pseudonym of a man
Courtesy of American Wild Turkey Hunting Dog Association
Accidentally got too close to a hen turkey with poults and she didn’t like it. Flew at my head twice before the video started. Then she acted like a Killdeer with a broken wing, so I’d follow her and get away from where she told her babies to hide. She was indignant and fearless, determined to make me leave – I did! She had a slight stubble of a beard – don’t ever shoot bearded hens. Wisconsin – June 2017
The last day of Wisconsin’s 2017 wild turkey hunt dawned quiet, very quiet; at least as far as turkey sounds are concerned. The usual bird rush hour was in its normal fine form, but on this morning the turkeys apparently had other plans. The season has been rewardingly long this spring from the first week in April hunting Colorado Rios, moving up to Wyoming Black Hills for a snowy Merriam and back to
Take time to teach the next generation of hunters.
Wisconsin for some youth hunt mentoring until my first Wisconsin tag validation the last week of April. Not a morning missed, rain, shine, or somewhere in between and now here I set wearily reflecting on it all to the sounds of silence, the 30th of May with no complaints or regrets. Yeah, I missed a turkey or two and zigged when a zag was needed more often than I care to remember. It’s not good to focus on negative thoughts because if you do, they become self-fulfilling prophecies.
As the morning birdie rush hours fade into memory, I stand, stretch and give thanks. Wild turkey season has come to an end for me…Until later while walking the dogs, a lone gobbler takes to flight out of the VPA field and glides lazily to the opposite woodlot. It’s 1:30 in the afternoon, the season is still open, and I have two unpunched tags left. VPA is private land that the Wisconsin DNR leases for public access, the field is open for hunting but as is so typical the woodlot is not enrolled, so it is closed to hunting without permission of the landowner.
The internal debate heats up; tiredness makes its nagging request just to forget him and rest. While the prey drive says “two open tags and several hours to hunt a gobbler you can call out to kill.”
I feel sorry for the poor dogs after promising them on my return this morning that my hunt was over until the fall season and Vic would get the hunt the next time. Funny thing about plans, they are subject to change, and here I am setting up in some long grass barely able to see the freshly planted corn field, calling on a tongue teaser to what seems like wide open empty spaces.
2017 spring’s most effective call for me
As 3:00 rolls around my sanity in some quarters would be questioned and the of quitting continues to grow in appeal. The sun seems searing in intensity; you’d think the biting gnats would have their wings burned off, sadly it just appears to energize their bloodlust.
Time crawls to only 3:15; Has my watch stopped? Ok, enough for one spring; as I roll off the gobbler lounger to take a final 360 look around a neon blue spot moves on my right…How in the heck did he get that close without being seen? And, as always, these birds come in from the direction least expected.
Rarely, is movement helpful when a standing tom is staring at you at close range. However, he must have thought another turkey was moving around in the long grass causing him to up periscope for a better look-see, a fatal mistake. I rose to my knees and looked at the twitching gobbler through the shot-tunnel in the grass. Must be a mirage! Another tom is closing fast, heading directly to the dead bird and the end of my barrel.
Two toms, side by side.
For a moment I thought it was just a dream, so I waited for the empty field to rematerialize. But you know, the weight of 40+ pounds of turkey over your back brings reality into focus. On the half mile stroll back to the truck there was a moment or two when the memory of turkey tags still available and the season does not close until 8p something…hmm.
By Huntfishtrap
Most turkey hunters seem to fall into one of two camps – on one side you have the people who prefer to sit in one spot and wait for the turkeys to come to them, while on the other you have the folks who like to keep moving as much as possible. And both camps generally think their way is best. It’s kind of like politics, only (usually!) more polite. They each have their pros and cons, and you can be very successful using either strategy, but I prefer a more situational approach, where I let the needs of a specific hunt dictate what kind of tactics I use. I think the following story illustrates the benefits of this approach very well.
Going into our 2nd shotgun season this past spring, my hopes were high, as I had roosted 3 birds on one of my favorite properties a few days before. I expected a relatively short hunt on opening day, and my expectations were met, although not quite in the way I envisioned. Despite picture-perfect weather that morning, there was very little gobbling on the roost anywhere within earshot, and none at all on the property I was hunting, nor on the neighboring one where I also had permission. I set up anyway, and stayed until 7 AM, but heard nothing close except for a few hen yelps. I knew there had to be gobblers around but was getting impatient, so decided to go elsewhere in search of more cooperative birds.
I drove to another property a couple of miles away from where I’ve often had good luck later in the morning. This is a small farm, only about 35 acres, but I’ve killed a number of gobblers there. They generally roost on the neighboring properties and congregate on this one after fly-down. I set up just inside the woods on the back side of a small cornfield and made a few series of yelps. After my 2nd or 3rd series, a gobbler answered me from the neighboring property to the north. The tom was about 300 yards away, so I decided to cut the distance between us as much as I could, and eased down over the crest of the hill on which I’d been sitting until I was about 75 yards from the property line. I don’t know if he spotted me moving, or just wasn’t that interested, but after the 2 initial gobbles, I never heard from him again. After a fairly dull half-hour, I decided to make a move and headed back up to the ridgetop where I’d started out. I walked to the end of the ridge, which overlooks a very large valley, and pulled out my loudest aluminum friction call. The first series of ear-splitting yelps brought a faint response from a distant gobbler way off down the valley, so I elected to drop down to the valley floor, even though I knew I couldn’t get very close because the property ends just past the base of the hill.
When I got to the bottom of the hill I called again, and the still-distant bird answered again, but this time another, a much closer tom gobbled as well. I quickly found a spot with decent visibility and hunkered down next to a tree. The gobbler answered my next series of calls enthusiastically, then went silent for a few minutes. Finally, he gobbled again, and I could tell he had closed the distance quite a bit, but was circling around me on the hillside above. He continued to gobble as he moved but didn’t deviate from his course, and I was unable to move because I knew he could see down into the valley from his position on the high ground. Eventually, he circled far enough around the shoulder of the bluff that I figured he couldn’t see my position anymore, so I grabbed my pack and gun and took off running around the base of the hill, trying to get ahead of the bird and cut him off. Running up the steep, 300-foot bluff nearly killed me, but I knew I had to beat him to the spot where I wanted to set up. Thankfully he kept gobbling every so often, so I could keep track of his position. I huffed and puffed my way to the top of the bluff about 100 yards in front of the gobbler, and just over the crest of the hill from him. I crawled up behind a large oak tree that offered good cover and scratched out a few soft yelps. He hammered right back, and I thought it would be over quickly. But even though he gobbled heartily every time I touched a call, he wouldn’t budge from what I now assumed to be his strut zone on the ridgetop. I knew I was between where he was and where he probably wanted to go, so I settled in to wait him out.
