I believe its official, spring is here. After another cold Iowa winter we are finally seeing the days get longer the sun getting hotter and the turkeys are
getting fired up. So as we begin to shift from looking for sheds to chasing love crazed long beards, I thought it appropriate to write a short article giving some tips on turkey hunting throughout the spring.
Many states have seasons that open early. Nebraska for instance opened this year on March 25th and the season runs through the end of May. Early hunting has its challenges, one being the birds do not respond to calling as well, however if you apply this strategy the early season can be really productive.
Hunt where the birds are going, not where they are. Turkeys are very pattern-able, this time of year. Instead of getting super close while on the roost, I believe a better tactic to be, find where the birds are heading after fly-down and set up four or five decoys and call sparingly. If you are where the birds want to be, once they see your decoys there is a very good chance they will come over and investigate and with just a few soft purrs and yelps you can put your tag on an early season tom.
Sometime after the first part of April those Gobblers will start getting pretty aggressive. In return we should start hunting with aggressive set-ups. Utilizing an aggressive jake or strutting tom decoy can be a great way to bring those jealous birds in on a string. Another great tactic that we at Victory Outdoors are going to be using this spring is the new to market Turkey Fan. This product will allow the hunter to go right to where the birds are and can get you as close as you want to be to a long spurred, ticked off strutter. These tactics will work through the end of most turkey seasons, as generally somewhere by the third week of May seasons seem to close. However there are still a few states that hunt through May 31st.
Late season birds can still be attracted to aggressive sets, but in my opinion some of the best luck you can have in the late season is afternoon and 
evening hunts as the birds are coming back to roost. Again, turkeys are easy to pattern, and if you know where they are roosting this can be a deadly card to add to your hand. Minimal calling and some well-placed decoys can give you the edge on late season gobblers.
Have fun this year and most importantly be safe! God bless and good luck.
