hunting

Sunrise on the Oklahoma Red River

November 25, 2018 by Charlie 10 Comments

The following is the account written by First Bubba detailing his effort to get a “cull buck” who earlier visited his trail camera.

Photo of First Bubba’s cull buck “My trail cam has revealed an older, heavy antlered buck that needs to be culled.”

First Bubba mentioned this buck in his comment on my deer post “My trail cam has revealed an older, heavy antlered buck that needs to be culled.”

Of course, I wished him luck with his cull operation. And here is what happens during First Bubba’s attempt at culling the big 10.

The sun is creeping up to the horizon on Red River of Oklahoma. A gorgeous morning!  Dead still, not a cloud in the sky and 30°F.  I took a 5-minute wait at the STOP sign on the highway to finally get my frosted windshield clear enough to continue.

I’m humming a tune, dreaming about the thermos of hot, black coffee and the biscuits in my pack. When I get settled into the blind and got the coffee and biscuits out, the eastern horizon is beginning its morning blush.  The food plot is dark, but I can see well enough to tell no deer are present.

The coffee and biscuits taste like heaven in the chilly gloom.  About 6:45a the biscuit is gone and the slow sipping of the coffee satisfies.

I glass the wheat pasture for movement… Nothing.

I go back to sipping the now cooling coffee… Glass again. Still nothing…Back to the coffee.
Just as I set the thermos down, the motion of a deer jumping the fence gets my attention.  I’m hoping for the big 10 point that’s on my trail camera; IT’S HIM!

7:00 AM Ruger No.1 .270 WinRedfield 4× standard
Sierra 110 grain SP
I forgot! 18.5″ outside spread.

I’m on the .270 and watching him through the scope, waiting, impatiently for him to give me a broadside.
He picks at the oats and slowly turns to offer his right shoulder…I slip the safety off, find the trigger and squeeze. He collapsed in his tracks! I never feel the recoil.

My scale only went to 160 pounds – He bottomed it out!  Field dressed, he weighed 135 pounds.
Nine points.

The Euro Mount

OOPS! Wrong buck, good luck getting the “right cull buck” next year Bubba. Or, what the heck, just keep shooting nine pointers!

Congratulations on a very nice deer.

Hunting Deer From the Ground in Wisconsin

November 6, 2018 by Charlie 6 Comments

The pungent smell of a buck drifted down on the morning thermals right when an urge to stretch crawled through my muscles. The yearn to stretch was mentally pushed aside, on a windless morning like this the smell of a deer this strong leaves me with no doubt a buck is close, very close. A glance at the winding string tied to my bow tip indicates the deer is uphill behind me 45 degrees to my right. Deer just like turkeys seem to always approach on my weak side. Many years of turkey hunting has taught me how to hide on the ground in plain sight and at moments like this, a hunter must be quiet and motionless. Everything in the woods has slowed to the speed of a molasses flow. My eyes have moved as far to the right side of my head as possible and strain to push further, there is no sound of a moving deer perhaps my nose mistook the odor. I slowly inhale, nope, there is no mistake a rutting buck is not far away. With a smell like that my bet is he is an elder carefully checking the safety of his next steps. My eyes shift to confirm the thermal’s direction. According to the frayed dental floss tied on my bow tip still shows the path of scent movement is in my favor.

Last week while sitting in a Gobbler Lounger a doe unexpectedly showed up standing right in front of me at ten yards. She busted me, stomped her foot, snorted and bounded away. After a few minutes, I bleated in the manner Ishi once upon a time would do to call deer for Pope and Young. After a short period of time, she came back, stopped at fifteen yards and bolted when my arrow passed through her engine room. I found her laying peacefully within forty yards of my shot.

Knowing that the buck uphill behind me could move off unseen in any number of directions, I decided to make the Ishi call. In this case, I did not dare touch the heel of hand to my lips. Instead, I pressed my lips tightly together as when I kee-kee on a wing bone. As I sucked air in through my lips, the desired soft bleat sounded. It worked, the buck begins quartering down the hill passing 6 feet to my right and continued angling down the slope toward the trail I had figured deer would walk along broadside past me.

Keeping an eye on the buck and the winding string on my bow I could anticipate the exact spot where the buck’s nose would intersect my scent line, much experience has taught me if there is going to be a fatal shot it must occur before that intersection. When his head went behind a tree I raised my bow, he never noticed and when his front leg extended out for his next step my arrow hit in the pocket with a hair cutting blood spraying thump. The surprised buck launched, scrambling/crashing away, all went quiet, after the saga of the buck trail last year I decided to wait 30 minutes before standing up to check anything out. Even though my broadhead was robust, sharp and the shot was good. Checked the time, 9:00 A, at 9:10A there was loud sounds of a falling deer sliding down a steep hill being cheered on by some startled squirrels. Not sure who made more noise the buck or the squirrels, this little puzzle kept me occupied for the next twenty minutes or so. Then that long-awaited stretch as I stood up felt so good.

After a rough slide down to the bottom, he lays with head resting on a rock.

Sure I had heard the buck drop I contained the urge to make haste to the place of that sound; it is always best to move with purpose along the trail without taking any shortcuts until you see the deer laying dead. At the point of the shot, there was lots of cut deer hair and foamy pink blood, but the amount of blood leading out from there was less than I like to see. However, with the large divets kicked up through the fallen leaves, there was no doubt which way the buck went. I advanced on high alert watching the trail well ahead for my deer after moving forty yards the edge of the deepest ravine on the property came into view, and few feet from the drop was a huge puddle of blood as if someone had just dumped it from a pail. Best of all 150 yards almost straight down, at the bottom of the ravine lay my buck.

Wild Turkey Burns

May 10, 2018 by Charlie 5 Comments

Two hens and three toms strutted about two hundred yards ahead. I had taken cover behind the charred remains of three oaks spaced like the legs of a three-legged stool. Other than these oaks it is wide open between the birds and me. “What to do?” Is the recurring question bouncing around in my head; with their focus on the hens it is unlikely the gobblers will pay any attention to my calls. Meaning the hens must go, only writers hunting on those protected game preserves call in hens who in turn lead the gobblers to the waiting gun. Wild turkeys in genuinely wild places do not act in this manner. Instead, the wild hens are jealous by nature and will try to lead the toms away rather than share. Without a turkey dog, a scatter will not likely be useful.

