LINCOLN - The 2023 spring turkey hunting season is here.

The Nebraska Game and Parks commission says some of the best turkey hunting habitat in the state, but hunters should be aware of some new changes to reporting harvests in 2023. Luke Meduna explained those changes to NCN, while also discussing the solid turkey hunting opportunities in southeast Nebraska.

“We’ve got really good habitat down here. We’ve got good numbers of birds down in the southeast part of the state,” Meduna said. “There’s also a good bit of public land.”

But before hunters go out to chase that trophy tom, all should be aware of one new addition to turkey hunting:  the way in which harvests get reported. Now, hunters are required to report their bird via tele check.

“That’ll be done through our new permit system,” Meduna said. “That’ll link you to the tele check page or you can call the 1-800 number listed on your permit.”

Meduna says one of the benefits to this new system will be more accurate bird surveys per county.

“The way it’s all been collected in the past hasn’t been great for getting data regionally,” Meduna said. “With us gouging to telecheck, and that mandatory check, county will be required with that so we’ll get a lot better harvest data.”

One aspect that makes southeast Nebraska ideal for turkey hunting is the high volume of public land. While a number of state recreational areas and wildlife management sites are located in the region, lots of public land is also available through the Open Fields and Waters program, where the Game and Parks commission works with landowners, paying them certain dollar amounts per acre to open the site to hunting, trapping, and fishing. Meduna says this is important to success in turkey hunting.

“It’s really important,” Meduna said. “For some areas of the state, that makes up about half of our public access. You go across the southeast, you find a lot of good chunks and good chunks with creek bottoms and good timber.”

Archery season opened on March 25, remaining open until May 31. Shotgun opens on April 16, staying open through the end of May, with youth shotgun opening on April 9.