Spring turkey hunting season begins in most of NY
It’s turkey hunting season here in New York state.
The spring season is now open north of Westchester County.
A typical spring harvest averages about 17,000 birds, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
DEC expects favorable conditions this year for hunters.
Hunting hours are one half-hour before sunrise until noon each day.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is offering these tips:
- Don’t stalk. More than half of turkey hunting injuries happen when a hunter stalks another.
- Wear hunter orange when going in or out of the woods and when walking around.
- When sitting still waiting for a turkey, put hunter orange on a nearby tree.
- When calling, sit still with against a tree to break-up any silhouette.
- Wrap any takes or decoys in hunter orange.
- Never wear turkey colors – red, white, or blue.
- Always assume any call or footsteps are from another hunter. Don’t shoot until the whole turkey can be observed and its sex identified.
- When encountering another hunter, speak clearly and don’t move. Never wave or use a turkey call to alert another hunter.
- Turkeys are tough, and 30 yards or less is the best distance for a clear head or neck shot. Do not try to shoot turkeys in the body or while they are flying.
- Smaller shot, No. 4, 5, and 6, work better than larger shot, due to denser shot patterns. New shotshell technologies allow for shot sizes as small as 8 and 9 to be effective for turkeys. Do research and pattern shotguns to learn what works for each setup.