As the toms fans into the strut, they are all facing away from me, and the hens are looking in my direction; I stand up to make sure those girls see me and see they do as the scoot off into the brush line leaving the deflated gobs trying to figure out what just happened. Before they realize anything is amiss, I yammer out some forceful clucks and yelps on the slate which is the first call out of my vest, putting the birds back into a strut; Although they are standing their ground well out of range as I grab for the next call.

On my knees behind the oaks, hunched over in a semi-ball shape, boonie hat pulled low to the eyes I am hoping to appear like a turkey as the challenge yelps and clucks charge off the Tongue Teaser. I peek around, and through the blackened oaks, one of the toms is within 100 yards and closing fast, I start to shake, oh my! all this may work! How can the gun be brought to bear? As I pick up the little 20 gauge, I feel under gunned.

My poor planning has placed the gun on the left side of the trees, it would have been better on the right side, but in turkey hunting, you go with the situation. All three turkeys stop when I peek around for a look; gently I lay the gun down to pick up the call and striker. My striker’s hand is trembling with excitement to the point it’s sending out a morse code rather any sweet sounding turkey talk. I have to smirk; it’s what I love about turkey hunting, the excitement is still there.

I sway slightly side to side telling myself this is to glimpse the birds. However, it does wonders for the cramping muscles. Not only have I seen the birds, who have moved closer, one of which is now about 60 yards staring intently at the movement in the trio of burnt trees. The gun still lays near at the ready, and this is calming, I scratch the burnt ground with a stick and then make some clucks, exchange the call for the gun and lean to the left.

The nearest turkey is approaching in all his splendor head-on, the sound of his feathers is audible, he gobbles and the electricity of the moment envelopes all of us at this moment, in this burnt field. It is almost a shame the gunshot deflated the moment, but that is why we are called hunters, and that is what we hunt for time and time again.

Sage Grouse in Decline? Hunt them to save them.

January 2, 2018 by Charlie 6 Comments

The long drive to Wyoming required at least a short nap, it was still dark, and the front seat of the Wrangler was not at all conducive to sleep. However, shear tiredness has a way of dropping one into a deep sleep. As my groggy vision begins to clear and the colorful sunrise comes into focus highlighting a sea of sagebrush extending all the way to the distant mountains; Where, exactly, are we going to start looking for sage grouse? Never in my wildest dreams did sage grouse pop up as something I needed to hunt. Heck, before the Federal Government proposed listing them as an endangered species, sage grouse were not on or in my mind. If a species might become endangered, but still has a hunting season for them; then what is the best thing to do? Hunt them, to save their population.

Time to wake the curled up lump in the passenger seat, my 14-year-old grandson, who will require food immediately. Vic is staring at us with the intensity he points a bird. He slept nearly the entire 1400 miles, so his energy level is quite apparent, and by the looks of this 100 square miles of sagebrush to search, he’ll need it.

My grandson was shooting a sage grouse, while Vic watches with anticipation.

Sagebrush turned out to be more agreeable to walk through than it first appeared at least during the first several miles then without a single sage grouse rising the brush seemed to require more effort. As the sun sank towards the horizon, Vic froze, pointing intently, his first point of the day, we circled to get in front of him in a feeble attempt to “pin” the subject of his attention. Vic charged ahead, racing between us as if he was going to scatter a turkey flock and then froze pointing 90 yards on the other side of the barbed wire. My grandson eagerly raced under the fence and was quickly alongside Vic trying to get a flush. I moved to and through the gate just as sage grouse started rising. The young one fired a couple of shots, but alas, target panic set in with all those big wings scooping air around him. One grouse circled back around me to become my first sage grouse. Vic’s eyes glittered his satisfaction as he grabbed that grouse for the retrieve, oh well won’t be mounting that boomer.

The Grandson and Vic head for the top of the hill to attempt a reflush while I stayed put directing my lungs to use the scarcely available oxygen available at 6,700-foot more efficiently. Shots ring out as another covey of

Beautiful pair of sage grouse.

grouse take to wing, and a lone bird glides downhill crumpling to my broadside shot.

The eastern sky shows off all the colors of the spectrum as the sun rises from behind the snow-covered mountains, a hot cup of coffee is at its best at these moments. This morning would be completely silent if not for the snoring of my hunt companions. Surprised they didn’t wake up when I smashed the ice in the water bucket for coffee making. It’s all good and puts a contented smile on my face.

Kids will be kids, even while hunting. My grandson has a powerful urge to get into the snow; he is an avid snowboarder, and thankfully we did not pack his snowboard. Being an easy touch grandpa, I readily agreed we need to take a trip up to the snow line after all its things like this I bought the Rubicon for. I had assured myself as I plopped down the cash for what was a shiny-new Wrangler that I had no intention of rock crawling with it. Not only did we crawl over stones we did several water crossings and wallowed our way through some of the stickiest mud the earth has to offer. It was all worth it.

As we hunted our way down the mountain, Vic pointed a covey of grouse that held tight as Walker moved around to the front of Vic. With the five birds pinned they exploded straight up above dog and kid whose shot was right on bringing to hand his first sage grouse.

Hunting was good even though we were not hunting in a sage grouse core area which of course caused us to wonder if grouse hunting would be any better in a core area so as in the old saying “Go West…” we packed up and headed further west. In hunting, the experience and adventure are just as relevant as bagging the game, maybe more important.

Tired and looking forward to a restful camp; we turn off the highway and spot Rick with his old reliable English pointer. So many times stories circulate about selfish, thoughtless hunters, I believe them to be mostly false narratives repeated again and again. Rick is a shining example of the many excellent hunters. Rather than tell us there were no grouse around he took us into his sage grouse tutelage. Enthusiastically explaining sage grouse is one of the last remaining old west experiences that may soon be coming to an end. He has been hunting them for a half a century.

Rick made sure a restful camp was not coming our way until well after sunset; he took us out grouse hunting all the while explaining the subtle difference in sagebrush along with the mix of terrain sage grouse require to prosper. We entered the brush with dogs locked on

Expert advice. If you do not find sage grouse droppings, you are not hunting in the right place.

hardpoints and coveys of grouse taking off in waves, a restful camp faded to a distant memory. After all, first things first, right? My grandson shot another grouse and then another to take his daily limit. We experienced an old Western hunt complete with the smell of sage, a peaceful sunset and that welcome feeling of tiredness at the end of a good day’s hunt. Our camp was set up after dark surrounded by stars that appeared to be a mere arm’s length away. I looked forward to what the morning sunrise would reveal.

