Reminder, Spring Turkey Season Opens April 15
By Garrett Christensen on Monday, April 10th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION AND WALLOW COUNTIES – (Information from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) As a reminder, spring turkey season officially opens April 15 in Oregon. For those looking to hunt in Union County this year, ODFW gave the following information in their latest recreation report:
“Spring turkey opens on April 15. Early season access will be difficult due to a series of late winter snowstorms the area has received. Although, with temperatures warming up, snow should be melting at lower elevations. Turkeys should be moving off of private grounds where most of our turkeys winter, and back onto public lands. Hunters should follow the snowline in general, however areas with residual snow can hold birds and should be checked. Hunters should expect good numbers of birds, given that even though our upper elevations have gotten large amounts of snow, the wintering areas have had a fairly mild winter. Over-winter survival should have been very good.
Look for birds at the north end of the Grande Ronde Valley, Palmer Valley and the south end of the Catherine Creek Unit. The highest concentrations of birds will be in the west Sled Springs, Wenaha and east slopes of the Mount Emily units within Union County. The Wallowa Whitman National Forest and Manulife Timber lands both hold great turkey habitat around the edges of the Grande Ronde Valley. Manulife lands are open to the public and provide several walk-in hunting opportunities within Union County.”
And for Wallowa County:
“Road access to high elevations is expected to be difficult, due to snowdrifts, through April. Snow is mostly gone from low elevation areas and south-facing slopes, providing green forage for birds.Turkeys in the valley are already displaying but birds are beginning to scatter throughout forested areas so hunters should put in some time hiking, listening and looking for signs of turkey activity.”
