So, does anybody have a friend in Mississippi with lots of turkey ground?

It never hurts to ask, I guess. After all, come the morning of Saturday, March 13, Mississippi turkey hunters will be in the woods, and I'll still be ... well, let's just say I won't be hunting yet.

Shoot, Hawaii opened March 1, and Florida's Southern Zone opened March 6. Many other Southern seasons are also "fixin'" to open soon. Alabama's season starts March 15, as does private land in parts of South Carolina. The hunt starts March 20 in Georgia, Texas' Southern Zone, and the Central and Northwestern zones of Florida.

If you live or travel to those states, here's wishing you good luck. The rest of us will have to let spring progress and wait until the calendar turns in our favor.

It won't be long. Right?

If you were at the 2010 National Wild Turkey Federation Convention this past weekend, you could only have one conclusion: Turkey hunting is booming.

The show, held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn., was very busy Friday and jammed Saturday. That's no surprise, because there's no better place if you're into turkey hunting. The show features plenty of gear from manufacturers large and small, plus outfitters, taxidermy displays, calling and call-making contests, and seminars from many giants in the turkey industry.

I'll have more from the convention later this week. Until then, here's a partial list of the calling contest winners, courtesy of the good folks at the NWTF.

Wild Turkey Bourbon/NWTF Grand National Calling Contest, Senior Division: Mitchell Johnston, Purlear, N.C.

Rare Breed Champion of Champions: Mark Prudhomme, Georgetown, S.C.

Team Challenge: Mark Prudhomme, Georgetown, S.C., and Kerry Terrell, Brooklet, Ga.

Gobbling: Stephan Richardson, Springdale, Ariz.

Friction: Bobby Woods, Dante, Va.

Owl Hooting: James Harrison, Hillsboro, Mo.

The 2010 National Wild Turkey Federation Convention opens tomorrow, and that can only mean one thing:

Spring is coming.

Sure, it's still a month before seasons open in the Deep South, but if the NWTF Convention is going on, turkey fever is in full bloom. Before you know it, thoughts of snow-blowing and ice-fishing will be replaced with conversations about grand slams and outsmarting tough gobblers.

Of course, Turkey & Turkey Hunting will attend the show and provide a full report after we return. We'll cover the Grand Nationals calling contest, look for great new hunting gear and talk with some of our favorite folks in the turkey world.

Stay tuned. And think spring.

Nothing says fall like the first hard frost of the year.

But does that really announce autumn? Maybe it simply wakes you up to the fact that the turkey woods are changing daily.

Gone are steamy September days when turkeys hammered grasshoppers in grassy fields. Those fields are mostly empty now, as many birds have shifted their feeding efforts to acorn-laden ridges or freshly cut grain fields.

Also gone is the lush foliage that crowded the timber just weeks earlier, replaced by decaying sumac along the edges and brilliant reds and yellows on the ridges.

And what about those little fuzzball poults you saw in summer? They're almost full-sized turkeys now, as their bodies grow and prepare for the upcoming winter.

Winter. Now that's a depressing thought. Can it really be far off? Of course, winter leads us to spring and the season for which we long.

Spring is a nice thought on cold days, for sure. However, I'm not there yet. No, I'd rather appreciate firsthand the daily changes occurring in the autumn turkey woods.

Wisconsin has approved a new mentorship program that will let children as young as 10 begin hunting under the supervision of an adult.

The Hunting Mentorship Program takes effect Sept. 1.

An adult mentor can only assist one person at a time. Also, the mentor must be within arm’s reach of the hunter at all times, and only one firearm or bow can be carried between the mentor and hunter.

Click here for the full story.

Here are some more results from the World Championship Turkey Calling Contest held July 17 to 19 at the World Deer and Turkey Expo in Birmingham, Ala.