Rick explained there is no reason to rise early for sage grouse; they roost on ridge tops and fly away as soon as they see danger coming. Then as the morning warms the grouse move down into the cuts and draws to start feeding where it is much easier to hunt them. Dogs will scent better, and the sage grouse tend to hold tighter at the dog’s point.

We spent several delightful days hunting and learning with Rick. All too soon we felt that melancholy of a season coming to a close. We bid farewell and headed off in opposite directions for our homes.

To me, this photo captures so much of what a hunt is all about.

Each day of hunting provided us delicious lunches of sage grouse, as much as we could eat. Contrary to what I’d heard sage grouse are excellent eating. They are dark-breasted birds so caution must be used in preparation not to overcook. The grouse meat is naturally seasoned with a mild taste of peppery sage.

Sage grouse do not have a significant following; this puts them in danger of remaining a low valued species. Low valued species have a long history of not being appreciated and when decisions about habitat are made those species with high value will always be taken care of first, i.e., antelope, deer, elk, etc.

We highly recommend you enjoy some sage grouse hunting.

Vic and Charlie Turkey Dogging Video

November 17, 2017 by Charlie 19 Comments

Shane Simpson, Vic and I have been trying to get a turkey dogging episode completed for a few years. Either the weather, the turkeys or life’s turns have not worked out until now. Many times I’ve told Shane it is the jinx of the camera; seems like whenever a camera is on one of my hunts…Well, things don’t go as planned.

After several days of hunting, it finally came together.

Let us know what your thoughts are on this video. Visit Shane’s website Calling All Turkeys.

Wisconsin Summer Hunting Season 2017

October 7, 2017 by Charlie 8 Comments

The opening day of hunting season always dawns with the excitement of high expectations and a healthy dose of optimism thrown in for good measure. More often than not reality begins to set in as the temperature steadily climbs to water gulping levels and all forms of flesh-eating insect life start its daily routine. As it was on the opening weekend of Wisconsin’s fall turkey season, sometimes this makes hunting feel more a slog than a fall hunt in the north country.

No matter, dedicated hunters do not quit over such trivial discomforts. Even with the success of the federal government’s efforts to increase the Massasauga Rattlesnake population; who the heck thinks that’s a good idea!? Vic the turkey dog and I continued hunting. Although, considering wild turkeys may be the snake’s number one predator I did consider pursuing something else. Nah.

We use ravines and dry washes to “sneak” on likely turkey locations.

After all the years of turkey hunting, one would think Charlie would be ready for the early fall birds who spend nearly all day in the treetops. These tree walking turkeys make it hard for a turkey dog to find and scatter and during a setup, it is tough to determine if an approaching turkey is on the ground or coming in via tree limbs. If they are in the full foliaged trees taking a clean shot is also problematic at best.

Over several days of hunting; burning high quantities of Therma Cell fuel, repellant pads, drenching the hunting clothes and Vic’s fur in permethrin. A healthy dose of deet applied around out face and ears; a few really close calls at getting a shot on a turkey, I started to wonder if a 2017 Wisconsin Slam was within reach. A Wisconsin Slam consists of killing at least one turkey during each season of the year; spring, summer, fall, and winter. Official autumn is September 22nd, so Vic and I had better figure out how to get our summer turkey of 2017 season.

Vic’s tongue was hanging to the ground and sweat pouring down my back we figured it was time for water and a rest. Vic had coursed 12 miles so far for the day while me, the lazy human only did about 4 miles. These are known distances thanks to the Garmin Astro 320 tracking GPS.

As the late morning was about to turn to afternoon, we sat together to refresh with water and perhaps a nap. As is my custom whenever there is a pause, I make some turkey noise on a wingbone to which a turkey promptly responded with a gobble! Not a full gobble, rather a jake of the year gobble and his gobble was answered by two more gobbles. A group of jakes is a fall turkey hunter’s dream because they are the easiest to birds to call in, and these birds were not an exception. They came trotting right to us in spite of me not having my face net down nor were my hands covered by gloves. There was a feeling of nakedness and exposure that would cause them to bust before coming into gun range. Must have been all the insects hovering between them and us.

A nice plump Wisconsin Summer jake of the year.

Happy turkey dog Vic on a hot summer day during Wisconsin fall turkey season in 2017.

Here is what this turkey was eating. Crops tell the story.

Wisconsin Collector Stamps; How to order

August 17, 2017 by Charlie 1 Comment

All 2017 Wisconsin wild turkey hunters can request a collector turkey stamp.

There was a time when hunters and fisherman received the actual stamp at the time of in person purchase. Nowadays we all buy our sporting licenses digitally, and the stamp fee is listed on our receipt to prove we have paid. For the most part, hunters just pocket their receipt or in some cases load it onto a smart phone and head for the fields, marshes, and forests. In all the

2016 Wild turkey stamp is still available to license buyers, for the asking.

the excitement of preparing for the hunt, the last thing we think about is an artistic stamp.

Not long ago the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced the artists who won the collector stamp competition. This news got me to thinking about, “back in the day”… where upon it dawned on me that I have a lot of the old stamps. Are these new stamps available even to those who purchase licenses online? The answer is YES.

2017 Wisconsin great lakes salmon trout stamp

To see the contest results and rules for upcoming stamp competition go the Wisconsin DNR website and enter key word “stamps” in the search bar. The artists compete for the honor of being the best; they are not compensated monetarily, their work is a donation to the cause. Of course by competing they get publicity for their work and bragging rights if they win. My grandpa also said, “it ain’t bragging if you do it.” and “no brag, just fact.”

2017 Wisconsin Pheasant Stamp

2016 WI state waterfowl stamp

To obtain stamps for previously purchased stamp privileges:
If you purchased a license for the previous or current year with the Wildlife or Fish Stamp privilege(s) you can obtain the stamps by the following methods:

Request your stamp online by completing the Online Order Form;
At any DNR Service Center.

Anyone can purchase Wisconsin collector stamps by:

by mail using the Collector Stamp Order (form 9400-567) [PDF]
at any DNR Service Center.

The funds raised through the purchase of these stamps are used to improve habitat. I encourage more people to step up and do their part

2017 WI trout stamp

to improve wildlife and fishery habitat across the state of Wisconsin. Some folks are probably wondering why charlie has the fishing stamps; each year I purchase the Conservation Patron license, this license includes the financial requirements for almost all the outdoor activities in WI. Even though I do not use the state park system, rarely fish and only sometimes trap I recognize these are important aspects of outdoor recreation that deserve support so that all can enjoy pursuits of the outdoors now and in the future. Money well spent.

