Perhaps your best bet for encountering a longbeard in this region is in the rolling hills of the Homochitto NF, home to both Sandy Creek and Caston Creek WMAs.

Just to the north of the Homochitto is Copiah County WMA, which can also be productive.

Region 5 Region 5 took the brunt of Hurricane Katrina a couple of years back and consequently turkey habitat suffered a severe blow. Habitat restoration in the form of timber salvage operations and forest regeneration are underway on both private and public lands.

Turkey hunting north of the coastal counties was pretty good in 2007 for many hunters. Dave Godwin believes that turkey-hunting pressure in much of this region was down in 2006 following Katrina and there probably was a significant carry-over of gobblers into 2007. In the heavily damaged areas, hunters reported hearing turkeys, but had trouble getting to the birds or calling the turkeys in. There was just too much downed timber. The fair to good hatch in 2006 in this region should also add some 2-year-old birds to the ones carried over into 2008.

Greene, Jones and Wayne counties should be better than those counties further south in the region.

The 123,000-acre Chickasawhay WMA has good numbers of turkeys. Turkey hunting is a way of life in this area, so expect lots of company in the woodlands.

Leaf River WMA is a favorite as well. The new manager here is LeDon Cooley and he has been busy planting 100 acres of food plots on the WMA. Cooley also mentioned that they have recently completed a new project to establish more than four miles of linear openings encompassing 22 acres. That acreage should make excellent brood habitat for wild turkeys. According to Cooley, the Mississippi Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation funded the project.

WANT TO HELP?
The MDWFP is looking for turkey hunters interested in helping collect data on Mississippi’s wild turkey population. If you’d like to lend a hand, send your name and phone number to: Spring Gobbler Hunting Survey, 1505 Eastover Drive, Jackson, MS 39211.

WHERE TO GO
FOR INFORMATION
Prior to visiting WMAs and other public hunting land always check the current regulations. Many of the WMAs and NWRs require user permits and often have special regulations. The MDWFP Web site, www.mdwfp.com is a great resource for WMA regulations and maps. For general questions call (601) 432-2199.

For details on hunting national forests, visit www.fs.fed.us for national wildlife refuges, go to www.fws.gov