The thing about afternoon turkey hunting that gives hunters fits is the lack of, or significantly reduced gobbling. Spring turkey hunters have a tendency to assume if they hear no gobbles, there are none in the area. I started regularly killing afternoon birds when I realized toms make other more subtle calls which I needed to be closer in order to hear.
After I spend a morning camped out on my rear, some 
afternoon strolling/trolling feels good. Fortunately, a walking turkey sounds very much like a walking human, so long as the human stops, pauses, slows down and does not walk in a straight line from here to there and if the person makes turkey sounds it becomes even more naturally convincing. Old-time hunters used to call this moseying, not run and gun.
In my area of west.central Wisconsin public land offers the most productive afternoon turkey hunting. The nesting habitat is better than private so hens will be more likely to be loafing, nesting, laying and uninterested in the toms.Nesting turkeys prefer more open, almost park-like woodlands for
Nesting turkeys prefer more open, almost park-like woodlands or edges of short grassy fields. Rarely will hens nest in brushy areas that diminish visibility. The incredible eyesight of a turkey is its number one defense. Clearly, it is not in their best interest to get into places of reduced visibility; this makes for ideal trolling conditions.
Trolling for turkeys involves moseying along making turkey calls. Think of it as if you were moving along searching for a buddy calling out their name occasionally. In this case, we’re looking for a gobbler who in turn is looking for company. So the hunter should yelp (hey anyone here?), cluck (I’m here, where are you?) purr with leaf scratch (yum this is tasty, and I’m content). Keep in mind the response may be a gobble, but more likely it will be a single course sounding yelp or cluck. Hearing the quieter turkey sound indicates, of course, the turkey is probably close by, so setup immediately and try to engage in conversation with the bird. Don’t be afraid to call, err on the side of more calling rather than less. Keep it soft and conversational matching the mood of the turkey with just a bit more urgency.
Another all too common springtime afternoon situation is the gobbler or gobblers strutting in a field with disinterested hens. The gobblers are openly competing for that lady’s attention, but well guys it can be frustrating, to say the least. Like nearly every other hunter I’ve tried sneaking along an opposing edge of the field, setting up and calling to the gobblers as they get more excited with each of my calls. Only to have those disinterested hens lead them off to parts unknown. Oh, well, what’s new in turkey hunting?
In this situation, I try, the edge set up and call first. Not sure why, it rarely works, it’s just that starting with the least aggressive strategy first seems to make some sense.
My experiences continue to demonstrate the fall turkey hunting tactic of scattering or break up the birds usually works better. Depending on the position of the field turkeys I wait for them to get into a position that gives me a chance of separating the hens and gobblers. The goal is to get them to run or fly off in different directions. Ideally, hens one way the gobblers go in another direction. Most spring turkey hunting articles conclude when turkeys are bumped they leave the county, and the hunt is done there for the day or week, this is not true. Years of fall turkey hunting have taught me flocked up turkeys rarely move off more than 300 yards and most of the time much less than that.
During my young hunter days, I would rush the flock by running, yelling and occasionally shooting just make more noise for a better scatter. Somewhere along the line a little more wisdom developed in my head, my running skills declined or a combination thereof, not sure which. Nowadays I “walk” the turkeys out of the field then setup to call the gobblers back.
How walking turkeys works. The field hens are more alert to my approach so as soon as they detect me moving in, they start moving towards the cover. The strutting gobblers are distracted competing with each other and ideally don’t notice the hens moving away at first. When the gobblers are looking/facing away from the hen’s direction I then yell or whistle. Toms then start of drift out of strut peri-scoping their heads up at this point it’s time to blow the whistle again in a solid, loud blast, wave and move directly to them. Since turkeys are birds that don’t “think” more times than not they keep going the direction their body points. As soon as the birds are in the cover, I move in and setup. Wait about 20 minutes before calling. If the turkeys start calling before that time, answer back.
Scattered turkeys will usually respond within about 45 minutes from the start of calling. Spring gobblers are known to respond faster because they are more vocal and driven with urgency. Keep in mind the gobblers who walked into the cover at this point are eager to reunite with the hens they abandoned.
Good hunting.
each year. Made of plastic like a credit card.
The Go Wild system replaces the current Automated License Issuance System (ALIS) that has served Wisconsin’s outdoor enthusiasts since 1999. As most longtime avid turkey hunters remember the ALIS system has not been perfect. In its early days it crashed system wide during the over the counter turkey permits sale period. The current system needs updating but it has been working well during spring turkey OTC sales. So it would be nice, I think, to have waited until after the spring turkey permit sale. Just call me paranoid.
pack of 11 that came through. Usually they would send in one wolf to the bait to see what scent they could pick up, if there was a scent of a sow with cubs they would follow it off through the woods. The people up there are screaming about the wolves. The other bear hunters I talked with that ran bear dogs, said they couldn’t run a bait more that once a week and not more that 3 times a season, because the wolves would lay in wait for them to turn the dogs loose and attack their dogs on trail. Even some of the home owners won’t let their little kids wait for the school bus at the end of their driveways anymore because the wolves would come on to their front yards and watch the kids run to the bus. One of the TV bow hunting shows had shot a big buck and the wolves got that before they found it. They warn all the hikers and skiers that use the trails up there to make sure you’re armed before entering the woods. Even when I let my dogs out to go I followed them out with my sidearm because wolves wait in my driveway some days, it doesn’t take them long to learn what times you let your pets out.
Wild turkey hunters across Wisconsin continue to enjoy the hunt of 2015. See table below. As of the end of the 4th mini season (D Season), 2015 harvest is down 1.29% from the same period 2014. Unit 4 hunters have experienced a turkey increase of 5.12%, unit 6 & 7 increased 23.6 %, 36%. WDNR cut the permits in these units by 25% in 2014 so with the permit numbers back to normal this year increase was expected.