2016 WI pheasant stamp

Leupold LTO Thermal Tracker Viewer; User Review

August 16, 2017 by Charlie 6 Comments

A hunter who is planning to purchase a Leupold LTO thermal tracker to use for finding downed game–Save your money. If you are thinking of using this unit for security, then it might be worth it. The LTO works for seeing intruders outside in cleared areas around buildings if there is nothing in the way. In other words, it can function as a limited night vision scope.

In July Cabelas gave me a special price, $499 plus free shipping. I’d been reading the professional/celebrity hunter reviews regarding this tracker. Heck, sounded like the solution to those difficult tracking problems particularly during the early season bow hunts when the Wisconsin vegetation makes seeing a downed deer or bear nearly impossible until you bump into it.

Sadly, this does not perform well under field conditions.

For many years I’ve been a big fan of Leupold optics, so I expected this tracker to work as advertised. Sadly, it does not live up to the hype. Here the selling points:

Operating Temperature: -4F to 140F – The temps I used it ranged from 65F – 90F. If anything was between the target and the tracker heat interference was so intense the target could not be discerned.
Detection Distance: 600 Yards- No way this thing can help you see anything at 600 yards distance. In the dark, looking for some horses and cows standing 200 yards distance. Nope, could not identify them, they were just “heat lumps” mixed in with the heat rising from the pasture and fence posts. If a deer had been down somewhere in that field, the hunter would have had to walk around checking out thousands of heat signatures. My flashlight did a better job of locating the animals.
Six optional thermal palettes and adjustable reticle – Yes has these but they were not helpful dealing with any background or foreground heat signatures. Heat from everything; trees, grass, brush and the gravel road showed up on the screen as blurry colored heat spots.
Find game using thermal imaging – The prime reason I purchased. Wanted this LTO to work and I tried to find ways to make it work for finding downed game. I killed a rabbit for some fresh animal blood to experiment with, not to worry we ate the rabbit meat. I could not see the blood spots using the LTO during the day or in the dark. The rabbit lying dead in the lawn was obscured by background heat on the screen even though I could plainly see it. It seemed like the rabbit’s fur blocked its body heat. The only heat was on its nose and the openings of the ears.

Fur blocks body heat!?

Yes, it does.

My Siberian husky has a lot dense fur (as do deer), and only her nose and eyes showed up on the Leupold LTO. My Vizsla has short hair; his body heat signature showed. However, when he entered long wispy grass, he disappeared from the LTO screen. It is puzzling that anyone who has sorted through a challenging trail would find this unit helpful. I suspect those reviewers who claim that the Leupold LTO is going to make hunters “lazy trackers” because it is so easy to find downed game have not used this product in the field or bothered to test it under any semblance of conditions on the ground.

I concluded, after using the Leupold thermal tracker under conditions commonly encountered while hunting that it will be more of a hindrance than a help. There are no technological shortcuts to finding game animals. Hunters must train themselves and continue to practice good woodsmanship. Thankfully, I purchased it from Cabelas and was able to return it for a full refund.

Grandkids and Puppies Go Together; especially if the puppies are Vizslas!

August 9, 2017 by Charlie 9 Comments

Some questions don’t have to be asked twice-I’m going to visit Vic’s breeder and he has a litter

A basket of puppies. Life is good.

of Vizslas; “Would you like to come with?” Heck, I don’t remember hearing an answer but the Jeep had both the grandkids sitting in it ready to go. Clearly, those kids had puppy fever which was betrayed by all their quivering as we drove the 200 some miles to Lone Oak Vizslas in Hutchinson Minnesota.

I have to admit this trip could have turn out to be “dangerous” for me, Vizsla puppies, particularly those from a strong hunting line are very, very tempting to a man with an empty

Please get off me!

place in his heart. However, I am not known as a fellow who would pass on an adventurous trip due to any type of challenge being involved. Besides, the main reason for this trip was to talk to Marc about breeding Vic. We had planned to do this a few years ago but Mrs. elk’s cancer put those plans on hold.

Vic will be seven years old in December 2017, it’s getting time for him to work with an apprentice. Turkey dogging requires a dog to learn a specialized skill set and to know the difference between turkey hunting versus other upland birds. For example, Vic knows he must range out 200 to 400 yards to find a flock of turkeys then charge in to scatter those birds rather than point them. If I have heard the turkeys scatter Vic finds me and leads me back for a setup. While on setup during the call back he needs to be still and hold steady at the gun as the turkeys come into range. On command, he goes out to hold the bird in place rather than retrieve as he does with the traditional upland game birds. As regular readers of this blog know when Vic and I are hunting the upland birds like grouse, pheasant, and woodcock he works the traditional pointing style hunt. That is he finds the bird, points holds steady to the gun and retrieves to hand. Assuming I have done my part in that equation, if not, I become the recipient of “the look.”

Vic chatting it up with the ladies.

All that is easy to write and with the right bloodline in the dog, training in all those different skills is achievable. With Vic, it was remarkably easier than I had anticipated. Marc is a good breeder who loves his dogs who have good hunting pedigrees.

As of a couple of weeks ago, there were a few puppies not spoken for from this litter so if you have an interest you can contact Marc or Kerri at Lone Oak Vizslas. Also, there was another litter born last week with some puppies not spoken for yet.

We plan to breed Vic late October – early November, so his puppies will be born in December and ready for pickup early February 2018. There is never a guarantee, hopefully, Vic’s offspring will continue his hunting pedigree. To say I am excited about training up another hunting companion is an understatement.

Enjoy all the pictures.

Papa to be Vic.

Am I cool or what?

What you want now?

Super heroes are boring.

Take me home with you?

I can point.

Seriously? I know I can hunt.

Wyoming Snow Turkeys

July 13, 2017 by Charlie 38 Comments

In many parts of the country, July spells are hot, or July suffers hot spells, in any case, the heat can be oppressive. While all this is happening memories of snow and frozen turkeys sound extra appealing. After experiencing an intoxicating Colorado turkey hunt that came to an end much faster than anticipated any “regular” turkey hunter would try to figure out where to hunt next. Well, Wyoming is on the way home from Colorado to Wisconsin, right?

