There are not many roads that enter this game lands, so an adventurous hunter can get quite far from the roads. Walking along the ridgetops, stopping to call from finger ridges and over hollows is a likely way to locate gobblers. You might have to drop over the side slopes to get close enough to hear a gobbler.

SGL 168 is rugged Blue Mountain terrain, with elevation changes of 1,000 feet in some places. It is mostly mature timber, although the trees are not large, including considerable chestnut oak. The surrounding lower elevations are largely farmlands.

Get information about local services from the Lehigh Valley CVB, P.O. Box 20785, Lehigh Valley, PA 18002; or call (800) 633-8437.

SOUTHCENTRAL REGION
The Southcentral Region has some excellent turkey hunting, but it is also the only part of the state with a depressed population, particularly on Micheaux State Forest. However, there are indications of improvement. For one thing, nesting conditions might have been better in this region than in the rest of the state.

"We felt that probably there was a bit of a window in our region," said Don Garner, a PGC Southcentral Region spokesman. "The hens and poults had a bit of a respite because there was rain before and some after."

Garner pointed to State Game Lands 73 and adjoining State Game Lands 118 as a good place to look for spring gobblers.

"That mountaintop is almost all game lands property down into Maryland," he noted.

The terrain is steep and rugged with an elevation change of about 1,000 feet in some areas. Much of the ground is rocky. There are many deep ravines. Habitat features almost all hardwood forest. Chestnut oak is abundant, and there are some other oaks. Only a few food plots are maintained by the Game Commission. Warm-season grasses have been planted toward the northern end where there has been recent timbering.

"It takes a little homework to hunt that game lands," Garner cautioned.

The surrounding land is largely private farmland. The only short routes to a lot of the public land crosses private farms. The only other way to get into such areas is via long walks over rugged ground.

"It's the kind of place to be if you don't want to see any other hunters," Garner said.

SGL 73 covers 20,817 acres in Bedford, Blair and Huntingdon counties. SGL 118 covers 6,029 acres in Blair and Huntingdon counties. Both are west of Route 26 between Hopewell and Huntingdon.

Information about local services is available through the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau, R.D. 1, Box 222A, Seven Points Road, Hesston, PA 16647; or call (888) RAYSTOWN.

SOUTHWEST REGION
Conditions were cold and wet during the early part of the nesting season last year.

"I don't think there was any impact so negative it would affect the next (2005) season," said Southwest Region spokesman Mel Schake.

Field personnel noted widespread second nesting, so the outlook for most of the region is good to excellent.

Turkey Management Area 1-A is regarded as the best area for turkey hunting in the state. From 1999 through 2002, the average estimated spring harvest in this unit was 12,380 gobblers. That accounts for almost 29 percent of the state total for those years.

A large reason for the great turkey hunting in the Southwest Region is that more public land has been added here recently than in any other region. A lot of this is old strip mines and other reclaimed lands where the Game Commission has done considerable habitat work.

State Game Lands 232 is toward the southern end of TMA 1-A in Washington County. Until a few years ago, this was just a small game lands covering 1,188 acres in two tracts. But adjacent lands that had been planned for development were added, bringing the total area to almost 5,000 acres. The new section is between the old SGL 232 and Taylorstown along Buffalo Creek. This land is broken farm country. The terrain is quite steep with rolling hills along the creek. The habitat is very diverse. About 1,200 acres of it is agricultural land, some of which is overgrown to thick, brushy cover. There are also wood lots and wetlands.