After a 20-25 minute stalemate, during which time he didn’t seem to move more than a few feet in any direction,
Wonderful Iowa Turkey
I suddenly saw a red head pop over the crest of the hill, peering down the slope in my direction. The head was quickly followed by the rest of the bird, as he came walking down the ridge toward me. I already had my gun up and resting on a fallen tree branch, so it was a simple matter to swing it over a few degrees and track him with the muzzle as he approached. After navigating a patch of thick saplings, he finally popped out into the open at a mere 20 yards and stopped. A trigger squeeze later, and my first turkey of the year was flopping his way down the hillside.
Given his behavior and the fact that it was relatively early in the spring when most older toms would still be flocked up with hens, I assumed I was dealing with a 2-year-old bird. But when I bent over and grabbed a leg to pick him up, I almost fell over in shock. He had perfectly matching 1 9/16” spurs,
Perfectly matching 1 9/16” spurs, both razor-sharp
both razor-sharp. He was otherwise relatively ordinary, weighing just under 24lbs, with a wispy 9” beard. But judging by the spur length, he was definitely an old turkey. That fact made the successful conclusion to the hunt even more rewarding.
Looking back on the hunt later, I realized I had utilized both patient and aggressive tactics to kill that bird, and most likely would not have been successful had I stuck with one or the other. It was a good example of why you should let the turkey’s behavior determine how you hunt, rather than sticking with a predetermined course of action. Planning has its place, but to be a consistently successful turkey hunter, you sometimes need to be able to change things up on the fly and adapt to the situation at hand.
Here are all the 2017 spring wild turkey harvest/kill stats you could ask for from Wisconsin. The first chart is the kill by county, sex, and age. Scroll down for the number bagged by the number of hunters and continue scrolling down for all the harvests/kill from 1983 to 2016.
An interesting number 384 bearded hens were taken during spring 2017. Sauk County had the most, 20, bearded hens taken.
 |
Type of Turkey | Total (ALL) | |||
| Hen | Tom | ||||
| Age of Turkey | Age of Turkey | ||||
| Adult | Juvenile | Adult | Juvenile | ||
| Kill | Kill | Kill | Kill | Kill | |
| County Of Kill | 9 | . | 664 | 144 | 817 |
| ADAMS | |||||
| ASHLAND | . | . | 85 | 16 | 101 |
| BARRON | 2 | . | 311 | 92 | 405 |
| BAYFIELD | . | . | 149 | 23 | 172 |
| BROWN | 2 | . | 518 | 92 | 612 |
| BUFFALO | 6 | 1 | 524 | 130 | 661 |
| BURNETT | 1 | . | 211 | 49 | 261 |
| CALUMET | 1 | . | 236 | 63 | 300 |
| CHIPPEWA | 5 | . | 546 | 117 | 668 |
| CLARK | 5 | . | 591 | 164 | 760 |
| COLUMBIA | 15 | 1 | 988 | 226 | 1,230 |
| CRAWFORD | 4 | . | 751 | 122 | 877 |
| DANE | 13 | 2 | 1261 | 245 | 1,521 |
| DODGE | 10 | . | 762 | 151 | 923 |
| DOOR | 2 | . | 554 | 63 | 619 |
| DOUGLAS | . | . | 111 | 28 | 139 |
| DUNN | 5 | . | 636 | 133 | 774 |
| EAU CLAIRE | 2 | . | 539 | 101 | 642 |
| FLORENCE | . | . | 86 | 21 | 107 |
| FOND DU LAC | 10 | . | 667 | 166 | 843 |
| FOREST | 1 | . | 83 | 13 | 97 |
| GRANT | 8 | . | 864 | 148 | 1,020 |
| GREEN | 8 | . | 612 | 115 | 735 |
| GREEN LAKE | 2 | . | 394 | 115 | 511 |
| IOWA | 27 | 2 | 971 | 132 | 1,132 |
| IRON | . | . | 30 | 9 | 39 |
| JACKSON | 8 | . | 571 | 146 | 725 |
| JEFFERSON | 4 | . | 597 | 134 | 735 |
| JUNEAU | 6 | . | 614 | 108 | 728 |
| KENOSHA | . | . | 49 | 12 | 61 |
| KEWAUNEE | 7 | . | 465 | 63 | 535 |
| LA CROSSE | 4 | 1 | 477 | 85 | 567 |
| LAFAYETTE | 8 | . | 422 | 46 | 476 |
| LANGLADE | 2 | . | 284 | 61 | 347 |
| LINCOLN | 2 | . | 360 | 87 | 449 |
| MANITOWOC | 14 | . | 786 | 160 | 960 |
| MARATHON | 12 | 1 | 1036 | 246 | 1,295 |
| MARINETTE | 1 | . | 504 | 141 | 646 |
| MARQUETTE | 6 | 1 | 709 | 153 | 869 |
| MENOMINEE | . | . | 2 | . | 2 |
| MILWAUKEE | . | . | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| MONROE | 7 | . | 780 | 163 | 950 |
| OCONTO | 9 | . | 690 | 165 | 864 |
| ONEIDA | . | . | 154 | 40 | 194 |
| OUTAGAMIE | 3 | . | 540 | 124 | 667 |
| OZAUKEE | 4 | . | 268 | 59 | 331 |
| PEPIN | 3 | . | 212 | 49 | 264 |
| PIERCE | 4 | . | 573 | 123 | 700 |
| POLK | 3 | . | 359 | 105 | 467 |
| PORTAGE | 2 | . | 669 | 147 | 818 |
| PRICE | . | . | 220 | 56 | 276 |
| RACINE | 2 | . | 82 | 16 | 100 |
| RICHLAND | 17 | . | 704 | 125 | 846 |
| ROCK | 6 | 1 | 595 | 105 | 707 |
| RUSK | 1 | . | 293 | 70 | 364 |
| SAUK | 20 | . | 1019 | 175 | 1,214 |
| SAWYER | . | . | 103 | 25 | 128 |
| SHAWANO | 9 | . | 1006 | 136 | 1,151 |
| SHEBOYGAN | 16 | 1 | 642 | 132 | 791 |
| ST CROIX | . | . | 492 | 139 | 631 |
| TAYLOR | 1 | . | 553 | 105 | 659 |
| TREMPEALEAU | 5 | . | 521 | 123 | 649 |
| VERNON | 4 | . | 711 | 163 | 878 |
| VILAS | . | . | 74 | 23 | 97 |
| WALWORTH | 4 | . | 350 | 91 | 445 |
| WASHBURN | 1 | . | 185 | 52 | 238 |
| WASHINGTON | 4 | . | 607 | 114 | 725 |
| WAUKESHA | 1 | . | 494 | 142 | 637 |
| WAUPACA | 21 | . | 1155 | 228 | 1,404 |
| WAUSHARA | 7 | 1 | 525 | 183 | 716 |
| WINNEBAGO | 2 | . | 308 | 91 | 401 |
| WOOD | 4 | . | 492 | 131 | 627 |
| Total (ALL) | 372 | 12 | 35400 | 7521 | 43,305 |
Below is the number of hunters who each bagged the number of turkeys. 
