What are your odds of “limiting out” if you’re a turkey hunter? About 600 in 80,000. That’s according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which is promoting the state’s flourishing turkey population by announcing just prior to the start of the ‘08 spring hunts that harvesting a turkey in the Volunteer State now is easier than ever. Easy, of course, is a completely subjective term. TWRA estimates that the number of turkey hunters in Tennessee has doubled — from 40,000 to over 80,000 — in the past decade. Not coincidentally, the wild turkey harvest during the same time has grown from 14,000 to over 30,000. The significant increase in turkey hunters comes at a time when the overall number of hunters is remaining nearly stagnant or dropping slightly. So, if it seems your favorite public hunting grounds are becoming less about finding huntable flocks and more about finding a hunter-less patch of ground to hunt, it isn’t just your imagination.

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The good news is that the chance to harvest a wild turkey is increasing along with the number of hunters. Tennessee has been recognized as one of the nation’s top 10 turkey hunting states on and off for the past several years, as the harvest here has consistently ranked as one of the highest in North America.

It isn’t just an increasing number of hunters whacking on box calls or blowing on crow calls on opening morning that has led to the drastically increased turkey harvest; turkeys are turning up in more places than ever before. Even as recently as a decade ago, there were plenty of places that did not hold turkeys. Most of those places hold birds today. If you own or lease a piece of land that isn’t inhabited by wild turkeys, you’re one of the unfortunate few.

According to TWRA, there is about a one-in-four chance that you killed a wild turkey if you hunted last year. Of the estimated 80,000 hunters heading afield last spring, 21,133 tagged a bird at a big game checking station.

Of course, if there’s a one-in-four chance that you will harvest, that means there is a three-in-four chance that you won’t harvest, so don’t bank on the odds. But, one must take into consideration that many of those 80,000 turkey hunters head afield for only the first couple of weekends before the weather becomes too hot, the ticks and snakes too numerous, and the urge to go fishin’ too overwhelming. Then they hang up the 870 for passtimes that involve dragging a lure across a submerged log or hanging around the barbecue. So for those who seriously hunt the “king of spring” whether the temperature is eight or 80, the odds of success are even better.

And if you manage to break the ice with one bird, there’s a one-in-three chance that you’ll add another set of spurs to your necklace (if you indulge in such behavior). But after that, the chances of success start to go downhill.

TWRA figures indicate that 14,203 hunters killed one turkey in 2007, 4,581 killed two birds, 1,703 killed three turkeys, and 646 killed four birds.

Tennessee’s regulations have allowed hunters to harvest up to four birds for several years. But until the past couple of seasons, the fourth bird had to come from a select group of wildlife management areas. Now, any hunter can take four birds, whether on public or private property, due once again to the wild turkey’s ever-increasing numbers in Tennessee.

Not everyone is excited about the chances of killing birds. TWRA’s annual “brood survey” — a fall survey that measures how many hens have poults and how many poults they have — has been declining steadily from year to year, and turkey hunters last year harvested significantly fewer turkeys than in 2006 (30,680 in 2007 compared to 35,806 in 2006).

But, biologists and many long-time hunters say that turkey chasers shouldn’t fret; the numbers are impacted by circumstances beyond our control and will not necessarily impact the turkey harvest of 2008 or years to come.

The spring turkey season begins on March 29 and continues through May 11. A youth-only hunt, open to hunters ages six through 16, will be open on March 22 and 23.