Photo by Phillip Jordan

I killed my first wild turkey in 1992 in Alabama, and this conquest sealed my fate: I was hopelessly addicted to the sport of chasing turkeys in the spring.

However, that first bird was called in by a guide, and I resolved at that moment that I was going to learn to call and hunt on my own here in Louisiana -- even if it meant every turkey within miles would head for the next parish, guffawing all the way at my antics. What happened to me the following season helped cement my passion for the sport.

After a morning of less-than-successful hunting, three jakes suddenly appeared, hurtling in at breakneck speed, each apparently intent on beating the other two to my calls. Maybe they only wanted to try and rescue "her" from whatever terror was making her shriek like that.

I slowly lifted my gun, which had been lying across my knees, as the turkeys ran closer; by the time I had my gun shouldered and the safety off, the gobblers screeched more or less to a halt barely 20 feet away. One of the young gobblers that had come charging in to my croaky, creaky calling practically ran over me, and I had to blast him in what amounted to self-defense. In so doing, I had my first Louisiana gobbler -- albeit a jake with a 3-inch stub of a beard.

WESTERN LONGLEAF PINE REGION
That initial encounter with a Louisiana wild turkey took place the Western Longleaf region, one of the state's five habitat regions defined by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologists. The Western Longleaf region consists of 11 parishes in western Louisiana -- Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Evangeline, Grant, Jefferson Davis, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, Vernon and Winn.

Historically, the major timber type in this region was the longleaf pine that lent the region its name. In recent years, the timber complement has been converted into one containing more loblolly pine forests.

The 4.5 million-acre region is mostly privately owned, but 13 percent -- some 600,000 acres -- is public land, the majority of which lies in the federally-owned Kisatchie National Forest. Wild turkeys have mostly done quite well in this region; the exception to that is in the most southerly parishes, where suitable habitat is lacking. In addition to the half-million acres of national forest in this region, there are several wildlife management areas in these parishes, including Boise-Vernon, Peason Ridge, Fort Polk, Sabine and West Bay.

According to the state's wild turkey program leader, Larry Savage, the Western Longleaf Pine Region could be the prime area of the state for turkey hunting in 2007. "I'd probably put this area at the top for the upcoming season," he said. "There is a lot of public land here with the Kisatchie National Forest along with some really good wildlife management areas. Personally, I hunt the Kisatchie a lot simply because it's 'my' land -- a big chunk of public land paid for by my taxes. It's so large that habitat diversity is pretty extensive. You can just about find any type of forest, hills, swamps, bottomlands, etc. here as anywhere.

"If you're willing to walk into the heart of some of this area, you can find some really good hunting away from the majority of hunters. Most aren't willing to walk a couple of miles to find unpressured turkeys."

Also in this region is an arguably unique hunting opportunity: Fort Polk Wildlife Management Area, which is the property of the U.S. Army. According to Savage, the area has an excellent population of wild turkeys. The only problem: You may not be able to hunt there on the day you had in mind.