Example from the chart 32,476 spring turkey hunters bagged one turkey each. 215 hunters bagged 4 turkeys each, etc.
| Bagged | By number of Hunters |
| 1 | 32476 |
| 2 | 3368 |
| 3 | 761 |
| 4 | 215 |
| 5 | 79 |
| 6 | 36 |
| 7 | 18 |
| 8 | 5 |
| 9 | 5 |
| 10 | 7 |
| 11 | 2 |
| 15 | 1 |
| 21 | 1 |
The historical number of permits issued, harvest and
permit success for spring turkey hunting, 1983-2016.
| Year | Permits | Harvest | Permit Success |
| 1983 | 1,200 | 182 | 15.2% |
| 1984 | 1,950 | 303 | 15.5% |
| 1985 | 2,025 | 496 | 24.5% |
| 1986 | 3,675 | 793 | 21.6% |
| 1987 | 6,040 | 1,478 | 24.5% |
| 1988 | 11,070 | 2,486 | 22.5% |
| 1989 | 21,280 | 4,400 | 20.7% |
| 1990 | 29,877 | 6,465 | 21.6% |
| 1991 | 37,414 | 6,846 | 18.3% |
| 1992 | 43,925 | 8,798 | 20.0% |
| 1993 | 61,767 | 12,316 | 19.9% |
| 1994 | 71,420 | 12,637 | 17.7% |
| 1995 | 68,588 | 15,323 | 22.3% |
| 1996 | 75,812 | 18,000 | 23.7% |
| 1997 | 92,734 | 20,992 | 22.6% |
| 1998 | 101,141 | 28,338 | 28.0% |
| 1999 | 112,256 | 33,168 | 29.5% |
| 2000 | 132,318 | 38,686 | 29.2% |
| 2001 | 151,522 | 39,211 | 25.9% |
| 2002 | 160,101 | 39,336 | 24.6% |
| 2003 | 169,277 | 42,970 | 25.4% |
| 2004 | 186,608 | 47,477 | 25.4% |
| 2005 | 193,826 | 46,183 | 23.8% |
| 2006 | 200,869 | 46,662 | 23.2% |
| 2007 | 205,306 | 52,428 | 25.5% |
| 2008 | 208,972 | 52,880 | 25.3% |
| 2009 | 218,133 | 52,581 | 24.1% |
| 2010 | 214,356 | 47,722 | 22.3% |
| 2011 | 210,384 | 40,133 | 19.1% |
| 2012 | 201,984 | 42.612 | 21.1% |
| 2013 | 217,798 | 37,804 | 17.4% |
| 2014 | 210,496 | 41,815 | 19.9% |
| 2015 | 208,250 | 40,975 | 19.7% |
| 2016 | 212,772 | 45,501 | 21.4% |
Stunning. The old saying “no good deed goes unpunished” is more accurate than we’d like to admit.
This wild turkey habitat demonstration area was not for just habitat but also a place disabled hunters could be taken out hunting.
Why would anyone who hunts destroy signs like these?
Or This?
This takes a crackpot. Not a crack shot.
Come on there are shooting ranges all over Wisconsin with much better targets than this. As my rage subsided and my brain begins to work it came up with other possibilities. Perhaps it was not hunters, rather some other entity whose cause would be advanced by bad Hunter P.R.
Many signs in this hunter were shot up
Maybe some rabid anti-hunters. Sobering to think they might have taken up arms. But then I remember members of the Human Society of The United States advocating vandalism on hunting lands to make hunters look bad. A few years ago I some found alcoholic beverage containers strewn about the parking areas of a WMA during a fall hunting season. Being a concerned hunter and good citizen, picked up the litter on my way out. A few days later I returned and found the same type of litter. On my fourth hunt, there was more of this litter. Clearly, this problem was not random, reporting it would be a waste of time without more evidence of the identity. However, being it was hunting season I did not want to waste time. In a discreet location, up went an old trail camera. A week later more bottles were dumped along with several beer cans. I recovered the camera for review after my hunt.
A few years ago I some found alcoholic beverage containers strewn about the parking areas of a WMA during a fall hunting season. Being a concerned hunter and good citizen, picked up the litter on my way out. A few days later I returned and found the same type of litter. On my fourth hunt, there was more of this litter. Clearly, this problem was not random, reporting it would be a waste of time without more evidence of the identity. However, being it was hunting season I did not want to waste time. In a discreet location, up went an old trail camera. A week later more bottles were dumped along with several beer cans. I recovered the camera for review after my hunt.
After getting my turkeys cleaned and my dog settled in it was time to check out the camera images. The camera caught the culprits including their license plate number. Called the sheriff to report and emailed the photos. Each of the four litters were fined $700 and asked the judge for leniency because they were trying to help get the area closed to hunting so that animals would no longer live in fear. Turned out these creeps wanted to stop hunting and figured if hunters were made to look dangerous more people would become activists on their side.
My mission on Saturday was not finding a bunch of shot up signs rather find turkeys, in particular, turkey poults and make notes of the type crops planted or not planted. I found plenty of deer, many does had twins and triplets in tow! The hen turkeys had 4-7 poults each with many hens still sitting on nests. The extra nest setting is probably due to all the rain washing out their first nesting attempts.
On Monday I will be contacting the nice lady in charge of Wisconsin’s voluntary access program to find out where I can purchase some replacement VPA signs to put up. The very last thing we need are landowners who are considering signing up their lands for public access seeing what they will most likely assume are unappreciative hunters.
I don’t think hunters vandalized those signs. What is your opinion?
Update: 6/20/17
I have been in contact with WDNR and found out these signs had been replaced previously and now they have been shot up again, outside of any hunting season. Makes me suspect it might not be someone who hunts. Also, I did not make clear in the post street signs were shot all the way to the location of the NWTF sign obliteration.
by FirstBubba
From no bird since 2011 to the spring of 2015!
At least I’m not greeted by thunder and lightening this morning! Meant to be up by 5:00 AM. When my bleary eyes finally locate a clock, it’s 5:26 AM!
Coffee and dressed and I’m out the gate at 6:03 AM! Not bad for an old, fat cripple!