At times it seems like Nebraska is everywhere

On the drive north to Wyoming, hey forgot about having to traverse Nebraska too, the weather forecast for Sundance not only contained rain. But the rain was expected to turn into snow by morning in the shadow of Devil’s Tower. Change of plans on the fly seemed a prudent choice. Check the Wyoming map, err; What Wyoming map? A stop at the Sidney Cabelas fixed that problem with the purchase of aWyoming onXmap GPS map chip. Cell phones do not work where there is prime hunting in the hills of Wyoming.

Wunderground has personal weather stations all over the country for which they provide point weather forecasts. Due to incoming weather, my decision was to hunt much further south than usual where only rain was supposed to fall during the night. The map chip got me to a remote campsite in an area with lots of potential and high enough that I should be able to hear morning turkeys for quite a distance.

Totally content, sipping a hot cup of coffee in a snug camp I figured I’d better refresh the old memory about the ins and outs of Wyoming hunting regulations. “You have got to be kidding!?” my brain silently screamed, a habitat stamp is required, and the kindly elder lady at the gas station forgot to mention when I asked if this is all the license needed to hunt turkeys. Oh, well, bless her, my mother wouldn’t have told me any different.

Turkey hunting destinies do not work out in obvious ways. The jeep’s bouncing along in the dark on my camp’s trail signaling the 160+ mile habitat stamp round trip was nearly the end. I now felt like something great was going to happen in the morning. Thank goodness that Shopko had still been open on this fateful Sunday.

At my predawn awakening, it was evident by the sag in the tent, that snow had moved further south. The good news, the temperature was

Wyoming spring turkey hunt welcome mat

well below freezing which ensured the Colorado gobbler was frozen solid, likely for the duration of the expedition.

At this point in the story, I’d love to write about toms on every mountain top angrily gobbling the snow away and stomping in practically tripping over their beards. But, alas, that is not the way the day went. This turkey hunter did his share, make that more than his share of tromping or slipping up then down hill and dale to the tune of a gobble-less day.

My body tells time, there is no sense to wearing a watch or checking a phone see what the time is, a turkey hunter must learn to operate on turkey time. Whatever in the world that is exactly. Unmistakably, it was approaching evening meaning it would be a good idea to move from my after dinner relaxation and into putting a gobbler to bed mode. Camp is remote, thankfully, I shouldn’t have to travel far, just to point over there and make some turkey talk.

Stretching as I stood up from a good camp meal I put the wingbone call to my lips and let loose some plaintive lost yelps immediately answered by the first gobble of the day. The sound echoed making it difficult to tell where it emanated from, yelped again. By golly, those birds are close and getting closer fast!

Grabbed the shotgun and started heading for some kind of a setup. As any experienced turkey hunter can attest a “setup” can be overrated in particular when you see the strutters heading your way across an open alpine meadow. Hunter movement is not helpful in this case, so I artlessly hide standing behind the closest towering Ponderosa pine.

The gobbling has stopped for what seems an eternity. A peek to see what is going is imperative in my mind. The peek reveals two toms strutting on their toes as if a pair of ballerinas. At thirty yards it’s time to get to the shooting part. Mountain Merriams are not noted for how close they get to a hunter.

As I stepped around and even with the tree keeping my left shoulder in contact the far gobbler drops out of strut and begins eating! The near tom stays in half strut while extending his neck to get a better look at the expanding tree.

This is why it is important to camp where the game is rather than staying miles away.

Perhaps he thought the shotgun was just a growing branch. Somethings we will never know.

Nightfall brought clear sky with bright stars.

Nothing to do now except enjoy the evening.

Do Hunters really do this? Are there Those Who are That Dumb?

June 18, 2017 by Charlie 10 Comments

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.

Beyond The Patterning Board; X-Rays of Shot Turkey Head/Necks

June 16, 2017 by Charlie 49 Comments

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!)

All three birds dropped at the shot.
All three birds were taken with 2.75″ Winchester Super-Handicap
Heavy Target Load @1250fps with 1 1/8 ounce of #8 lead shot.

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!

The Rain Bird

May 10, 2017 by Charlie 2 Comments

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!

Ending up Intoxicated on Wild Turkey in Colorado

May 1, 2017 by Charlie 8 Comments

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.

Wisconsin Game Warden Invoked a Scare in Charlie

December 8, 2016 by Charlie 6 Comments

A few weeks ago Vic and I concluded a quick pheasant hunt and then decided to move to the end of a dead end road in hopes of finding some turkeys. As we traveled down the road, a Wisconsin warden waved us down and immediately asked if I was Charlie Elk. An ice chunk quickly knotted in my gut, oh no!; has something happened to Mrs. Elk? Vic and I were out cell coverage for only a short time… The concern must have shown on my face because Warden Thiede quickly added he had run my plates on his way in, oh whew, I relaxed. Mrs. Elk has been chronically ill, so we don’t leave her alone for any extended period of time.

Warden Thiede went on the ask about our hunting success, a standard tactical question for law enforcement to get a feel as to whether or not a subject is a possible violator who is worthy of additional scrutiny. With all the changes Wisconsin has made to our licensing system, I returned a question for each of his questions to find out what exactly a law enforcement officer would know about me by only checking my vehicle plates. Besides, many wardens are a wealth of information regarding hunting pressure and game sightings; you just have to spend some quality time visiting time with them. Officer Thiede was no exception he had maps of hunting lands that are not available on the Wisconsin department’s website yet. And best of all I did not know about WDNR recently purchasing these, nor do most other hunters.

Here’s what he knew about me by just running my vehicle’s license plate number before we started conversing:

How many licenses and tags for what species I’d bought this season and last season.
Of course my name, address, phone and Hunter I.D. number. Hunter numbers are now our WDNR identification. Contrary to what many believed, the old back tag numbers never were quickly connected to a licensee. If a back tag number was reported, it could take hours for a violator’s identity to be reported back to a field officer.
How many game registrations I have made, not only this year but every year since I have been hunting in Wisconsin. That’s 50+ years! An extensive list indeed.
He knew many of the public wildlife areas I have hunted this season and last season. WDNR staff take pictures of license plates they encounter in parking zones. I assume they upload these to a database.

As Wisconsin moved towards the current online license system, many raised warnings and concerns about massive increases in poaching. However, this is clearly a false assumption. Game wardens and sheriff deputies now of instant access to real-time information. There is no longer room for a bad hunter to play around with their tags, once registered it is virtually punched out. If an officer hears about someone bagging a deer or turkey, he can quickly check a registration, if nothing is recorded the warden knows he or she is on the trail of a violator. Our new license system here in Wisconsin is very good and Go Wild is easy to use.

