Archives for March 2016

Wisconsin 2016 Spring Turkey Hunt Forecast

March 30, 2016 by Charlie 2 Comments

The following 2016 Wisconsin spring turkey hunt forecast or if you prefer “prediction” is based on observations reports from my network of year-round turkey hunters. Not only do we hunt spring, summer, fall and winter; During the offseason, we explore all 7 of Wisconsin’s turkey units noting habitat condition, flock composition, and numbers. We get out from behind the windshield to hike and glass the areas.

Admittedly this preview is subject to a lot my perception based on the field reports, experiences and years of turkey hunting. Before the 2014 Wisconsin spring turkey hunt, I wrote a forecast based on my hunter network field reports. At that time nearly everyone, including the current WDNR Wildlife managers were predicting a horrible spring hunt, it was supposed to be so bad they cut tags by 25%; this was the first time in state history the number of available turkey tags slashed. I stuck my neck out as a contrarian with a forecast of an above average hunt. Wisconsin’s spring turkey harvest was the second highest in the nation.

2016 Wisconsin turkey habitat is about as full of turkeys as it can get. No one “counts” turkeys in Wisconsin so it’s left to a variety of opinions. I think a reasonable estimate of statewide turkey numbers is around 600,000 birds perhaps approaching 650,000; this makes Wisconsin the number one turkey state in the nation based on population.
Wisconsin appears to be at carrying capacity statewide and is some southern areas turkeys may be over their carrying capacity. Wisconsin has experienced back to back mild winters followed by excellent springtime nesting conditions making excellent recruitment.. 2015 fall turkey hunters found high numbers of bird groups with diverse age structures.

2016 Spring Turkey Forecast for Wisconsin Turkey Management Unit 1, 3 & 4

In particular, these units have abundant turkey populations. With the exception of northern unit 4, turkeys numbers may be over carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is the number of a species the habitat can support during worst case conditions. i.e. severe winter.

Active fall turkey hunters reported encountering unprecedented bird numbers. Official WDNR kill stats show a decrease in the harvest. I believe this is due to hunter effort. The number of fall turkey hunters has been in steady decline for several years; perhaps there are only 27,000 fall turkey hunters statewide. My point is fall hunter harvest is not a reliable indicator of the turkey population.

2016 Spring Turkey Forecast for Wisconsin Turkey Management Unit 2

I have no experience hunting in unit 2. Tags are limited there versus the population of turkey hunters, so I leave the available tags for those hunters. The network reports nearly the same abundance as the 1,3, and 4. So it will be an excellent spring hunt in zone 2.

2016 Spring Turkey Forecast for Wisconsin Turkey Management Units 5,6, & 7

Again reports are indicating unprecedented high numbers of wild turkeys. There are so few tags available in these units that I have not tried to get any. For the most part, it appears residents are the primary purchasers of these rare turkey tags. Hunters should see excellent success this spring.

charlie elk’s 2016 Wisconsin Spring Wild Turkey Hunt Forecast Summary

Can’t wait to start hunting! This spring 2016 is set to be a record-setting season. Unless there is significantly bad spring weather that keeps hunters out the field, the total ’16 turkey harvest will exceed 51,000 turkeys.

If you’d like to join the charlie elk turkey reporting network please fill out this form. Even if you don’t want to join the network please leave a reply regarding your thoughts.

2 year old turkeys are the bread and butter of spring hunting. There should be more of turkeys found this spring.

2 year old turkeys are the bread and butter of spring hunting. There should be more of these turkeys found this spring.

How I Kill Afternoon Gobblers, the lessons of many years

March 26, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

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.

Wisconsin Go Wild Turkey Tags; Get Ready to be Queue-it-ed

March 21, 2016 by Charlie 26 Comments

Many of Wisconsin’s most experienced wild turkey hunters worried the new GO WILD licensing would fail them. On Monday, March 21st it did fail to meet even the most basic of expectations. So often it seems

My Go Wild E-Q screen.

those who set up and operate government systems think all of those who have jobs in the private sector, their customer’s, have nothing better to do than sit around a wait. On the first day of turkey tags sale, someone at Go Wild thought the installation of a queue system was a good idea?! this stretched a 5-minute license buying process into more than and an hour of waiting.