It’s 6:43 AM when I stop at the gate and it’s beginning to break day. Quite a difference from the deluge of two days ago! The air is still, quiet and nearly 60°. The sun promises a cloudless, bluebird sky! AWESOME!
Somewhere across the bottom, a gobble breaks the silence! I quickly gather my gear and head out across the still soggy pasture, birds gobbling from time to time. The crystal clear notes tell me they’re still on the roost.
I set the “deke” and make my spread. Then the “Gobble Fest” begins. I must be hearing 10 to 15 birds from three different directions.
Low lying fog spreads across the bottom. The fog is beautiful, and I take a few pictures. Two coyotes stop and check the hen decoy before moving along.
Muffled gobbles tell me birds are on the ground. Buffing the slate call, I throw out a “cut” or two. They’re greeted with gobbles. Yelps and purrs are more often cut off with gobbles than not!
Checking the camera, I see the batteries are getting low. Retrieving the four new batteries from my coat pocket, I pop the old batteries out and drop the new ones in. I replace the camera on its monopod and shove it into the soft ground and realize that two birds are almost to the pecan trees! One looks to be a very nice bird! Oh, well!
Checking back the way they came in, I see a big white head about 30 yards out.
What do I do now? The gun is resting on its tripod, probably 70° from where the bird is! I contemplate my next move.
I lift with my right hand on the wrist of the stock and slap the fore end with my left, lifting the gun out of its cradle.
Startled, the bird stares at me as I swing the shotgun into position and slap the trigger!
He’s mine!
Not as big a bird as the “Rain Storm” gobbler, but a VERY pretty bird! 16 pounds 3/4″ spurs 9″ beard
By FirstBubba
Due to a rather “brisk” discussion on another blog about turkey ammo, I could think of no other way to prove that #8 shot IS adequate for turkeys than xX-rays of harvested birds.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank Dr. Kerri D’Arbonne, DVM and her husband (both avid hunters!) of Chisholm Trail Vet Clinic, Duncan, Oklahoma for the use of their equipment for this endeavor.
My apologies for the mess I had to clean up afterward! LOL! Secondly! This project was my maiden voyage to the “Sea of Xray.” These shots aren’t “exactly” what I had in mind, but hope they help!
Let’s go with “layout” first.
Left to right: Turkey #1 was taken at nearly 35 yards, quartering away right to left. Turkey #2 was taken right at 30 yards, broadside traveling left to right. Turkey #3 in the neighborhood of 15 yards moving right to left. The first shot is a side view.
Shot #2 is a frontal view. Left to right: Turkey #1 was taken at nearly 35 yards, quartering away right to left. Turkey #2 was taken at 30 yards, broadside traveling left to right. Turkey #3 in the neighborhood of 15 yards moving right to the left.
Left to right: Turkey #1 was taken at nearly 35 yards, quartering away right to left. Turkey #2 was taken at 30 yards, broadside traveling left to right. Turkey #3 in the neighborhood of 15 yards moving right to left.
(Told you I were no expert! LOL!)
Plain Jane Remington 870 12 gauge with an aftermarket “extra full” choke tube.
The “brisk” discussion was mostly over whether #8 shot would maintain enough kinetic energy to penetrate deeply enough to break bones (vertebrae) out to 40 yards.
Note on bird #1, the two #8 shot that appears to be behind the right eye. Those two shot HAD to transect the entire head to reach their position.
I believe “turkey specific” ammo is overrated and over priced. Why buy 5 to 10 rounds for $2 or so per round when I can get a box of 25 for 5 to 7 bucks?(depending on sales. I AM a tightwad! LOL! )
I also believe that the 3 and 3.5-inch ammo tends to cause otherwise good hunters to attempt shots well beyond the 40-yard mark, resulting in wounded and unrecovered birds.
Therefore, I shoot 2.75-inch ammo and call birds in as close as possible. I believe “pattern density” kills, not shot size. The more pellets you deliver to the target, the higher your chances of delivering a fatal pellet strike. Therefore, I shoot #8’s to deliver as thick a pattern as possible.
I’ve burned lot’s of ammo at sheets of newspaper and butcher paper to get an idea of “pattern density,” but what REALLY happens when you pull that trigger? A specific percentage of pellets in a ten-inch circle at 30 yards?…40 yards? Guess what guys; A turkey head ain’t that big!!
I’m hoping these X-rays give others a look at what happens that the patterning board just doesn’t tell you.
IF you are comfortable with the ammo you shoot, the range you shoot and the pellet size you prefer, DO NOT change because of my beliefs! I’m not suggesting everyone change ammo, but if you’re looking for different ammo options, here is one!
If you have a hunter friendly vet in your area, talk to them. Xrays reveal a lot about pellet performance!
By, HuntFishTrap
The morning of May 5 brought clear skies and mild temperatures to my corner of Iowa, and I was itching to get back into the turkey woods again, after a 2-week layoff following the hunt for my first bird of the year, back in our 2nd shotgun season. We’re allowed two gun tags for spring turkey hunting here in Iowa, and of the 2 one must be for the 4th and final season, for reasons I have never heard explained by the powers that be.
Being strongly averse to rising early in the morning, I elected to set my alarm for 6 am, and then hit the woods after fly-down. Since it was a weekday when most of the competition would be at work, I elected to go to a public land spot where I had long wanted to kill a gobbler. The property had produced a number of close calls over the years, including missing a big longbeard two seasons prior, but I had always seemed to be snakebit there.
I pulled into the deserted parking lot a little after 7 and set off into the woods as the rising sun painted the just-emerging maple and oak leaves with shades of gold. I walked about a ½ mile into the timber before stopping to call for the first time, knowing from past experience that calling close to the parking lot is usually a waste of time on public land. The first series of yelps did not produce a response, so I kept going, stopping to yelp a few times every couple hundred yards or so. My destination was a ridge overlooking a large oak flat that often held birds, and I had almost reached it when I heard a faint gobble from somewhere off in the distance. I cut loose a few loud yelps on my go-to long-distance aluminum pot call and received an answer. Still, could not tell exactly where the bird was, so I eased up to the top of the ridge and tried again. This time the far-off gobbler was joined by another, much closer bird, somewhere down on the oak flat in front of me. I quickly scanned the trees around me for a good spot to set up and chose a large oak tree with a deadfall in front of it which acted as a sort of natural blind.
