As a Michigan resident, I know it’s hard to imagine in less than 65 days some of us will be listening to a Tom gobbling his face off in a tree on a nice 55 degree morning. In mid-February, the cold wind is slapping you on the side of the face with such a bitterness it makes your eyes water and face sting, so even picturing a green background with relatively warmer temps kind of irritates you because it seems like such a dream. I assure you though, those days are not far off.
I look forward to Turkey season every year, not just because I get a huge thrill out of calling in a gobbler, but because it signifies a change in season; warmer temps, happier people and the thought that summer days are right around the corner. As a Michigan hunter though, sometimes those days are short lived because we live in a state where we are only granted one turkey tag. Depending on the tag you buy, your Michigan turkey season lasts anywhere from one week to six weeks, but some of us are “lucky” enough to harvest a turkey on one of the first hunts of the year. The feeling of pure joy and accomplishment is shortly followed by the sad feeling of finalization. Two hunts, your season is over, and now it’s time to wait 12 months before you can do it all over again. Let me tell you though, IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. Fill your Michigan tag, then hit the road for a long weekend or two and fill another tag in a state nearby!
My buddy Tommy killed this Jake on our first evening in Tennessee last year. In Tennessee, you can kill three bearded turkey’s in a season so Tommy didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on this Jake on our 3 day hunt. Tennessee’s season also begins the first week of April, so we were able to kick off our season a couple weeks early!
The majority of the hunters, especially Michigan hunters, that I know love to take their whitetail talents out of state each and every year for the sheer adventure and to try to notch a tag on a big whitetail or some other big game animal in a region or landscape that isn’t as familiar as the one back home. I also know a lot of turkey hunters here in Michigan, but for some reason very few of them leave the state of Michigan to notch a turkey tag on an annual basis. If you really love to turkey hunting, I don’t know what you have to lose testing your metal against a thunder chicken that doesn’t call the great state of Michigan home.
First of all, the cost of a nonresident turkey tag doesn’t bite the bank account has hard as most nonresident deer tags. Our friendly neighbor Indiana? $175. Want to go further south to Kentucky or Tennessee? $85 in Kentucky, $215 for a seven day license in the volunteer state. Our other not-so-friendly neighbor Ohio has an annual nonresident hunting license fee of $180 plus $38 for the turkey tag. A bit steep, but if you’re going back there to whitetail hunt this fall (I’ll touch more on that soon), you already paid your annual license fee, you just have to fork over $77 for your deer tag. If those gorgeous white tip tail feathers have you intrigued and you want to go hunt a Merriam this spring, drive to Nebraska and your turkey tag is only $128! I’ve written articles about how to keep your nonresident deer hunting budget relatively low, but I don’t feel the need to do that with nonresident turkey hunting. Hop in your vehicle with a buddy, camp or stay a couple nights in a cheap motel, buy a turkey tag, each cheap food and do any of these trips for less than $500!
Secondly, hunting these crazy birds somewhere other than your home state extends your relatively short season. Like I mentioned before, your turkey season might only last a day or two in Michigan, so plan a nonresident hunt that extends your season and gives you more time to enjoy listening to the spring woods wake up and Tom’s gobble at you from 60 feet up as you wait patiently for them to leave the roost. Furthermore, a lot of the states I mentioned above like Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee also allow you to kill more than one bird, so if you’re lucky enough to notch a tag on your first morning of your out of state turkey hunt you aren’t done like you would be in Michigan! Get up and do it all over again the next day! On top of that, when doing your research while planning your out of state turkey hunt, make sure to look up season dates because some states open up well before Michigan, which would allow you to have the choice to extend your season on the front end before Michigan opens up. Last year, my buddy and I chose to get our season kicked off early and went down to my aunt and uncles farm in central Tennessee the first week of April. It was a riot. Everything was already green, the temperature was warm, and we were able to hunt three weeks earlier than we were used to!
Last year I killed this bird in Michigan on one of the first evenings of the season. Don’t let the joy of notching your tag on a bird become a feeling of finalization that your season is over; Hit the road and hunt gobblers in a new state this year!
Lastly, I have to include my whitetail snippet before I wrap it up. If you plan on going on an out of state whitetail hunt this fall and already have your state picked out, GO TURKEY HUNTING THERE THIS SPRING! Obviously check and make sure you can buy an over the counter turkey tag at that specific state before you plan a turkey hunt, but I’m guessing a lot of you already have a scouting trip planned for this spring to the state you are going to hunt this fall. I don’t know about you, but scouting sounds a lot more fun when you combine it with hunting a gobbler! Turkey hunting an area can actually give you a lot of knowledge on how deer are using the area as well. While trying to track down a gobbler, pay attention to deer travel routes, transition areas, food sources, and you might even stumble into a few sheds! How awesome would it be to come home from your scouting/turkey hunting trip with a few sheds and a long beard?!
If you’re a turkey hunter, I just don’t know what you have to lose by giving yourself a chance to kill more than one long beard this year and enjoying the adventure of an out of state hunt! You still have a couple months to plan, so THIS YEAR, don’t let yourself come to the realization that your turkey season is over as soon as you fill that Michigan tag. Hunting adventures are out there in the spring too; take advantage of the opportunity and go chase down a thunder chicken somewhere other than your back forty!