Here’s what happen on the opening day of leftover permit sales, Go Wild style.

9 am – As usual I checked to make sure my computer was set up correctly, login credentials functioned properly and most of all the Go Wild site as still operating.

9:06 a – started my work day.

9:55 a – opened a browser to get ready for login on Go Wild.

9:59 Attempted navigating to Go Wild home page. Found the site closed off and my browser was placed in a queue by Queue.It. Really!? an e-Q!? No way, so I tried to access Go Wild via another tab, the same thing. The message read

“Spring Turkey Leftover Permits has not yet begun. When Spring Turkey Leftover Permits begins, you will be assigned a random place in line (alongside everyone else who also arrives before Spring Turkey Leftover Permits begins.)

When your turn comes you’ll have 20 minutes to enter.

You may go get a cup coffee

10:03 AM – I notice pain in my lower jaw due to its dropping onto the desk. The next words are not fit to print on a family-friendly site like this.

10:06 AM – Anger gives way to thinking, a little bit anyway. So I used other computers, browsers, phones and any additional miscellaneous devices I found lying about. All were immediately placed in the Go Wild e-Q with their own special place in line ranging from 1,268 to 5,701.

10:15 AM – The e-Q paused. I called the local license vendor to check on their status. Diane, the owner, was, let’s say, less than happy and swears she is going to discontinue the business relationship with WDNR.

10:25 AM – the e-Q goes from pause to slow mo off and on until 11 a.

11:06 AM – My first e- Q line place is up, and the screen says I can enter. Takes 2 minutes before the GoWild home page opens. Logging in and putting the turkey tag in my cart went OK. The pay portal continued to tell me my credit card was invalid. Tried the second card only to be told it too was invalid. Entered the information very carefully over and over with the same invalid message appearing. I know my credit cards are valid. So, I just ignored the message and hit the continue button. Payment was then promptly accepted.

11:13 AM – Finally after 1 hour and 13 minutes the purchase of a unit 1 turkey tag was completed. Previously using the old system, this simple task would have taken about 5 minutes.

At 11:30 the Go Wild system “paused” again. Of course would have been hunters taking their lunch breaks to purchase a tag. A hunting buddy called and said he was number 4,687 and could not wait that long. Sadly my grandson who forgot to apply and planned to buy a tag for us to hunt together has been unable to complete his transaction because of school schedule conflicting with e-Q. We will still hunt, but it will be some unknown later season.

As you can tell by my previous post, I really wanted the Go Wild system to work and work well. It sure looked good and sure did turn out to be a disappointment. Also, the spring turkey leftover permits availability page is very slow refreshing the number of remaining permits. It took 30 minutes or more to display the remaining permit numbers.

Turkey hunting plans are hard to make under Wisconsin’s turkey licensing scheme. Especially now with this Go Wild mess. One thing that became quite apparent today – Go Wild has many different meanings. Good luck hunters.

Update March 23 10:45 a: After being queued for 31 minutes I was able to purchase a zone 3 tag smoothly. Delays can be expected from 10 to 10:45 and again starting at 11:30 am or so. (during lunch breaks) The rest of the first-day tag sales go with minor wait times.

Wonder what is going to happen Saturday during all zone free for all sale?

Wisconsin Go Wild; How to Buy License

March 12, 2016 by Charlie 12 Comments

Link to new post, August 17, 2017, Wisconsin Collector Stamps; How to order

Update August 23/ 2016 – Wisconsin 2016 Fall Turkey Permits are available
Updated March 21, 2016, See here for how it worked on the first day of leftover turkey tag sales.

Wisconsin DNR has almost completed the testing on the new Go Wild site. This is where we will be purchasing license and permits for the upcoming 2016 hunting and fishing seasons starting early next week.

Scroll down for previous updates

Here’s what’s new

Deer and bear hunters will no longer be issued back tags. Governor Walker signed the bill eliminating the back tag requirement. It passed the legislature with over whelming bipartisan support.
All outdoor license and permits will be purchased via Go Wild.

