NWTF-Indiana

06/19/2026

Summer months are for turkey observations. Drop your pics of the broods you are seeing!

Make sure you are participating in your states brood surveys as this type of citizen science plays a roll in determining overall population health!

📷: Jami Linder

06/17/2026

Congrats to the Indiana NWTF Calendar week #24 winners (6/17/26)! Gary W. (Meadow Bridge, IN Calendar A #336) and Fred M. (Aurora, IN. Calendar B #432).

06/16/2026

The National Wild Turkey Federation is backing the Great American Outdoors Act 250, legislation that would fund long overdue maintenance on the trails, roads, bridges and access points across our national forests and wildlife refuges. For Indiana, that means the places we hunt staying open, safe and reachable for the people who use them.
It also expands accessibility improvements for hunters with disabilities through the Wheelin' Sportsmen program, making sure more folks can get out and enjoy the woods we love.

Maintained access today is what keeps the turkey woods open for the next generation. We're proud to stand behind it.

The bill would redesignate and continue the Legacy Restoration Fund to address priority deferred maintenance on trails, roads, bridges, parking areas and other infrastructure. These improvements directly support public access and outdoor recreation on national forests and refuges where NWTF members....

06/12/2026

Congratulations to Tony Mann, a dedicated volunteer with our Indiana State Chapter, on receiving the Tree Stand Safety and Awareness Foundation's Tree Stand Safety Award. 🦃

For 35 years, Tony has been a leading voice in hunter education and tree stand safety. He helped build tree stand safety into Indiana's Basic Hunter Education Academy, trained instructors and conservation officers, became a certified tree stand accident investigator, and developed an accident investigation curriculum used across the state. Today he is working to bring hunting saddle systems and new safety practices into future hunter education programs.

His message is simple and worth repeating every time you head into the woods: "Always stay connected at all times by proper use of a full body harness and related equipment anytime that you use any type of tree stand hunting system."

Thank you, Tony, for helping hunters get home safe.

06/10/2026

Congrats to the Indiana NWTF Calendar week #23 winners (6/10/26)! Daniel G. (LaPorte, IN. Calendar A #458) and Dylan O. (Terre Haute, IN. Calendar B #22).

06/08/2026

Be honest. How many times did a bird bust you this spring?

We've all been there. Pinned down behind a tree with a tom hung up at 60 yards, legs cramping, sun climbing, and that bird just will not commit. Or the classic: you finally move to reposition and a gobbler you never saw blows out of the brush right behind you.

Maybe you got picked off on the approach. Maybe you called too much. Maybe you called too little. Maybe a hen led your bird the other way and there wasn't a thing you could do about it.

Spring 2026 is in the books, so let's hear it. Drop your most humbling moment from this season below. The misses, the busts, the ones that got away. We promise not to laugh too hard.

06/05/2026

250 years of America. Wear it like you mean it.

The wild turkey is about as American as it gets. Native to this land, nearly lost a century ago, and brought back by hunters who refused to let the tradition die. Every spring, Indiana hunters carry that story into the woods before sunrise.

NWTF just dropped a vintage patriotic tee for America's 250th, and it's the right kind of loud for a Fourth of July cookout. Every purchase backs the mission that keeps turkeys in our timber and hunters in the field.

Grab yours before the Fourth. https://shop.nwtf.org/vintage-patriotic-tee

06/03/2026

Congrats to the Indiana NWTF Calendar week #22 winners (6/03/26)! Tim Y. (Mentone, IN. Calendar A #642) and Larry C. (Taswell, IN. Calendar B #727).

06/01/2026

Settle it once and for all, Indiana.

Mouth call, box call, or slate?

You've got a turkey gun in one hand and a tag to fill. You can only bring one call into the woods for the rest of your life. Which one are you running?

Mouth call guys swear by hands-free running and gunning. Box call folks say nothing beats the volume and the cut on a windy morning. Slate die-hards will tell you the soft purrs and clucks seal the deal when a tom hangs up at 50 yards.

There's no wrong answer. But there's definitely a right one in your book.

Drop your pick in the comments and defend it. Bonus points if you can name the bird you killed with it.

05/29/2026

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service just announced the largest proposed expansion of hunting and fishing access in the agency's history. More than 1,450 new opportunities across 111 field stations and 32 states. If finalized, over 92 million acres of the National Wildlife Refuge System will be open to hunters.

What does it mean for Indiana? Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge here in our backyard has been part of previous expansion efforts, and proposals like this directly impact the access Indiana hunters have to public ground. More acreage, more opportunity, fewer barriers to getting out and pursuing wild turkey, deer, waterfowl, and small game on land that belongs to all of us.

This is exactly the kind of work that protects the future of hunting in Indiana and across the country. Public access is the foundation. Without it, the tradition we love doesn't survive another generation.

The Service is taking public comments on the proposed rule for 30 days starting May 27. If you want to be part of the conversation, you can submit comments at regulations.gov under Docket Number FWS-HQ-NWRS-2026-1223.

Stand up for the access. Stand up for the tradition. Be the voice of the hunter at the table.