All or a portion of a whopping 35 states and three Canadian provinces will see turkey seasons open throughout the course of this month with eastern Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Wyoming and the rest of South Carolina opening today. For those of you who still haven't dug out your calls or bought your licenses, the time to do it is NOW!

CJ Davis, an avowed bowhunter, was busy setting up some bull blinds earlier this week in preparation for today's opening day in Edgefield County, S.C., home of the National Wild Turkey Federation. Setting up on a food plot bordered by recently thinned pines, CJ set this blind up where it seemed the most natural, atop a a piece of equipment that the turkeys have grown used to seeing! I hope to hear from him before the weekend's out to see how this little strategy worked or if he even went through with hunting from his perch.

Meanwhile news and positive outlooks continue to roll in from around the country as those hunters who have yet to get a chance to go afield get out for a little scouting. Here's what they're seeing and saying:

Massachusetts--Gerry Bethge traveled to his farmhouse last week and shortly after his arrival peered out the window to see 6 full-blown gobblers strutting and carrying on in his yard for a group of hens. Word from locals in his area is that the turkeys are freakin' everywhere. In Bethge's most understated observation I've ever heard him say: "It ought to be a fun spring."

Wisconsin--Further north in Wisconsin, outdoor writer Tom Carpenter reports that while the season is still weeks away, the other afternoon while scouting he saw the first wild turkeys of the year out strutting. They were in a mixed group of between 30 and 35 birds, though he has yet to hear any serious gobbling. As of earlier this week, temps were climbing into the 50s and virtually all of the snow was gone so Carpenter is optimistic things will do nothing but pick up from here.

Missouri--Last week Ray Eye slid out to catch some birds on film and as luck would have it, they had moved off to the other side of the river. The day before they had practically overrun the field so he couldn't imagine what happend then later learned from the landowner that he had had some guys in working in the field just before dusk the day before and the turkeys weren't able to roost where they had been. Aside from that little hitch, the turkeys are really starting to their thing and Eye predicts this season will be nothing less than phenomenal.