The Pennsylvania Spring Gobbler hunting season opens up next weekend with the Youth Hunt on April 22 from sunrise to noon. Junior hunters and mentored hunters 16 and under will have the first opportunity in 2023 to harvest a wild Pennsylvania turkey gobbler.

The bird must have a visible beard sprouting from its chest region and must be called into your hunting station. There are no drives, hunting with dogs or stalking the gobblers in this spring hunt. The adult hunt is a week later on April 29 across the state. There is a one bird limit unless you have purchased the second bird bonus tag from the PA Game Commission.

Although this is a camouflaged hunting clothing hunt, it is highly recommended to have some orange entering and exiting the hunting area for your safety. No turkey is worth an accidental shooting!

The turkey hunting season is one of the most accidental shooting prone times to be in the woods. Trees and shrubs are leafing out and visibility can be patchy at best.

Driving in Butler County, the southern tier below Rte. 422 is much further along with leaf sprouting than the northern end of the county. With the warm weather, I can predict many more plants will be blooming by the end of April.

Ticks are on the move now and turkey hunters who sit still for hours on end are a great target for the nasty pests. I sat near a rock wall one spring and found myself covered with ticks which had me worrying about debugging more than turkey hunting.