FAIRMONT – With the South Central Minnesota Gobblers chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation approaching its 26th annual banquet, much has changed since it first started.

Chairman Joe Dubke said the organization holds the banquet as its main fundraiser, showcasing what the group is all about.

“We do a fundraising banquet, usually every spring in April,” he said. “Funds are used to basically promote turkey hunting, habitat restoration and youth education.”

Around 100 to 120 people join or renew their membership each year, which is done at the banquet. Dubke said they don’t have a specific territory they cover, and people come from a relatively long way away.

“I’ve got some folks that come down from Mankato,” he said. “I’ve got some folks to come to our banquet from Northern Iowa, just turkey hunters that want to get involved and support.”

While wild turkeys can be seen all year round, Dubke said now is a good time to start looking for them if you’re interested.

“We’re coming up into the breeding season, usually along any of the rivers,” he said. “Faribault County, the Blue Earth River in Martin County. We’ve got the creeks, Elm Creek, Center Creek, any wooded area. The East Chain chain of lakes is a good area to look, even the chain of lakes running north and south of Fairmont. Basically, wild turkeys need water areas.”

It wasn’t always like this though. Dubke was approached in 1999 to start the Gobblers, and the first thing they did was address the population situation.

“At that time, with conversations, my goal was to get a huntable population of turkeys in Martin County,” he said. “We had meetings with DNR (Department of Natural Resources) biologists. I think it was around 2001 that two of the DNR Turkey biologists met with me. We toured the county and looked at the various habitats, basically the chain of lakes and the creeks. They said, ‘Yeah, this looks like pretty good habitat.'”

Trap and transplants then occurred through the next several years, including in 2002 and 2007. In doing so, Dubke said they feel that they were able to accomplish their goal.

“The [DNR] program originally was intended to trap turkeys in other areas and move them into areas where there wasn’t a good population,” he said. “That program has been very, very successful all over the whole state. That trap and transplant program now has been discontinued. The turkey populations are stable all over the state. Now it’s more research as to how the turkeys are doing, turkey biology and also habitat restoration.”

Overall, Dubke said he feels they are in a very good situation with local turkeys right now. Currently, the focus is on the annual banquet, scheduled to be held April 11 at the Best Western in Fairmont with a social at 5 p.m. and a dinner at 7 p.m. The event also gives an opportunity for the youth to get involved and learn more as well.

“The youth organization through the National is called JAKES,” Dubke said. “Juniors Achieving Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship. We have a lot of kids that come to our banquet, kids that actually hunt turkeys. Every year, I am so glad to see those kids come to the banquet and know that there’s a future for turkey hunting.”

Looking forward, Dubke said he hopes to see the organization thrive, especially after he is no longer the leader.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to handle physically being able to organize this event,” he said. “Hopefully, there’ll be someone around that can take over when I’ve decided it’s time to move on. I accomplished my goal here, but it’s been a lot of fun. I get a lot of personal satisfaction from having accomplished a huntable flock of turkeys in Martin County.”

For more information, visit nwtf.org/chapters/south-central-minnesota-gobblers. For questions on the banquet, call Dubke at 507-238-4959 or David Lein at 507-526-7361.