Outdoors: Time of the year to prepare for turkey | Spartanburg, South Carolina | GoUpstate.com | Spartanburg Herald-Journal

By JIM CASADA

For the Herald-Journal

The mixture of unseasonable warmth and bitter cold of recent weeks may have area sportsmen shaking their heads in dismay as they find themselves dreaming of spring one day and caught in the cold clutches of cabin fever the next. On the other hand, the first hints of scarlet on maple buds, japonicas in bloom, daffodils showing foliage, and dogwood buds beginning to swell leave no doubt that ever-returning spring will, once again, come.

As this week’s column suggests, this is a good time of year to begin preparation for the arrival of turkey season two months down the road. The next few weeks are also a fine time to catch a trophy bass. As days lengthen and waters begin to warm, albeit slowly, largemouth shake off the lethargy of winter. Small farm ponds warm first, and later this month and in March is the best of all times to seek lunkers in their waters.

Those days featuring April-like weather are enough to make any dyed-in-the-wool turkey hunter forget what my Grandpa Joe called “the miseries” and begin thinking of the upcoming season. Similarly, lengthening days and gradually warming waters, especially in farm ponds, stir spawning urges in fish and longings to wet a line in anglers.

With those thoughts in mind, let’s look at the turkey-hunting side of this special time of the year. Numerous preparatory steps should be taken by every serious turkey hunter, and they should come weeks in advance of the season. Or at least that’s the case if a turkey hunter wants to be fully prepared for the uneven matching of wits with a lordly gobbler. Much of the vital preparation for spring hunting is, like actual pursuit of the sport, best done in solitude.  Click Link Below for Full Story!

via Outdoors: Time of the year to prepare for turkey | Spartanburg, South Carolina | GoUpstate.com | Spartanburg Herald-Journal.