After settling in, it didn’t take long to ascertain that the distant tom was way down in a big valley on the other side of the oak flat, and was most likely a lost cause. But the closer gobbles were only a few hundred yards away, and it sounded like there might even be more than one bird. My first few series of calls brought immediate responses, and it sounded like the bird or birds were moving closer, but then they seemed to begin to lose interest. So I started switching calls, looking for something they’d like, but without much success. The occasional gobble would ring out, but they didn’t seem to be answering anymore. Finally, I got to one of my three wingbones, which I rarely use, and mostly carry for emergencies. That was the ticket, as they – by now I was certain there was more than one – started responding again, and began working their way closer. The birds got to within 200 yards, then hung up, and a stalemate ensued. I would call, they would gobble, but wouldn’t come a step my way. I knew the area quite well and didn’t think there were any obstructions that would prevent them from moving my way, so after about 30 minutes I was getting exasperated. Finally, I’d had enough, so decided to make a move.
I eased back over the ridge until I was certain the turkeys couldn’t see me and started looping around one side. The open oak woods didn’t offer much cover for trying to sneak up on anything, but I knew there was a small ditch on the far side of the ridge that I could use for cover if I could get there. I made it to the ditch and followed it as far as I could, until reaching the point where I had to climb out in order to keep moving in the right direction. At this point, I figured I was still at least 150 yards from the last gobbles I’d heard, but at least I was now on their side of the ridge. I elected to stop and call just before reaching the top of the bank above the ditch, but before I could get my wingbone out of my pocket the toms gobbled again, but they sounded much farther away. I cut loose with a little wingbone music and received silence in reply, tried again, the same result. I was standing there a little despondently, trying to figure out a new plan of action, when I heard what I thought was a hen putting just over a small rise in the ground, about 100 yards in front of me. That was followed immediately by a loud commotion that sounded like several turkeys running in the dry, crackly leaves.
I figured I had somehow spooked part of the flock I’d been hearing, and almost started to jog up to the top of the knoll to see if I could catch a glimpse of them, when a red head popped over the hill in front of me, followed immediately by two more! I froze in consternation because I knew that standing in the middle of the open woods without any cover near me was a recipe for disaster. But thankfully when they lowered their heads they disappeared behind the rise in the land again, and I could drop to my knees and scramble several feet backward until I was up against an oak tree. I just had time to raise my trusty 870 and steady it over one knee before they came trotting over the hill, headed right for me. At this point I was not certain what kind of birds were coming in – the gobbles I’d been hearing all morning had sounded a little choppy at times, like jakes – but the first bird in line was a nice long beard, and he was determined to be first to the party. He came trucking right toward me, beard swinging from side to side, while I tried to make myself small against the oak. While he was coming in, I heard a loud spit-n-drum from beyond the rise and saw a fan pop open, so I knew there were still more birds coming but was focused on the one at hand.
He paused at about 40 yards, and I almost shot him, but just as I was about to squeeze the trigger he kept coming, and I kept tracking him with the gun muzzle. Even in the heat of the moment, the thought popped into my mind, “This bird is like a kamikaze – I’m going to kill him, or he’s going to run me over!”. Finally at 25 yards, he started to slow down, and finally stopped and started giving me the old hairy eyeball, so I centered the bright fiber-optic bead on his glowing head and sent 2 ounces of #5s on their way. The gun boomed he dropped like a stone, and turkeys took off in every direction behind him. There were at least 5 or 6 different birds, a mix of jakes and toms. I will never know what made that flock suddenly reverse course and come right to me after essentially disregarding my calling for the previous 2 hours, but I’m not complaining. Sometimes the unpredictability of turkeys is bad, and sometimes it’s good.
When I looked at my watch, I saw that the time was 9:35 am, only 5 minutes later in the morning than when I killed my first turkey of the year, two weeks before. This bird would then tip the scales at 20 ½lbs, with 1 1/8” spurs and a 10 ½” beard. A nice 3-year-old tom. After snapping some photos, and stopping to enjoy the beautiful day for a while, I loaded the bird into my pack and set off on the 3/4+ mile walk back to my truck. The hard part of the hunt was just beginning, but it was a small price to pay for such an awesome morning in the turkey woods.
What do you think? Is a wild turkey hunt more like a game chess in the woods or is it more like the card game solitaire?
Something, perhaps mostly unknown about charlie elk is the fact it took him five wild turkey seasons before he finally killed a gobbler.
What took him so long?
After all, he helped Minnesota catch grouse for the Minnesota/Missouri turkey/grouse exchange release program so he should have learned something about turkeys during that long restoration period. Well, not so fast. Charlie was an accomplished big game hunter who frequently stalked within longbow range of bedded cervids across the North American Continent. And then, in the early eighties along came the wild turkey opportunities.
After finally being drawn for a Minnesota turkey license in the zone where a band of turkey nuts, including Charlie had released turkeys from Missouri years before; the young, cocky, self-assured Charlie was humbled by a bird with a brain about the size of a walnut. It is amazing how a feathered bird-brained creature could be so elusive.
He planned all his hunts so carefully, doing research to determine in advance where the turkeys roosted, where they would want to go from roost and how they would get there, all to no avail. Then late one morning he saw a truck with plates from Missouri pull into the parking area, an elderly gentleman stepped out walked around surveying the area and then did some cutting on a long box call. Answered by a robust gobble, not more than 100 yards down the trail Charlie had just walked back to camp. The veteran hunter headed down the path and soon a there was a gunshot. The fellow came walking back with a very nice turkey over his shoulder.
The mistake Charlie had been making, in his humble opinion was that he’d been hunting turkeys using many of same tactics as he used for hunting big game. Big game animals do things for reasons that are quite apparent to an experienced hunter. Whereas the wild turkey does things that are apparently done for well, maybe no clear reason at all.
A lot of turkey behavior, if not most, is random, much like the shuffling of a deck of cards. For example, if a turkey is flushed and somewhere different with suitable habitat and maybe an available hen during the spring— that turkey is likely to be just as content in the new location as he was in the previous one, he’ll just roost in whatever tree is convenient as it gets dark. Once this randomness soaked into charlie’s sometimes, most times, dense head, he has killed a turkey in every season he has hunted over the last 40 years.
As this is written there are only three hunting days left to Wisconsin’s 2017 spring turkey season. For the most part, the toms have stopped gobbling to tip off their locations and they have started forming their summer time bachelor groups. This is the moment some hunters eagerly wait for because when the toms are properly motivated with gobbler talk, deep sounding clucks followed by a slow raspy yelp or two. Make sure it’s just one or two yelps clearly separated and not run together.
The added challenge much like in fall hunting is finding the turkeys. When turkeys form groups there will be more areas without and the other areas will have more birds.
