Gearing Up For The 2018 Turkey Season

The cold, snow and windy days has made the youth turkey seasons challenging for Illinois hunters this year. Gobbling has been minimal after fly down and the birds have remained flock together making for tough hunts.

As we look ahead to opening week of the season, conditions are looking to improve here in West-Central Illinois as temperatures begin to climb into the 60’s & 70’s. The birds should begin to disperse and gobbling will steadily increase as things heat up in the turkey woods.

If anything positive has come out of this cold weather it’s the fact that the bugs shouldn’t be as bad and the woods is still in the early stages of green up compared to “normal” years. This should prolong the buffalo gnats until later in the season and make for more comfortable hunts. It might make it a little harder for run and gunners at the beginning of the season as there will be less foliage to maneuver but turkeys will be able to spot your decoys from further distances. Without the foliage, hunters should be able to hear birds from longer distances as well.

Last Updated: April 9th, 2018