If you are looking to go turkey hunting this spring, now is the time to put in for your permit.

There is one outdoor activity that I have really grown to love over the years and that is turkey hunting. I have had some of the best times turkey hunting with my buddies Adam and Curt and even hunting by myself.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my deer hunting, but there is not the interaction with deer like you get while calling in a big old Tom turkey.

Year's ago when Michigan's Department of Natural Resources re-introduced turkeys across the state, I didn't really think much of it. Then over the years I began seeing more and more of them while deer hunting and I would think, oh neat, there's some turkeys. It really wasn't until I moved to Indiana that hunting turkey's began to interest me.

While hunting deer in Indiana, I was seeing a lot of turkeys and thought one day, you know I love turkey at Thanksgiving, why not shoot my own. One thing in Indiana I liked was you don't need to get picked in a lottery to get your turkey license, you can just buy them over the counter or online. The only issue there is, you better know someone who has some land you can hunt because there is almost no state land with public hunting across the state.

Michigan has thousands upon thousands of public land you can hunt on and most of it has a really good turkey population. Since moving back to Michigan, I cannot believe the number of birds that I see driving to and from work. Heck I even seen them right in the city limits.

I am also impressed at the size of the some of the birds I see so your chances of getting a trophy bird, I believe, are a lot higher than bagging that trophy buck...again, my opinion.

In Michigan you have to apply for a permit in order to purchase a turkey license. It costs $5 dollars and you can do so right here. It's real easy to apply and if you already have an account on the DNR website it is even easier. You have until February 1 to apply so don't miss out. If for some reason you do forget, there are ways to get leftover licenses and you can find that info here.

I do recommend you going through all the turkey information that the DNR has in the turkey digest they put out each year. Good luck finding a printed copy so your best bet is to go online and here is a link for that too. It is always important to see if any rules have changed and if you are a beginner, this digest is a very useful tool.

I do recommend trying to get the earliest hunt you can possibly get. I have hunted turkey's along time and have found that it is easier to get a big old Tom while it is colder out than when it warms up. The birds just don't move the same when temperatures get real warm in the spring.

I found last season turkey hunting at my place up in Newaygo County, was just as good as the hunting in Indiana. I got a really nice Tom opening day and had one of the most exciting opening days ever. I set my neighbor up in the same spot and he got a nice bird. Then a week later he took his daughter out and she bagged a nice bird. Three Toms, one blind, not bad.

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