It was pure torture driving to work during the second week of the Kentucky spring turkey season. The songbirds were singing at least an hour before daylight that morning and there was no doubt the turkeys would be gobbling their beaks off. I caught myself at least a half dozen times glancing off the road at the distant fields trying to spot a fired-up longbeard in full strut after daylight.

Then, just before my exit, something happened that hit me in the gut like a runaway truck. A redheaded gobbler was puffed out like a helium balloon trying to impress at least three different hens. I guess making enough money to cover my house and truck payments were about the only thing that kept me from making an illegal U-turn that morning. Without question, spring turkey hunting has completely changed my life in the Bluegrass State.

It's just about impossible anymore to find an area in our state that is not covered up with wild turkeys. The reintroduction-stocking program of this magnificent game bird has to be one of the biggest success stories of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resource Agency (KDFWR). The exceedingly high numbers of turkeys that are thriving across the Commonwealth have played a pivotal role in promoting the sport of turkey hunting.

In fact, more and more hardcore turkey hunters are hitting the spring forests every season. Furthermore, a large percentage of these hunters are consistently seeing and even tagging gobblers during these hunts. Over the past several years, turkey hunting in Kentucky has rapidly evolved from a weekend pastime to a way of life throughout the month of April.

PUTTING UP BIG NUMBERS
There is no doubt that the Bluegrass State has built quite a reputation for producing extremely high numbers in just about everything it does. For example, we are home to one of the most successful basketball programs of all time and Cat Fans across Big Blue Country kind of expect the best of everything. Turkey hunting is definitely no exception to the rule and anymore our hunters hit the field with tag punching confidence.

Once upon a time, simply hearing a pumped-up longbeard sound off at daylight was just about as good as shooting one. However, several consecutive years of high harvest numbers and expanding statewide turkey populations have ultimately changed the way we think about our hunting.

Back in the early days, you practically were forced to hunt a single mature gobbler in a given area and that was about it. The game was basically over if you messed up or made a mistake with a particular bird. Now, you're likely to hear several different gobbling longbeards within close proximity of each other on any given morning.

High numbers of birds have also changed the way a lot of turkey hunters hunt during the spring. Gradually, slow and patient techniques have changed over time to the up-tempo pace of run-and-gun strategies. Regardless of how you cut it, our state is completely loaded with birds and the overall hunting only seems to be getting better with each passing season.

RECORD-SETTING HARVEST
As mentioned earlier, harvest numbers across the Commonwealth have consistently been high every spring. Without question, certain counties and regions have built reputations as powerhouses when it comes to jaw-dropping numbers. However, you would be hard-pressed to find a single region or county that is not producing good numbers of birds. Did you know that Kentucky turkey hunters set a new all-time spring harvest record last season? Consequently, there were 29,007 turkeys tagged across the state from mid-April until the first of May. These impressive numbers completely shattered the old record. The scary thing is that this record could potentially be broken again this spring. However, before we jump the gun, let's take an in-depth look at where our state's best turkey hunting destinations were last year.