2009 Friction Division
1) Mitchell Johnson
2) Sadler McGraw
3) Jason Conrad
4) Mike Pentecost    
4) Bobby Woods          
6) Robbyn Day        
7) Matt VanCise   
8) Terence Williamson  

2009 Two-Man Team
1) Stephan Richardson and James Harrison
2) Sadler McGraw and Matt VanCise
3) Doug Benefield and Billy Yargus
4) Chris Parrish and Steve Stoltz
5) Mitchell Johnston and Mike Pentecost

2009 Gobbling
1) Stephan Richardson
2) Doug Benefield
3) Mark Purdhomme
4) Kerry Elliot
5) Preston Pittman
6) Chuck Doss
7) Juston Roper
8) William Jordan
9) Kenneth Weiss

2009 Owl Hooting
1) Sadler McGraw
2) James Harrison
3) Mark Purdhomme
4) Scott Holcomb
 
Click here for full results and more information on the annual World Deer and Turkey Expo.

Chris Parrish, of Centralia, Mo., recently won his third World turkey calling title.

The 66th annual World Championship Turkey Calling Contest was held July 17 through 19 in conjunction with the Birmingham Deer and Turkey Show in Birmingham, Ala.

Parrish, also a two-time NWTF Grand National Turkey Calling Contest champion, won a call-off with second-place finisher James Harrison, of Hillsboro, Mo., to claim the title.

Here, courtesy of our good friend Steve Stoltz, is a list of the top 12 Open Division callers.

1) Chris Parrish, Centralia, Mo.
2) James Harrison, Hillsboro, Mo.
3) Shane Hendershot, Zanesville, Ohio
4) Josh Grossenbacher, Ohio
5) Billy Yargus, Ewing, Mo.
6) Sadler McGraw, Camden, Ala.
7) Matt VanCise, Pa.
8) Mark Prudhomme, S.C.
9) Jim Pollard, Ark.
10) Mitchell Johnson, N.C.
11) Jesse Martin, Ky.
12) Steve Stoltz, Mo.

Two big turkey hunting states posted excellent harvest numbers this past spring.

As first reported May 13 by turkeyandturkeyhunting.com forum member "Ozarks Hillbilly," Missouri hunters shot 41,830 birds during the three-week regular season and 2,883 during the youth season, for a total of 44,713 birds.

The regular-season harvest was down about 3.7 percent from 2008 but higher than predicted by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Click here, and then scroll down for a full report.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recently announced that hunters shot 52,581 birds during the Spring 2009 season. That was down slightly from the record Spring 2008 harvest of 52,814 turkeys. The Spring 2009 success rate was about 24 percent, down from about 25 percent in 2008. Click here for a full report.

One comment: The difference between the Wisconsin and Missouri spring harvests might seem significant, but remember that Missouri has a three-week season, two-bird season limit and 1 p.m. daily closure. Wisconsin has six five-day periods and all-day hunting. Further, after tags are issued through the initial draw, hunters can purchase leftover permits — often available for the fourth through sixth weeks — until they're gone, letting them hunt three or four time periods with multiple tags during later seasons.

You really can't make this stuff up.

From the Associated Press:

OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. — A wild turkey landed inside the cab of a manure-hauling tractor trailer, startling the driver and sending the truck rolling into a ditch off a northern New York road.

State police said Scott Fisher, 38, was traveling in St. Lawrence County near the Canadian border when the turkey flew in through an open window.

Click here to read the entire story.

If you're like me, the first few weeks after turkey season serve as time to reflect on spring and analyze wins and losses.

As I do this every year, I tend to stumble back to a few simple truths. None are revolutionary; some are downright basic. Yet every turkey hunter can relate to them.

Here are some examples:

It's easy to identify poison ivy. But if you don't see it, you're in for a long month, brother.

To paraphrase Jim Spencer, if you sit down wrong, you're beat. And you will do this more often than not.

If a hunt is going too well to be true, just wait.

Sleep deprivation can really affect your mental capacity. Also, sleep deprivation can really affect your mental capacity.

Gobblers really don't read the playbook presented in hallowed journals such as Turkey & Turkey Hunting.

If you move, he will see you — guaranteed. In fact, he might even see you if you think about moving.

Your screw-ups stay with you longer than your successes. A lot longer.

Sleep deprivation can really ... uh, wait a minute.

No matter how tough your spring was, you can't wait till fall or the next spring.