Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

In the years before Lance Tangen's birth, Minnesota's annual turkey harvest never exceeded 200 birds. Of course, Tangen was born in the early 1980s when wild turkey repopulation efforts had been successful in only a few select pockets.

Today, the state's turkey population exceeds 100,000 birds, the number of hunters has exceeded 30,000, and the annual harvest may top 10,000.

Tangen, meanwhile, is a nationally recognized turkey expert and spends a fair amount of time as a cameraman/producer of television hunting shows and videos.

Growing up in the bluff country of southeastern Minnesota, Tangen watched the sport morph from obscurity to an exciting opportunity to ignite a passion for the outdoors and turkey hunting in particular.

"It was a good area to foster a youth of growing up in the woods and encountering different scenarios with turkeys," Tangen said.

Perhaps he would have gone down the same path had the turkey population not blossomed as it did, but the opportunities it afforded him have also benefited many others.

Turkey hunting has become a rich part of Minnesota's outdoor heritage and it is an exciting time to be a turkey hunter.

It wasn't always that way.

In the early years of the repopulation plan, the number of hunters actually dwindled. In fact, 10 years after the 1978 inaugural season, the number of hunters applying for a permit shrunk from 10,000 that first season to less than 6,000 in 1985.

For those that aren't turkey hunters, this is a great time to get into it. With a growing and expanding flock, increased number of permits available and additional hunting opportunities, the present is bright and the future is even brighter.

"The turkey population is in really good shape and with good hunter success, (the Department of Natural Resources) has had a lot of positive comments on the turkey hunt," said Eric Dunton, the DNR's wild turkey research biologist.

Dunton is the lead biologist for our ever-expanding turkey flock and said he's excited to be a key element of such a successful program.

"There's a lot of public support for the turkey hunting and stocking programs, and overall our hunters are happy," he said.