Hunters should be making sure they’ve got their turkey licenses ready before the spring season begins.

Guthrie County Conservation Director Brad Halterman says that the spring turkey season is one of his favorite times to be outdoors, and he believes many hunters feel the same way. He adds that there are a few seasons for turkey during the spring, with all of them being consecutive. The youth season is April 7th through the 9th, while the first gun season is from the 10th to the 13th, the second is from the 14th to the 18th, the third is the 19th to the 25th, and the fourth season is April 26th to May 14th, and an archery tag can be used at anytime over those seasons. Halterman tells Raccoon Valley Radio what some of the regulations for the seasons are.

“Iowa residents can get up to two turkey tags, but one of those tags has to be in season four. For those regulations, those are gun regulations. If you want to buy an archery tag for spring turkey hunting, your archery tag is good for all four of those seasons. So you don’t necessarily have to follow just season one, season two, season three. (With an) archery tag, you can head out anytime during those seasons.”

Halterman mentions that turkeys aren’t the only thing to be on the watch for this spring though.

“A lot (of the) time too, when you’re out turkey hunting you can keep your eye open for some morel mushrooms and collect those if they’re out and about too. So with spring turkey hunting, and hunting morel mushrooms and the weather changing so it’s more comfortable to go fishing, there’s a lot to do in the springtime.”

Halterman encourages people to begin enjoying the outdoors with the weather turning warmer.