After sleeping in until 5:00 a, sleep deprivation is taking its toll on me; a gobbler who has irritated me since early April by consistently strutting in the middle of a field I can’t hunt. Worse, no one else has hunted him either so all he does is strut at me nearly everytime I drive by. This morning he was in the middle of the dirt road strutting as beautiful as a peacock with the rising sun glinting off his feathers. I did feel a temptation to stop and shoot him or just run him over, but clearly, those thoughts were just symptoms of sleep deprivation, I just blew the horn instead. That tom tipped me off to his roost location as he flew off. I had a good feeling the next morning I’d get him. He was clearly callable onto some land I have permission to hunt by a farmer who likes to have a lot of turkeys removed from his land.
I continued on my way to check out a hillside pocket that is only reachable by boat and since the rivers were above flood stage the turkeys should be in the “pocket”. Sure enough, I settled in called with a few clucks, noticed a black stump that looked very much like a turkey staring at me, red-headed and all. Figured it was a stump with a cardinal sitting on it. There have been a lot of cardinals and scarlet tanagers this year causing excitement here and there. Lack of sleep does that to you sometimes, so I lowered my eyelids to check for leaks. When I opened them a few minutes later the black stump was gone; I clucked and there he was not quite 30 yards standing at attention in the wide open woods staring at the lump that was me. Fortunately, my gun sling is always hooked on my left knee holding the barrel level out front and this tom is standing right in front of the gun barrel. All I needed to do was raise it up and one tag for the last season was filled.
Tongue Teaser call brought em in again.
That left two tags in my pocket for Friday. The determination to bag that most irritating strutter in the county rose to an obsessive level. That is, until Friday morning, when I forced myself out of bed, shooting that poor turkey did not seem as important as it did yesterday.
At 6:10 am I found myself laying back in a grassy field wash using the folds of the field to hide me. Lying back when you need sleep is not conducive to remaining alert. However, the chain gobbling that answered my first tongue teaser yelp sure did get my full attention and when that yelp was followed up with some walking clucks and a single yelp to be answered by near constant incoming gobbling from two sides—sleep just slid way down the priority list.
During late seasons my Willow Ridge Tongue Teaser – Gobbler Pine Box is the call I turn to, Scott made this special for me to use in the fall for calling in gobblers. It works whenever, the need to make gobbler calls arises.
In about 20 minutes the five toms converged on my location, marching as if on a mission to either recruit the lonesome gobbler (me) or kick his butt. I do not which it was, for they did not get any time to explain. At mid-gobble my gun commanded silence from the first one at 15 yards. The other four turned around marching away single file when a single cluck stopped them and turned em around for the gun to silence the second one mid-gobble at 30 yds filling my last two tags for the final season.
Late season turkeys are challenging to find, but when you do it might be double the fun.
You’d think, the season would end there… Not in Wisconsin, there are still thousands of OTC tags left and two of those are now in my pocket. Heck, sleep is overrated, I have all summer to catch up on it.
As I sit in turkey setups I ponder “How Many Syllables are in a Gobble? Thanks to a text I received the other day from my buddy treerooster. Just what I needed as if I didn’t pay close enough attention to gobbling before this question was planted in my inquiring mind. Now the old ears are trying to feed every note upstairs for analysis. And it seems to be a depends on what the gobbler is seeking to communicate or how aggressive he is feeling. Some gobbles are short with few notes or syllables, while others are quite complex with short and long notes and syllables.
It’s a real legitimate question to which nearly all other turkey hunters have not thought about very much.
Please list your thoughts and observations in the comment section.
The Rain Bird
by FirstBubba
It’s April 13th and so far, turkey season has been a bust! I’m seeing birds but my every attempt has been thwarted! Soooo…I’m up early this morning to try again!
A gusty north wind greets me at the door. Lightning to the northeast provides brief illumination as I scurry to the truck with my shotgun. I almost turn back, but forge ahead into the gloomy morning.
Parking at the gate, the one ton Dodge rocks and rolls as the blustery wind buffets it broadside!
Again I think, “Why don’t you just go home?”.
At 6:45 AM, daylight is breaking through the gloom. I gear up and head across the soggy pasture to my ” spot”. Thirty-knot wind gusts and 58°! It ain’t fittin’ weather fer man nor beast! After fiddling around a bit, I get my gear spread out and set up.
Buffing the surface of a slate call, I send a few yelps into the gale. That won’t be heard until it reaches the next county over! Oddly, I get a reply from across the creek to the east! Cross a creek? In a rain storm? R-I-G-H-T!
I settle back and wait.
The spot is comfortable, but the wind is miserable. Especially since it’s beginning to spit rain. “Just what I need!”
Lo and behold! Out of the storm, I see a jake cautiously approaching. I get my gun up but a small hackberry tree blocks my shot. A little shift and lean to the right and I get him lined up, but it also spooks him and he’s having none of it! He scurries off in a trot.
The rain picks up.
Minutes later, what appears to be a rain-soaked tom gingerly approaches from my left. I suppose it’s because of the rain, but this is one scroungy looking bird!
The rain picks up.
Approaching dead on, I’m having a hard time detecting any “tom” features like beard or fan. One or two tail feathers seem to be dragging the ground.
The bird finally turns far enough to his left that I can detect a decent beard through the rain, thunder, lightening and wind.
The safety snaps to the off position and he approaches dead on. At 20 yards, he stops and stares at me through the rain. (did I mention it was raining?) The recoil is unexpected and he collapses in a pile of soggy feathers.
FINALLY! This was my first bird since 2011!
I retrieve my bird and begin to pick up my gear as the cadence of the raindrops increases.
Two toms appear out of the storm from the east! They had to be the birds gobbling at me from across the creek earlier. I’m in a “2 Tom” county, but they’ve seen me move and all the soft clucks and purrs won’t bring them in. They skirt around me at 70 to 80 yards and head west across the rain-soaked pasture.
I get my gear picked up and reach over to a broken limb to grab my hanging camera. The two toms that came from the east are coming down the fence line from the west…..in the rain!
When I step out into the open, 8 to 10 birds gathered under the pecan trees scurry across the pasture and the two stragglers join them!
I’m covered up with birds! I’m soaked! I’m cold! I’m elated! I’m going home!
Old Rainy 22 lbs. 9-inch beard and .75 inch spurs
This bird only had 7 tail feathers! It appeared that maybe a predator had shredded his tail. Five feathers on the left. The two on the right hung loosely and drug the ground!
I tried several times to pose him for a picture or two. Nothing worked! I finally just snapped a picture of him lying in the mud! It WAS raining, you know!
As the diesel roared to life, I realized that water was still pouring out of my rain-soaked”Boonie” hat and had to laugh! My dad used to tell me, “Son! It was raining so hard, water quit running IN my boots and started running out!” I knew exactly what he was talking about!
Now is that a ” shiny hiney” or what?
