Billy Culligan, left, and Ron Bergeron hold the two wild turkeys that Bergeron called in while hunting a couple years ago during the spring turkey season on his Green Glades West ranch. Photo by Steve Waters (Steve Waters / Sun Sentinel)
The better they are at sweet-talking tom turkeys and making the males think that they are lonely hens in desperate need of a mate, the better the chances are that those hunters will walk out of the woods carrying a gobbler over their shoulders.
Turkey season runs Saturday through April 10 in South Florida and March 19-April 24 in the rest of the state. Those dates coincide with the birds’ mating season.
In spring, female turkeys yelp, cluck and purr to let male turkeys know they are available. The toms will gobble to let the hens know where they are and the hens then go to the toms.