The obvious choices for the best turkey hunting locations are those with the highest brood production. Additionally, hunters should think of targeting the counties that are open for fall turkey hunting. The DNR only allows fall hunting in those counties with a population great enough to withstand the extra pressure. Counties without a fall season obviously have fewer birds, fewer available hunting areas, or both.

Southern Illinois should once again offer some excellent turkey hunting this season, as it does most every year. The counties that fall within the Shawnee National Forest are especially good. The Shawnee offers a tremendous range of acreage and habitat to suit most every taste. It also affords the opportunity for hunters to spread out and not overhunt particular areas or crowd each other.

Northwestern Illinois has also been providing some good turkey hunting opportunities each year. So has the south-central portion of the state. Another good area to target is along the Mississippi River corridor.

Although these sections of the state are good bets for spring, there are many other things to consider, such as the availability of hunting access within those areas. Even within the areas with good reproduction numbers and thriving populations, there are obviously locations that are better or worse than others. A good starting point is to look at recent trends for harvest success.

There are two ways to gauge the success in particular locations. One is by overall harvest numbers and the other is by percentage of success. Percentage of success jumps out as the best indicator for location choice, but even that figure can lead you astray if all the factors are not considered.

Will County is a prime example. Last spring, it recorded a whopping success percentage of 40.77. That could lead you to believe that almost half of the hunters had success, which is way above average. While that fact is true, it must also be taken into consideration there was a total of only 54 birds taken in the county. Compare that with Pike County in that there were 708 birds killed, and the attractiveness diminishes. To determine the best locations, you have to look at trends for harvest numbers, success rates and the amount of accessible public land.

The top 10 counties for most birds killed last spring were Pike (708), Jo Daviess (564), Adams (560), Macoupin (468), Fulton (444), Calhoun (410), Schuyler (398), Pope (378), Hancock (375) and Marion (363). These figures represented all spring seasons, including the youth hunt.

The top 10 counties for the highest success rates were Will (40.77 percent), Cass (32.31), Pike (29.11), Mason (28.64), Vermilion (28.36), Winnebago (28.08), Ogle (28.06), Scott (28.02), De Witt (27.75) and Lawrence (27.56).

Southern Illinois should once again offer some excellent turkey hunting this season,as it does most every year.

The counties that fall within the Shawnee National Forest are especially good. The Shawnee offers a tremendous range of acreage and habitat to suit most every taste. It also affords the opportunity for hunters to spread out and not overhunt particular areas or crowd each other.

Those numbers represent last season's success and give good hints at potential good counties for this year. However, to make the best choices for hunting locations, you should look at trends for longer than just one season. After analyzing the data from the past several years, here is a more detailed look at some of the particular counties around Illinois that should offer our best turkey hunting this spring. We'll start out in the North Zone and work our way into the South Zone.