It sounded almost like a breeze moving dead leaves on the tree branches, but I don’t remember there being any leaves on the early spring cottonwoods. As another wave of the fluttering sound reached my ears I realized the sound was not the trees or any leaves; it was a flock of turkeys rustling their feathers, and there must be a lot them to make that much noise at little after 4:00 am. A few minutes later the first yelps of the morning started. Apparently, Colorado turkeys wake up much earlier than those sleepy eastern birds in Wisconsin. Sure enough by 4:30 the first crescendo of gobbling cascaded down from their roosts, each like a wave crashing on a rocky beach. Each time the audio wave began it gained volume as if urging the sun to rise early. My shivering intensified, surprised I was that cold, then I became acutely aware it was maximum exhilaration that had no relationship to the temperature, this is what turkey nirvana is all about, like being drunk on wild turkey, the non-alcoholic kind.
Six years ago, on a now defunct turkey forum, Treerooster and charlie elk recognized each other as fellow turkey nerds. We discussed things like the length of the turkey’s memory, how they find food, the effect of ground temperatures on behavior, what the snood means, why two- dimensional sight works, techniques for tree-roosting all night with turkeys; OK you get the idea. Fortunately, the forum had a private message option allowing treerooster and charlie could make hunting plans. And when charlie got enough preference points to draw a spring license he was on his way to treerooster’s hunting turf in Colorado.
Our optimism was high we waded across the dark river back to the truck. We had roosted at least 15 toms and jakes on this eve of Colorado’s opening day of spring wild turkey season. Wake up was scheduled for 3:00 am to make sure we could take our place among the roosted turkeys well before sunrise. A treerooster nugget of wisdom – “Turkey hunting extends your life, each day of turkey hunting is the equivalent of 2 or 3 days of “normal life.”
There’s something about 15 or so roosted gobblers that make the lack of sleep and morning grogginess recede into the background of one’s conscious mind. Gazing up at a half dozen roosted turkeys highlighted against the moonlit sky I wanted to give treerooster
treerooster sometimes likes to spend the night in the roost trees.
two thumbs up for his accuracy last night casting the correct GPS coordinates. Clearly, he has done this many times, and that is why I told him that I would hunt the way he hunts. And he is a one of a kind tree-roosting aficionado, sometimes he actually sleeps in the tree with the turkeys; Prefers to setup, not 200, 100 or even 50 yards from roosted birds, rather, right in the middle of them.
There was a certain surrealness sitting under roosted turkeys expecting the morning light to brighten and instead, it became quite dark after the moon set as we waited for the first glimmers of sunrise. However, the turkeys had no inhibition and continued to call and gobble to each other. They did not seem to care there were coyotes on the prowl, raccoons screaming out their mating calls; every sound caused all those anxious roosted birds to turn up the volume. Treerooster was supposed to do the calling but any calls we’d have made would be the equivalent of spitting in the ocean due to all the actual turkey noise.
Is there such a thing as sonic boom gobbling? Had anyone asked me this question before my first-morning hunt in Colorado I would have thought them crazy. But, not now. A couple of mallards came flying through the trees, and one of them quacked, this caused such loud gobbling that it caused the ducks so much turbulence they almost fell out of the air. Laughter would have erupted from me had my ears not hurt so bad, never before did I wish to turn down or remove my hearing aids on a turkey hunt. What had been 15 roosted gobblers was now apparently 50-70 raucous male turkeys surrounding us on all sides. In almost 40 years of turkey hunting, I have never experienced anything like this.
When the hens snuck up from behind on my five, I became concerned if I didn’t get a tom out this huge group I’d have egg on my face and some explaining to do. Hen turkeys are notorious for messing up a well-planned gobbler killing strategy. One of those hens got so close she could have rested her beak on my shoulder when she yelped. I swear I felt her spittle on my cheek. If she putted, no one here noticed and none of the turkeys noticed the deer that almost tripped over my boot. Thankfully, the deer did not notice me, perhaps due to all the ruckus from turkeys.
Treerooster and charlie with Colorado opening day Rio wild turkey
More gobblers flew down; it was quickly getting crowded here on the ground. Finally, the one who had strutted back and forth from one end of the limb to the other launched and sailed in. Lesser turkeys scrambled out of his way, for a brief moment he disappeared in the dawn’s light. As his head came around the other side of some wispy brush I made a quick check for any other turkeys in the area, the roar of the Benelli caused a literal explosion of turkey wings clawing at the air and every sound these large birds can make filled the woods and the surrounding grassland.
In almost forty years of turkey hunting, I’d never experienced anything like that Colorado morning. We ended the
charlie carrying Rio turkey from the kill site.
hunt intoxicated by overdosing on a whole lot of wild turkey. The non-alcoholic kind.
Hip boots are required for access.
Crossing the river with the turkey while using a walking stick to stabilize footing on the shifting sands.
Pause to soak in the hunt and wide open scenery.
Treerooster’s very comfortable camp. Where charlie managed to arrive the day before right after treerooster got is setup.
Hey treerooster, thanks for the best of the best turkey hunting experiences.
Written and photographed by FirstBubba
Basically, this was my first attempt at “wild game photography”.
Armed with a Kodak Z5010 camera and a 21x zoom lens and my trusty Ruger 6.8mm Ranch rifle, (there’s lot’sa wild hogs in the area!) I set out about a week before season to locate and photograph turkeys…or what ever else may pop out.
Settling down in a gully behind a willow log in the gathering light, gobblers loudly greeting the dawn all around me and my heart goes into overdrive!
Wanting some action shots, I set the camera to “Video” and wait.
It doesn’t take long!
Two toms approach from the west, three from across the road behind me and two more from across the creek.
A “herd” of hens gather by twos, threes, and fours from all directions until I’m a nervous wreck!
I can’t track them ALL! …and don’t want one to “bust” me!
These six toms break off, cross under the fence and are joined by one stray hen who quickly scuttles away when the six square off.
I have trouble finding the birds on the screen!
RATS!
I finally get the camera recording, the raucous “fighting purrs” breaking the early dawn quiet and filling the bottom with sound.
Now if I can just keep them on screen…THAT didn’t happen!
With nearly 2 minutes of jittery video, at least the sound turned out good! LOL!
It was nearly 10 o’clock before all the turkeys left and I could escape unnoticed.
Only when I got home did it dawn on me that I only had video and no “pictures”.
The little camera, though inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, has a feature to make “stills” from videos!
That is what you see that Charlie has so beautifully “recreated” here!
Thanks, FirstBubba for these great pictures of Oklahoma gobblers getting ready to Rumble! It’s not very often if ever turkey hunters get a front row seat to this sporting event. Heck, how many hunters would take pictures or just watch before shooting one of these fine toms?