Velvet Trophy Shows His Stuff

August 1, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Due to Vic’s training, he will not chase deer.

On Sunday, Vic and I were out for a woodland stroll during the lunch hour. Of course, our ultimate goal is to locate turkeys and check on the local flock dynamics. There are so many deer across the landscape these days that most of the time they just blend into the background, but then on occasion, a few standout.

You never know what you’ll see on a summertime stroll in a Wisconsin Woodland.

This smallish velvet buck was eating small burning nettles, as Vic and I approached he lifted his head and walked over to get a better look at us. Fortunately, I had my camera and was able to get out and turned on.

Deer, including trophy class bucks, are not afraid of dogs.

As the deer approached, Vic sat near my left leg, so I was able to snap this picture of a beautiful public land buck. After spending the better part of a half a century pursuing trophies like this, I marvel at how at home they are around dogs. I wrote about deer and dogs here. I know what some readers are thinking, “Oh, well, that’s just a summertime buck.” Wrong, this happens in the fall while wild turkey hunting, pheasant, grouse, or woodcock hunting. At that time of year, a shotgun is in my hands, and the camera is in a waterproof, cushioned pocket so getting a picture like this is more challenging. Interestingly the deer will tolerate my dog even if he growls or barks at them, but they will not stand around when I start digging in my pockets.

My passion these days, fall turkey hunting, so now the question I ponder; Should I go out this season and take him or should I give the GPS coordinates to some other deserving hunter?

Deer can’t be reliably saved for future years because there are too many hazards in the wild that most likely will take their lives. In Wisconsin, a buck deer like this has about a 50% CWD infection rate. There is a 50/50 chance that any buck you encounter will look like this next year.

Patrick Durkin wrote an excellent piece on CWD in WI. His article should be mandatory reading for all hunters.

Somewhere along the line this fall I’ll meet a deerhunter who’d like a crack at a nice buck and I’ll give them the coordinates. Perhaps, they’ll tip me off as to where all those turkeys I’ve been seeing went.

Deadline; Wisconsin Hunting & Trapping August 1

July 22, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

In Wisconsin hunters and trappers have deadlines to meet. August 1 is approaching fast; it is the fall permit deadline for wild turkey, bobcat, sharp-tailed grouse, fisher, and otter.

MADISON – August 1 is an important deadline for fall hunters and trappers pursuing wild turkey, sharp-tailed grouse, bobcat, fisher and otter.
Permit applications for fall hunting can be purchased for $3 ($6 for bobcat applications) online at gowild.wi.gov, at Department of Natural Resources service centers, and at all license agents. License sales are no longer available by phone, but the live operators at the DNR Call Center can help answer any questions hunters may have about the permit application process. The Call Center is available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, and can be reached at 888-WDNR-INFo (1-888-936-7463).

Fall wild turkey

Unit 1-5

Sept. 17 through Dec. 31

Zones 6 & 7

Sept. 17 through Nov. 18

Sharp-tailed grouse:

Oct. 15 through Nov. 6

Bobcat hunting and trapping

Season 1 – Oct. 15 through Dec. 25
Season 2 – Dec. 26 through Jan. 31, 2017

Fisher trapping

Oct. 15 through Dec. 31

Otter trapping

North Unit; Nov. 5 through Apr. 30, 2017
Central & Southern Units; Nov. 5 through Mar. 31, 2017

Fall Turkey info;

There will be 101,300 wild turkey permits available to hunters for the fall 2016 turkey hunting season.
Permit availability was increased by 200 in each of the three northernmost turkey management zones (Unit 5, 6 & 7) to meet hunter demand better.
Any fall turkey permits remaining after the initial drawing will go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. on August 27.
Leftover fall turkey permits will be sold by unit until sold out or the season ends.
Units 1-5 – 2016 is the first year fall turkey hunting will be open statewide on the Friday before the opening of the firearm deer season.
Hunters may use dogs to hunt wild turkeys during the fall season throughout the state of Wisconsin.
The bag limit is one turkey of any age or sex per fall turkey hunting permit.

Sharp-tailed Grouse info;

25 sharp-tailed grouse hunting permits will be available for Unit 8 only.
Represents a 75 percent decrease from 2015.
Permit levels were decreased to balance hunter opportunity with a more prudent level of harvest.
Sharp-tailed grouse management units use the same boundaries and designations as game management units (GMUs); a map is available on the sharp-tailed grouse page on the WDNR website.
Hunters are reminded to review the zone map carefully and apply only for the open unit.

River Otter, Fisher & Bobcat Info;

Approved quotas for river otter, fisher, and are available on the trapping page of the Wisconsin DNR website.
Quotas for most zones are similar or slightly higher than 2015.
Permit numbers, based on success rates, and drawings for all three species will take place in August 2016
Permits will be available in early September.
Applicants need to check their online Go Wild account early September for an awarded a permit.

July Gobbling in Wisconsin; when and why wild turkeys gobble

July 21, 2016 by Charlie 5 Comments

July 21, 2016, the sunrise was greeted by profuse gobbling. How cool is that on what is predicted to be the hottest day of the summer?

Why do gobblers gobble in July?

This morning is not the first time I have heard gobbling toms during the summer months. There always has been a bit of mystery as to why there is any gobbling outside of the traditional spring mating season. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard male turkeys sounding off during every month of the year, plus, many of my fellow hunters report the same type of off-season gobbling all year long.

Here is my reasoning as to the timing of gobbles

Late January – March:

Male turkeys are coming out of winter with different levels of physical strength along with differing levels of mating hormones. The pecking order as established last fall is in the process of being reorganized while the bachelor flocks are beginning to separate. All of this change is very exciting causing much gobbling.

April – May:

Of course, all hunters know this is mating time, the gobbling is an attempt to attract hens and scare off lower ranking toms and jakes. A mystery many hunters ponder is why on some of the spring days the sound of gobbling rings throughout woodlands and on other equally nice weather days mornings can be greeted by silence? Personally, for the most part, I believe the amount of gobbling is directly related to the willingness of hens to mate and the number of gobblers competing for the hen’s attention.

June – August

During June gobbling for mating is winding down and the remaining male turkeys are becoming more interested in forming their
Courtesy of D Gordon Robertson

summertime bachelor groups. Some strutting and gobbling continue in an attempt to locate hens that did not breed or have lost their nest. I’ve seen toms strutting in fields with attentive hens as late as the first week in August.
Male turkeys are less competitive and because they are seeking each other’s company rather than only focusing on hens. Gobbling and coarse yelps are used to find each other. A lot less fighting takes place at this time of year.

