MIKE BRAUN Spring turkey seasons near

The spring wild turkey season begins later this month in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
There probably will be from a quarter- to a half-million hunters fanning out across both states during the two-week season in Ohio and the four-week season in the Keystone State.
Both states have seen the hunting opportunities for wild turkey explode over the past 20 or so years. Harvest figures for both states have been at near-record levels for many consecutive years after their respective reintroduction efforts.
For example, in Pennsylvania, the first modern-day wild turkey season was held in 1968 and some 1,600 gobblers were harvested during the six-day hunting period. In 1999, hunters during the state's spring season harvested 36,000 wild turkeys. A wet spring depressed figures for 2000, but hunters still managed to harvest a respectable 33,000 gobblers. In fact, since 1995, state figures show harvests of at least 30,000 turkeys each year. This year promises to bring similar if not even higher results, Pennsylvania game experts have said.
"Even though a wet spring in many areas of the state last year may have negatively impacted reproduction, wild turkey populations were at record-high levels last summer," Mary Jo Casalena, wild turkey biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said in a recent press release. "A relatively light fall 2000 harvest, followed by negligible winter losses -- a result of last fall's good mast crop and an average winter -- all add up to a spring gobbler season that will really be something special this year."
Smart bird: The wild turkey is ranked among the most wily and difficult to bag of the big-game animals in either state.
Unlike their pitifully stupid domesticated cousins, the wild turkey has keen eyesight and will turn and high-tail it out of an area at the slightest provocation.
For this reason is behooves hunters to be prepared before the season begins and to become as proficient as possible at turkey calling.
Preparation means scouting hunting areas before the season looking for signs of flocks and finding areas where you can safely hunker down while calling.
Take precaution: The following safety tip from the National Wild Turkey Federation is important to remember: Defensive hunting tactics are a key part of being a safe hunter. Set up against a stump, tree trunk or rock wider than your shoulders. This will prevent a hunter from walking up behind you and detecting movement that could be mistaken for a bird.
There are also many types and brands of turkey calls on the market that attempt to reproduce one of the dozen or so sounds the wild turkey makes. It isn't easy to become proficient at all of these calls, from putts, clucks, and yelps, to kee-kee runs, purrs and gobbles, and all have their own individual and distinctive purposes.
Seek instruction: One of the best ways to become proficient is to find an older, more experienced turkey hunter and get some instruction. Meetings or banquets of local chapters of the National Wild Turkey Federation would be a great place to start -- Youngstown Long Beards Chapter NWTF, (330) 747-0959; Beaver Valley Longbeards NWTF chapter, (330) 426-6644.
Other NWTF tips to remember, whether you are a first-time or experienced turkey hunter, include:
UTake your time in identifying your target -- do not shoot at an assumed turkey. Make sure that what you are shooting at is indeed a wild turkey and not another hunter or other illegal-to-hunt animal.
UDon't wear red, blue or white clothing, including socks made visible while sitting. All these colors are on the wild turkey's head and you could be mistaken for the large game bird by another hunter.
UIf another hunter approaches your calling site, keep seated but make sure he or she knows you are there by calling out loudly and clearly or coughing.
At the very least, follow all safety rules to ensure you have a safe as well as productive spring wild turkey season.