Thanks for sharing these with us Bubba, it is really appreciated. Sure gets a turkey hunter’s blood pumping.
Be sure to check out our Turkey Sitrep and leave turkey stories and reports in your state.
Photo courtesy FirstBubba
Photo courtesy FirstBubba
Gobbler Rumble
Photo courtesy FirstBubba
Gobbler Rumble
Photo courtesy FirstBubba
Gobbler Rumble
The turkeys have started an eat ham campaign. I wonder why?
Here’s the place to post the turkey situations in your area, whether that is in WI a neighboring state or somewhere across the world.
Yesterday evening while performing one of the most important spring rituals – patterning the turkey guns, three gobblers sounded off at each shot. How is that for incentive? Yes, I do the patterning ritual every year because there are always new turkey loads and a hunter can never get enough practice. Those loud-mouthed gobblers on the hillside who kept me entertained weren’t the biggest surprise of the evening. It was the Improved Modified (IM) choke tube that performed better than the turkey full chokes.
The gobblers flew up to roost with a lot of shooting light left so; I assume they must have decided to study this situation more in-depth too. As I continued firing away, checking and double checking the patterns on the targets at varying range, those toms would purr, cluck, yelp and gobble in apparent “turkey deep thought”.
A few years ago Federal Prairie Storm, and their Mag-Shok turkey loads, both use flightcontrol wads with copper coated lead got my attention because the good folks at Federal recommend using an improved cylinder (IC) choke. Using IC choke makes it easy to change from regular upland bird hunting and turkey hunting in the fall. Patterns are very good for the specific game out my 20 or 12 gauges without needing to swap choke tubes. These loads raised my awareness of using a more open choke for better performance and accuracy. Still, for spring gobbler hunting my head stayed stuck on a turkey full choke.
Last year a good friend gave me a case of Federal 3rd Degree shells, thank you very much, good friend. This gift allowed me to test them without spending $4+ per shot. While patterning the 3rd degree through a variety of chokes from cylinder to turkey full, I discovered the Benelli factory improved modified shot the best pattern from 10 – 50 yards. The 3rd Degrees put the scatter back into scattergun. A turkey will need to be standing by himself, at least two feet from another bird or there will be collateral taking involved. At 50 yards it’s common for all shotshell patterns to be spread out. The good thing about 3rd Degrees is they are consistently spread into a nice pattern all the way. Nine to twelve pellets were delivered into the kill zone at 50 yards. I might try these during this spring’s hunt.
Thinking about the difference in shot metallic hardness of heavy shot, steel, bismuth, copper plated lead and nickel plated lead a light came on regarding the choke effect on each shot type.
Vicker hardness of shotgun shell metals
For decades my turkey shell of choice has been Fiocchi nickel plated Golden Turkey because they pattern well, inexpensive and efficiently kill turkeys. Plus with the moderate price a hunter can practice without breaking their wallet. The thing is my head got stuck on the turkey full choke is the better concept and until now.
Nickel plated shot is almost twice as hard as copper, meaning the nickel should perform better out of a more open choke, in the same manner, steel shot does, this is why I was at the range yesterday with an audience of gobblers testing standard factory chokes from Remington V3 and Benelli M2. With the V3 a modified choke shot best and the Benelli’s improve modified shot best, this was the patterning board surprise. Actually; the second surprise in that I should have thought of this a very long time ago.
Carlson Turkey Choke at 50 yards
IM choke Benelli 50 yards
IM Benelli choke 25 yards
I have no plans to shoot turkeys at 50 yards, my personal limit is 30-35 yards. It’s just more fun to call them in close.
As for the gobbling gobblers, well that is just pared for the course here in Wisconsin. Heck, sometimes they have the audacity to walk in front of me while I’m shooting. Not to worry, though, that reckless behavior ends come hunting season.
Spring 2017 is going to be good turkey hunting. After all, this is Wisconsin, home of 500,000+wild turkeys the only thing that keeps Wisconsin turkey hunters from harvesting more turkeys than any other state is the licensing scheme. The licensing process here is exclusionary by design it prevents a large number of its hunters from taking part in the spring hunt during the first 3 weeks of the season when the toms are most actively gobbling. In any case, for those with tags in their pocket hunting will good and the harvest will be in the Wisconsin average range.
During my pre-spring wanderings, I have found turkeys in some really unlikely areas such as this-
Are turkeys really around here in this desert like area?
Yes, apparently
There are a lot of wild turkeys in Wisconsin, it’s all good, bring on the spring hunt.
The first 2017 spring hunt season is starting about a week later than usual so late start could hamper the harvest of hunters who must hear gobbling in order to be successful. If the later start causes hunter effort to drop off then the harvest will be lower perhaps in the low 40 thousand range.
This forecast is not, in any way related to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources rather it is based on charlie elk’s experience, observations and fellow turkey spies across the great turkey state of Wisconsin. The first charlie turkey forecast was done in 2014 and was the opposite of WDNR dire forecast, they had forecast bad spring turkey hunting with low harvest due to the worst winter severity index ever. WDNR even cut permits by 25% at the last minute. In spite of the spring permit reductions, charlie took an opposing view and predicted a higher than average harvest. This was based on the incredible number of turkeys across the landscape during the fall of 2012 and even considering the tough 2013 winter there were very few dead turkeys reported. Turkeys are not deer so you can not apply deer management theory to turkeys. The winter severity index was developed for deer managers, not turkey managers. Turkeys have wings and when local conditions get bad they fly out of the locale for better areas.
Struggling, from the very bottom of my soul.
Ovarian cancer stole Mrs. Elk away in January, on my birthday.
I was her caregiver along every grueling step of the way, as cancer progressed throughout her lymph system and up her spine ultimately canceling every one of our plans for the future. No one could pull me away from my soulmate. Many tried, worried that I would “burnout” before the end; she needed me more than ever in our 40 years, and I need her then and now more than I can describe.
During much of that time, I could not find cohesive thoughts to write on this blog nor the other magazine articles I was supposed to write. The editors have been very understanding, and I have resumed working on those pieces along with fresh posts on this blog.
Thank you for continuing to read and comment on charlie elk’s musings.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been undergoing a lot of updating and changes during the last few years. Perhaps the most noticed are the GoWild licensing and permitting process. On January 12, 2017, I checked my spring turkey application, and to my surprise, the results of the spring turkey permit draw are posted. Best of all my grandson pulled his permit for the first time period, so I’ll be able to focus on helping him bag an early spring gobbler.
Nugget the turkey decoy. Keeps it interesting for the young ones.
Check your Go Wild account for the results.