September

The jakes of the year are asserting themselves and anytime during the day short higher pitch gobbles will be heard. They will be leaving
Jakes milling around

their broods to form what I think of as gangs, much like teenagers who don’t want anything to do with the brood hen. Many times these jakes seek out broods of hens with jennies to target for harassment.
September is an exciting time to hunt these jakes. When you find them, they respond quickly and aggressively to calling. Wisconsin fall turkey season opens mid-September.

October – November

Winter flock formation begins to take place in earnest. As these weeks click by the flocks become larger as more birds join male flocks with separate flocks for the ladies. Establishing pecking order in both flocks is contentious, so wild turkey calls abound at all times of the day.
Male turkeys, in particular, will fight, gobble and yell at each other.; This is the best time to get a fall gobbler, considered an extra special trophy by many hunters.

December – January

Winter has arrived, the turkeys settle in with the acquisition of food high on their daily agenda. Occasional tiffs and arguments erupt over the more desired food sources. A few gobble will be heard from time to time, but mostly angry purrs or clucks warn off an encroaching turkey.
If a band of turkeys finds one particularly, abundant food source they will call to others and males may gobble.

All of the above is reason enough to get hooked on year-round turkey hunting.

Deer Can Hear Your Muscles Move?

June 26, 2016 by Charlie 3 Comments

Have you ever had a whitetail deer standing real close looking the other way while the wind is blowing from the deer towards you? This deer appears to be totally unaware of the danger near him. The draw is silent yet, suddenly for no apparent reason other than some dang sixth sense he tenses and bolts away out of range only to stiff leg around for a few minutes before fading off out of sight.

During my half-century of hunting a scenario like this has happened on more than one occasion. I’ve sadly shaken my head in defeat while racking my brain trying to figure out went wrong at the moment of truth. And not just deer, other animals such as turkeys, elk, coyotes, fox, cats and bears at times have appeared to have that sixth sense warning of danger at the very last moment. I have always thought something unnoticed went wrong, some movement, noise or scent and then redoubled my efforts to avoid making whatever mistake it was. However, in March another possibility was unveiled to me.

Early this year the upper left side of my body seized into pain shooting down my left arm causing my hand to go numb to the point where a needle pushed through it did not produce any feeling or pain. Needless to say, this is always a good reason to seek medical attention. Thankfully a heart attack and stroke were ruled out. The doctors suspected nerve damage and referred me to the neurology department.

An MRI showed nerve damage at the base of my neck, so the Doctor ordered an EMG (electromyography) and this was when things got interesting as they relate to hunting.

This EMG graph represents the noise made by contracting human muscles.

During the EMG I discovered when my muscles are moving and tensing they make noise, a lot of noise, the electrical static coming out of the EMG speakers was astounding. As soon as I heard that racket all those deer described earlier came to mind, and I remembered they came to attention just when my muscles were tensing for the draw or lifting the gun. I immediately asked the doctor if any research has been done to determine if animals can hear all those sounds. He was taken aback by that question; apparently, it had never occurred to anyone to consider the possibility. Of course, my next request was when the test is complete could we experiment with different muscle moves. He agreed.

I learned that if I quickly bunched up my bow pulling muscles, the noise went off the chart and when I ever so slowly tensed those same muscles for a draw the sound produced was much more moderate, almost a flat-line. We spent an additional 40 minutes as I experimented with different combinations of internal muscle movement while the doctor measured the sound levels and strength application. We discovered I could apply the same pressure with and without noise. Hmm…

Fewer deer escape me these days than did at the beginning of my hunting career. Buck fever does not have much effect on me anymore, and I’m smoother during the seconds of shot preparation and shooting. Perhaps there is no sixth sense, rather just a case of a very finely tuned sensory ability on the part of the prey.

Here’s a video of a basic EMG test. Mine was much more extensive, as in a lot more needles were inserted into me but the principles were fairly close to the same as shown here.

First Canadian Who Turkey Hunted in Wisconsin

May 27, 2016 by Charlie 13 Comments

First Canadian Hunts Turkeys in Wisconsin

The gobbler raucously ushered in the sunrise causing the Albertan hunter to shiver. It had to be excitement because it’s a lot cooler from where he came, so considering this was the first turkey he’d ever heard no turkey hunter would think there any other reason for the quaking.

All the way from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Kody came to West Central Wisconsin for his first-ever wild turkey hunt. To my knowledge and that of the turkey Maven within the Wisconsin DNR Kody is the first Canadian to attempt the spring turkey hunt here.

Kody and Charlie met each other seven years ago as contributors on the Outdoor Life forum. At first, they exchanged good-natured jabs and humored filled stories then moved on to email exchanges and phone conversations. There are those who think it odd or even a bit dangerous to hunt with someone you only know via “technological conversations.” However, I have not found that to be the case rather when someone is or thinks they are anonymous the real person is on display for all to see. Whereas, in person, we are all more careful to maintain the veneer of respectability.

The adventure started as soon as Kody arrived to pick up his rental car, incredibly customs was not a problem rather as events were to unfold it was the map provided by the car rental folks. Since Canadian I phones don’t work in the states, Kody would need to rely on this sketchy map, in the dark as he attempts to navigate to Charlie elk’s humble, very rural adobe.

Kody stops at the local BP station in “town” to inquire with the young lady minding the store if she could fix his Apple phone. Older folks always think any young person can fix anything tech, but in this case, the poor lass was helpless to help, so she offers the use of the station’s landline to call me. After giving Kody detailed direction a feeling of what could go wrong stuck with me. In hindsight, I realized he would likely miss seeing the sign for my road and drive to who knows where. Sure enough, he has Kim call me from her house in a neighboring micro-village. After I convinced Kim this was not a con, Kody really was from Alberta here to turkey hunt she agreed to keep him there so that I could personally retrieve him.

Finally, Kody and I are shaking hands slapping each other on the back; that is after I pull Kody away from showing Kim all his grandkid and horse pictures. Later as we sit in the trophy room drinking introductory adult beverages, Kody remarks about how friendly everyone is so late at night. Of course, that is because Wisconsinites are the most heavily armed folks in the nation, so everyone has learned to be very polite. “Even more than Texas?” Yes indeed, Wisconsin has more CC permits issued per capita than anywhere else and a strong castle doctrine to boot. At 9:30p we’d roll up the sidewalks, that is if there were sidewalks. “She might have had a gun under her table as we talked…” Very likely so Kody.

