is one bearded turkey, and hunters may take two in a season. Turkey travel tags not filled in the spring are good for the fall seasons.
Timber lands change hands
Some turkey hunters in southwest Washington were surprised last year by changes to private timberlands access.
Hunters scouting pre-season, or showing up on opening day found some formerly open-to-hunting private timberlands had been closed because of a large land sale.
In 2021, SDS Lumber, which held extensive holdings in Washington and Oregon, had sold most of its holdings in both states to other companies, and many of these lands were closed for timber harvest operations last spring.
Hunters hoping those lands would open again this year may be disappointed. If they were closed last year, they are probably going to remain closed through this year.
The sales included two mills in Bingen as well as the timber properties. Twin Creeks Timber LLC acquired 61,000 acres of the former SDS timberlands. These will be managed by the Green Diamond Management Company.
The Conservation Fund purchased 35,000 acres and will work with local partners to conserve these lands for recreation and conservation.
The firm of Wilkins, Kaiser, and Olsen Incorporated (WKO) has acquired and will assume the mill operations.
The Conservation Fund, in the sale announcement, reports that: “Its purchase provides time to fund raise, develop and implement a range of permanent conservation strategies with local partners that will seek to secure public recreational access, ensure sustainable timber harvesting, and preserve the natural, climate and community values of the land.”
The Green Diamond managed lands will be open for non-motorized recreational activities, including hunting, but they may close areas as needed for logging operations.
Green Diamond properties in the Snowden Road area, northeast of White Salmon, are currently part of the Snowden closure.
These have been good turkey hunting areas in the past, and they drew plenty of hunters. However, with those lands closed for timber harvest, more hunters were pushed onto the remaining public access lands in the area, with the result of putting extra hunting pressure on those properties.
Klickitat County is home to a patchwork of properties that includes Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Washington State Department of Natural Resource lands, as well as others.
It remains to be seen if these closed timber properties, which are being logged heavily, will still have the habitat to attract turkeys once those operations are completed.
Large swaths of mature timber are being harvested, leaving uncertainty as to whether the birds will find enough habitat to stick around.
Hunters headed to the area this season might want to reconsider, given the crowding that resulted from the closures last year, and the prospect of high pressure again this year.
Always check the regulations before hunting, and be sure to avoid crossing onto private property.
The Conservation Fund has published an online map that shows the land ownership in the Gorge and Klickitat County.
The map displays not only the lands managed by Green Diamond and the Conservation Fund, but it also includes federal, state, and local government lands open to the public.
