In 2008, for the first time ever, hunters shot more than 10,000 birds in a Minnesota spring turkey season. A total of 10,994 turkeys were harvested last spring, shattering the previous record of 9,412 set the year before.

Thanks to intense DNR management efforts and growing popularity among hunters, Minnesota turkeys are expanding into new regions of the state.

Will this spring see another record? Perhaps a "three-peat" for turkey-hunting records? The possibility is very likely when all variables are considered. With an ever-expanding population and the addition of three new permit areas and more than 4,000 new permits for hunters, the 2009 season might not break the record, but it will give it a run for its money. This is a great time to be a turkey hunter in Minnesota, and the outlook is sunny for the future.

The 2009 spring season kicks off on April 15, so make sure your taxes are done if you are hunting time period A, the first of eight time periods over the course of the season. The final time period ends on May 28, making for five weeks of craziness for the ever-wily turkey.

Last year was the 30th turkey-hunting season in Minnesota history, and the season really came of age. Topping the 10,000-bird harvest mark, Minnesota ranked among the top turkey hunting states in the Midwest, earning credibility as a turkey-hunting destination in the process.

To put that progress into perspective, more birds were taken last spring than the first 16 seasons combined. "Our best estimate on a statewide population is around 70,000 birds, and that's based on harvest (data). Some research has shown that spring harvest is around 15 percent of the population," said Eric Dunton, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' wild turkey biologist working out of the Farmland Research Group in Madelia.

A native of Michigan, Dunton has extensive turkey hunting experience in both his home state and in Tennessee, where he attended graduate school. Last year, he participated in his first Minnesota turkey hunt near his home in New Ulm and bagged a first-quality bird. He has inherited management of the state's turkey system at a great time and said he is looking forward to continuing to support turkey hunters and turkey-hunting opportunities.

Dunton backed that statement up with the announcement that the DNR has opened three new permit areas in northwestern and north-central Minnesota, including permit area 266 between Highway 10 and Twin Valley, permit area 246 in southern Cass County and permit area 242 just north of Brainerd in western Crow Wing County. (Continued)

There are also more permits being offered in several existing permit areas around the state. Combining the effect of the new areas with the new permits, there are 4,336 more permits available to Minnesota hunters in 2009, pushing the statewide total to 42,328 hunting permits. The last five years have seen a steady increase in permits and permit areas, but this year is the broadest expansion in years.

INCREASING OR PEAKING?
Plenty of work went into making Minnesota's first season possible in 1978, and the reintroduction of wild turkeys to the state garnered the most attention. A total of 10,740 hunters applied for only 420 permits available that first season, when only 94 birds were harvested.

Times have changed. Today, there are five times as many turkey-hunting applicants and 100 times more birds harvested. Biologists and others who worked hard to expand turkey-hunting experiences in Minnesota had a strong feeling that, once introduced, turkeys would thrive. Undeniably, the turkey far surpassed even the most optimistic predictions in Minnesota.

"Even 40 years ago, they said turkeys needed 10,000 acres of virgin timber and nothing but wilderness," Dunton said, "but the birds are thriving. Turkeys are amazingly adaptable as to where they can live and the habitats they can fill."