Knowing Kody was coming to hunt I had tried to avoid killing the gobbler at the start of this post. He is one of those birds that roosts in the same general area every morning gobbling his head off; this is not to say he would have given me a chance to kill him if I’d tried. Rather it’s the temptation to a veteran turkey hunter is hard to resist. Kody had never hunted or for that matter seen a wild turkey. Whenever I mentor a new hunter, right or wrong, I try to arrange a full flavored hunt; there is so much more to a turkey hunt than a kill. Now we are about 50 yards from the roost tree of a very robust gobbler and his henchmen who are ushering in the morning with all the fanfare any veteran turkey hunter appreciates; we are what is called “tight” on these birds. Getting in this close was not hard because Kody is a veteran of many other species, so he is nimble and quiet while on the move. There is nothing between these birds and us, turkey hunting mornings like this are intoxicating. For a good 45 minutes as the sun starts to crest the ridgetop, I’m starting to think a turkey for the new guy on the first morning is a real possibility. As happens more often than not the turkeys begin pitching off roost flying to wherever they hear hens. The real hens had beaten my calling.

Time to move, we started trolling our way through the valley and busted a few turkeys still on roost an hour and a half after sunrise. We spent the morning on setups working some birds here and there. At one point as I led the way up a field crest, a couple of gobblers were strutting within gun range. I immediately dropped back below and motioned Kody to sneak up; he got a good look at those birds as they impressed him with their getaway speed. Turkeys run 35 mph, fly 50 mph, see like us with eight-power binoculars, and they can see 358 degrees around. The only chink in that defense is their sight is only two-dimensional requiring them to juke their heads constantly to focus.

Kody checking the most visited area tourist attraction.

After lunch, a trip to see some tourist attraction and the gun range were in order so that Kody could shoot my Benelli M2. He shot it well, and he was deeply impressed with the tight pattern produced by the Carlson turkey choke with Fiocchi nickel plated lead shells. Kody is a guy who relishes new, different things. The lush green woodland with all the sounds of life. Northern forests are generally very hard to move through and devoid of all the noisy small critters operating on the

Kody is reading the history posters.

background canvas, some locals take it all for granted. Kody noticed it all, asked lots of questions making him a real delight to hunt alongside.

We set up in the afternoon on a wooded point that extended into a corn field we called, snoozed and called some more. Of course, all turkey hunters know what happen when we stood up to leave. That’s right, three turkeys crested the horizon and busted us. Another 5-10 minutes of sitting still while staying awake may have produced a shot.

The next morning we had to set up further away from the gobbling birds due to thin aerial cover and they had moved their roosts to the tree we had called from yesterday. A rushed or forced set up rarely makes an ideal situation but once you are there with the gobblers right uphill, few choices remain. Besides turkey hunters are almost always optimistic, that is until 20/20 hindsight kicks in as the birds leave going straight up the hill away from you.

As we snuck up that hill, Kody whispers “this is real hunting, I understand why turkey hunters are so addicted.” Just then it happened again, three gobblers in strut right in front me. In my mind, Kody came

all the from Alberta, so any possible shot is his to take. I back away and down for Kody to get into position, again they vanish in a blur of feathers. Many times disturbed turkeys are easier to call in, with Kody in the lead we move up the rest of the way to the previous day’s afternoon setup.

Within ten minutes of settling in and laying out a set of kee kees and lost yelps, a very nice gobbler comes running towards us. A stern cluck stops him to turn and look at the decoy; he takes a couple of steps towards us then abruptly stops with neck extended straight up. Kody’s heart must have been beating overtime because his shoulders, head, and gun were bobbing like a cork in some big waves. The tom stood there stationary for quite some time studying the situation; this was the first time I ever wished for a turkey gun capable of shooting 60 yards. It was tempting to have Kody take the shot and hope for the golden BB, but that is not the way I hunt and happily not the way Kody hunts. The gobbler sauntered off in spite of my purr-clucking pleas to come 15 yards closer.

During the close encounter, my phone kept vibrating this is why I hate cell phones while hunting. However, I have continually carried it afield just in case mrs. elk needed me back quickly. This time, it was not mrs. elk rather it was Shane who had wounded a tom at 8 am inquiring if I would drive up with Vic the turkey dog to help him recover the bird. Vic and I have provided many successful turkey recoveries to bowhunters. My only hesitation, this time, was one a turkey was on the way in and two Kody only had 2 and half days to hunt so I did not want to burn up any of his hunting time. When asked Kody did not hesitate to agree to help find that bird, besides, we were tired of sitting in the same place watching a dirt field without any turkey life in visual range.

When we met up with Shane Simpson, founder of Calling all Turkeys and Joe Slaton—Linden, CA 2015 NWTF national gobbler calling champion. Kody was duly impressed with my pro turkey connections. Shane brought us up to speed with the day’s earlier event by explaining and show video of the shot. The gobbler being hit hard probably had not gone too far after reaching the woods. Took Vic to the last blood, he immediately scented and went after it. The cover was thorny and think with several fallen trees. As I typical of turkeys under stress they usually hunker down tight in stuff like this and rely on staying still to keep them out of sight. Vic’s tracker showed me that he went directly to what turned out to be the turkey squatting against one of those fallen tree tops. However, Vic is a pointer, and I could not lay eyes on him nor could he see me due to the thick cover, so he came back. I made what I consider an operator error; Vic pointed that tree with me standing there and the turkey hiding on the other side. We walked around all through all the brush and brush piles; a few rodents darted about so I thought Vic may have just pointed them. The offseason is hard on Vic as I train him not to grab turkeys he finds spring and summer, come the fall season I train him back to holding turkeys. When Joe spotted the turkey, I repeated the mantra to myself “trust your dog,” I knew better but failed my dog. Gosh, darn it. I’ll do better next time Vic.

Those few days flew by and too soon it was Monday noon with Kody thinking more about how to find his way back to the airport and less concerned about the gobbler sounding off on the opposite hilltop. As with all the good times in life they eventually they end, it’s one of those bitter-sweet things.

Kody is a great hunting partner and guest. He is a good hunter who is polite, considerate and came bearing healing flowers for mrs elk. He took the time to visit with her to bring extra joy to her day. We are both grateful he chose to visit us.