Most turkey hunters are aware that all-day hunting became a reality a few years ago. Some continue to worry if this will affect future harvests. However, Backs claims the extension of hunting hours has not influenced the daily harvest of the 19-day season. A previous report indicates that daily harvests of adult birds were slightly greater during all-day hunting, yet it also shows that almost 80 percent of the total harvest occurs before noon.

"The only thing I saw is that the afternoon hunters have been taking a slightly higher proportion of adult gobblers. Part of this could be because they are avid, dedicated hunters still out there looking for adult birds. I don't think it (report) shows that adult birds are more vulnerable in the afternoon. The bulk of the kill still occurs before midday. It gets awful hot after noon, and there's not going to be a lot of activity," Backs said.

However, the afternoon hunting has opened a window of opportunity for many. Backs said that it gives some individuals a chance to hunt when they get off work. Even better, he said it allows the kids to go hunting after school. In fact, Backs believes that the real positive side of afternoon hunting is that it provides youngsters with more time afield. He added that their chances of success might not be that great, but at least they could get into the woods and hunt.

Interestingly, Hoosier hunters will have more areas to hunt in the spring of 2007 than ever before. Over the past few decades, hunters have waited patiently to see new areas open. At one time, there were only a handful of counties open in the southern half of Indiana. Then came more, and eventually portions of a few counties in the north. Backs said that in 2007 all areas of every county in the state would open to turkey hunting, with the exception of Henry County.

Unfortunately, Henry County will remain closed, primarily because of officers and biologists reporting a number of birds killed soon after releases occurred. These were not illegal kills but road kills. The turkey/vehicle collisions took place in the better habitat along the Blue River corridor that intercepts with highways. Officials hope that Henry County will open to turkey hunting in 2009. However, either way, the opening of almost all the state has become a major tribute to Indiana's turkey restoration program.

Hunters should also check regulations for the youth season in 2007. At the time of this writing, it was not yet carved in stone, but the possibility existed that youngsters might get to hunt the weekend before the opening of Indiana's normal turkey season, which is slated to begin on April 25.

So will Indiana's record-breaking harvests continue for yet another season? Should Hoosiers expect to find more gobblers than ever before, and can it get any better than it already has?

"I'm going to hang in there and say that we will harvest somewhere around 13,000 birds, plus or minus 1,000," Backs noted. "It's really hard to tell. Going into the fall of 2006, there was a good mast crop. So I think we are looking at a good survival rate, if we don't have a radical winter."

Backs' ending comments sounded quite familiar. He reminded me that at some point the harvests would level off. In fact, we've already seen some indication of this occurring. He said that all we have to do is look back five or six years before the high harvest of 2006. In black and white, it clearly showed the harvest trend had tapered. For this reason, Backs suggests that we don't get too excited over last year, and that we should not think about expanding seasons and bag limits.

Find more about Indiana fishing and hunting at: IndianaGameandFish.com