Wisconsin DNR: Spring turkey season safety tips, reminders

MADISON, Wis. - Ahead of Wisconsin's spring turkey season, the Department of Natural Resources has safety tips and reminders for hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts.

This year's Wisconsin spring turkey season runs from April 15 through May 26.

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"The spring turkey season brings opportunities to fill harvest tags and spend time outdoors enjoying the warmer weather with friends and family," Renee Thok, a DNR hunter education administrative warden, said in a statement. "Spring is a great time to be outside for a wide variety of activities, not just hunting. It's important that turkey hunters remember that lands being hunted, public or private, may have other outdoor recreators."

Blaze orange or camouflage?

What you can do:

Hunters and public land users may be sharing fields and forests during the season, according to the DNR, and need to be aware and alert of others. Hunters should follow safety rules. Non-hunters on public lands should consider wearing blaze orange or other high-visibility clothing during the spring turkey season.

The DNR urges hunters to avoid "overdoing" camouflage outerwear. It can reduce the chance of a turkey spotting you, but it can also reduce the chance of another hunter spotting you. Anyone on public land should consider wearing blaze orange outerwear.

Gun safety reminders

What you can do:

The DNR issued the following reminders on the four "TAB-K" rules for basic gun safety:

• T = Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. Never assume a firearm is unloaded, and never treat it that way, even if you watch as it is unloaded. Make it a habit to treat firearms as if they are always loaded.
• A = Always point the muzzle in a safe direction. About one-third of all hunting incidents are self-inflicted injuries. That means the muzzle was pointed at some part of the hunter's body. A safe approach is pointing your muzzle where the bullet will travel and harm no one in the event of an unwanted discharge. There are no accidental discharges with firearms, only unwanted discharges.
• B = Be sure of your target, what’s before and beyond it. Positive target identification is a must. To shoot at something you only think is a legal target is gambling. In the case of human injury, that means gambling on human life. You must be specific and correct in judgment before deciding to shoot. In addition to identifying the target, a hunter must know that a safe backstop for their bullet is present in every shooting situation. We don't always hit our target; in some cases, the bullet passes through the target and continues to travel. A safe backstop guarantees that no one will get hurt.
• K = Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot. If a hunter stumbles with a firearm in one hand and nothing in the other, whatever that person does with their free hand will automatically happen with the hand holding the firearm. If a finger is inside the trigger guard, that finger will likely close around the firearms trigger, causing an unwanted discharge.

For more information on turkey hunting, visit the DNR's website.