TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
I scratch the wand across the slate call, and almost instantaneously, the tom turkey responds with a thundering gobble. For 30 minutes, we played a cat-and-mouse game of call and response. He gets closer each time. Now, he’s 15 yards away. We are eye to eye. In the shade, turkeys look dark and drab. In the sunlight, however, they shine with an iridescence not seen in many other Texas critters. Here in the early morning sunlight of the Texas Rolling Plains, this big ol’ tom is a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colors as the light hits from various angles. When he steps from behind a mesquite tree, he’s in full strut. His feathers are puffed, and his bright red head is tucked into them. He fans his tail and drags his wings across the ground to make a noise that sounds like a long, resounding crunch. He’s giving it his all to impress an unseen hen. For fun, I scratch the call one last time to make him gobble. The noise and the scene are making my heart race.
Turkey hunting may be the most interactive type of hunting in Texas, as it happens in close quarters and at eye level. From the first moment I saw a turkey up close, I was hooked. In hunting circles across Texas, turkeys may not always get top billing. Those who pursue the challenging bird will tell you there may not be a better hunt than a turkey hunt. The birds are wary and have excellent eyesight, helping them evade hunters. If turkeys had a good sense of smell, it would be nearly impossible to harvest one. TURKEYS OF TEXAS While the term “turkey” is generally used to describe the bird now found in 223 of Texas’ 254 counties, three subspecies of turkeys occur in the state. Regardless of the different subspecies, it wasn’t too long ago that turkeys in Texas were rare. Overhunted to near oblivion, turkey populations were at critical levels around the turn of the century. Turkey numbers have eventually increased thanks to trap-and-transport programs, and permanent populations have taken hold.
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