By Jack Spaulding

During the spring 2021 turkey season, hunters harvested 12,320 wild turkeys throughout 91 of Indiana’s 92 counties. It was a 15 percent decrease from the 2020 harvest but was close to the average harvest of 12,065 birds taken in 2015-2019. The Indiana Spring Turkey Harvest Data shows the top county was Dearborn with a total of 355 birds. During the youth-only weekend, hunters took 1,198 birds, which amounted to 9 percent of the harvest. The majority of birds last year were taken in the early morning hours in the early part of the season. The estimated number of hunters afield was 65,254 with an estimated success rate of 19 percent.

The 2022 spring turkey season runs April 27 - May 15, with the youth-only season April 23-24.  Predictions for this season call for 12,000-13,000 birds to be harvested, including an increase in the number of juveniles (jakes) taken due to high summer brood success (survival of poults/young turkeys).

Reserved DNR youth turkey hunts

Youth hunters under age 18 on the day of the hunt wishing to hunt on participating DNR properties during the youth-only wild turkey hunting season (April 23-24) may apply for reserved turkey hunts from March 21 - April 1. Interested youth hunters or adult representatives must register in person or by phone during business hours for the property they wish to hunt.

Each youth hunter must possess a valid 2022 Youth Consolidated Hunting and Trapping License, a 2022 Nonresident Youth Spring Turkey License with game bird habitat stamp privilege or a Lifetime Comprehensive Hunting License. Apprentice hunting licenses of the types named above also may be used. View information on participating locations, application requirements, season hours, harvest allotments and regulations on accompanying a minor.

New license fees for turkey hunting

The season’s resident Spring Turkey License fee is $32 plus the annual gamebird stamp of $11 for a total of $43. The Resident Youth Consolidated Hunt/Trap license fee is $12 with no stamp required. The youth license is also available to nonresident youth who have a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian who is an Indiana resident.

Hunting & fishing licenses expire

Indiana sportsmen should remember their 2021-2022 hunting and fishing licenses expire on March 31. The Indiana license fee structure changed starting April 1. Sportsmen should purchase their annual hunting and fishing licenses for 2022-2023 now.

Coho salmon stocked in Northwest Indiana

Mixsawbah State Fish Hatchery stocked 22,429 Coho salmon averaging 8.02 inches into Trail Creek on February 16.

The Coho salmon stocked will stay in the streams until the coming spring, when they will migrate downstream to Lake Michigan. They will spend one to two years in Lake Michigan, feeding and maturing before returning to the streams where they were stocked for spawning.

The stocking is in addition to the 54,139 Coho stocked last October into the Little Calumet River and the 29,457 Coho stocked into Trail Creek.

Anglers should take care when fishing both areas. The fish are currently under the legal-size limit and are sensitive to being caught. If you are catching undersize Coho, consider moving to a different area of the stream or try switching your method of fishing. The newly stocked fish are crucial to the continued existence of the Northwest Indiana trout and salmon fishery.

Falls Of the Ohio raptor events

Falls of the Ohio State Park is hosting a Raptor Day on March 19 from 10 a.m.-3:00pm and an Eagle Watch on March 20 from 2-4 p.m.

The Raptor Day will include two programs from the Dwight Chamberlain Raptor Center at Hardy Lake; Raptors of the Day at 11 a.m. and Predators of the Night at 2 p.m. Other activities include looking at feathers under a microscope, matching the nests with the birds that make them, matching birds with their preferred food, building an osprey nest with one hand, bird watching from the Interpretive Center’s deck, a birding hike, and coloring pages children can take home.

First edition books by John James Audubon, Alexander Wilson and others will be on display.

The event requires admission to the Interpretive Center, which is $9 for individuals 12 and older, $7 for ages 5 to 11, and children 4 and younger are free. A state park’s annual pass covers the $2 parking fee but does not cover the admission.

The park’s Eagle Watch will be at the George Rogers Clark home site. Bald eagles nest on Shippingport Island in the Ohio River, and osprey nest by McAlpine locks. Spotting scopes and birding experts will help visitors find the birds. The event is free.

Falls of the Ohio State Park (on.IN.gov/fallsoftheohio) is at 201 W. Riverside Dr., Clarksville, IN 47129.

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication, or e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net. Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.