Luttrell doesn't plan to skip the trout fishing option. "I think it might be time to go back to hunting until noon, sneaking in some trout fishing in the afternoon and then getting back out to chase turkeys as they do their early-evening strutting before roosting for the night," he said.

To keep the numbering system the same for deer and turkey permit areas, the DNR had to change the numbers of a few areas this year. It's always a good idea to review the map and regulations before hitting the field each year.

There are also additional permits available this year, with most of them coming in the metro area and along the northern boundary.

"In some areas we hold the number of permits down, not for a lack of turkeys but a lack of huntable habitat," Penning said. "This prevents a lot of hunter frustration due to overcrowding." It also helps reduce the likelihood of an accidental shooting -- something Minnesota's spring turkey season has never had and never hopes to have.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE
It used to be that if you didn't apply by the Dec. 1 deadline or pick up a surplus license, your opportunity to hunt turkeys in the spring was gone. That is now a thing of the past if you are willing to go after turkeys with a bow.

Hunters who wish to bowhunt for gobblers this spring will be able to hunt during the last two time periods -- May 18 to May 31 -- in any permit area with 50 or more permits per time period. This special bowhunting season only pertains to hunters who did not participate in, or were not successfully drawn, in the spring turkey lottery. A total of 28 permit areas are open to hunting, and archers have the flexibility to hunt in a different area whenever they want as long as it has 50 or more permits per period.

The DNR increased the number of permits to 50 or more for several permit areas in the Twin Cities metro area to open them up to this late-spring archery season. "We pushed them over 50 so people could archery hunt where you can't discharge a firearm," Penning said.

Last year, the highest numbers of birds taken by archers came from around Rochester, the Twin Cities and St. Cloud.

"There's a great opportunity to hunt these turkeys by buying a license over the counter and going to a lot of areas where there's been only minimal hunting pressure," Penning said.