License and permits

Stored on a Wisconsin driver license. Accomplished automatically for online purchases. License vendors will swipe the driver license to load your purchases onto your license.
Don’t want to use your driver license? Purchase the new $3.50 Conservation Card. This card will be collectible with a new card each year. Made of plastic like a credit card.
Keep copies of license on your smart phone.
Print paper copies either on your printer or at the license vendor.

Carcass tags will no longer be required to be attached to the harvested game. We will keep the tags in our pocket. After harvest, write the date and time on the tag. If cell connection is available in the area you may immediately register your harvest. In any case, hunters are required to carry a hard copy of their license/tag. Once registered a validated tag can be printed which will have the registration number on it and kept until all meat is consumed.

Update 3/16/16 – Some are concerned if you decide to carry your license on your cell phone and hand it to a warden or other law enforcement officer for license verification; they will be able to search it. I posed this question to Administrative Warden Matthew O’Brien. Here is his reply;

In using the term “search”, I assume you are implying looking at things beyond the license documentation, such as photos or text messages.

A warden’s ability to conduct a 4^th amendment search of an electronic device is the same now as it was before; absent consent, both substantive and procedural prongs of the constitutional protections would need to be satisfied before a search could lawfully occur.

So the mere fact that you are lawfully exhibiting your license on an electronic device will not automatically permit a search of your phone’s contents. No different than exhibiting your driver’s license on a traffic stop does not permit an officer to automatically search the wallet from where the license emerged.

The convenience fee is now whatever the credit card company charge is, that should be less than the old $3.00 charge. If you pay with the routing and account number of your checking account there is no fee.

License vendors will continue to receive 50 cents for each license they issue and 15 cents for each stamp sold. The vendors rely on us to buy other things while purchasing our licenses.

When the Go Wild system opens for business. You will need to create an account with user name and password. Once this is done you can log in without entering all of your personal data.

Update March 14, 2016, 9:38 pm: Go Wild site is still not up and running even though Secretary Stepp radio commercials were being broadcast on many AM stations today. It’s critical the Go Wild site is flawlessly running by March 21st because this is the start of 2016 Spring Turkey OTC Permits go on sale. First come first serve basis.

DNR personal have given me assurance that a backup plan is set just in case. What is that plan entail? Glad you asked. Remember the old telephone call in system. Yeah, the one where we call in repeatedly trying to get past the busy signal and when that’s accomplished wait on hold for your turn. Ugh. Make sure your phone battery is well charged. In person, license vendors will not be sell permits unless the Go Wild system is up and running.

Update March 15, 2016, Wisconsin Go Wild site is not active yet. I found this page on WDNR. Just a little more information to study while we wait. For those who plan to buy a leftover spring turkey permit understanding the new licensing process and navigation is paramount.

Go WildProve it

The new Go Wild system secures your license, permits, state stamps and hunter safety education information online which can be accessed through a variety of items including your original paper document, a paper reprint, an optional conservation card, your authenticated Wisconsin driver’s license, or a department-generated PDF displayed on your electronic device – no more worries about losing your one and only copy. Depending on which item you choose to use, you will have access to all of these records. Please note all forms of proof are NOT acceptable for all types of authorizations – see tables for details.

Update March 17, 2016, 8:00 AM: GoWild.wi.gov is up and looks good on my mobile device. Will purchase conservation patron license later.

Update March 17, 2016, 10:56 AM: Began the signup process. Easy to follow the screens through the conservation patron license application for 2016 fall turkey, 2017 spring turkey, hip, goose, fisher, otter, & sturgeon.

Antlerless tags did not display, nor did any of the stamps; pheasant, turkey, trout. This provided an opportunity to contact WDNR customer service.

Called the DNR service phone number and clicked for the chat, connected to a rep in about 6 minutes for the chat line and received answers to all my questions. There is no print selection on the chat box so if you want a transcript you’ll need to print screen. The phone stayed on hold listening to music and WDNR promos for a little over 11 minutes. The chat was significantly faster than the phone call. For help during the spring turkey, OTC sale go for the chat. Actually, I’d do both just in case.

Learned the antlerless tags will be mailed when they become available. This is different, in the past, those were printed at the time of CP purchase. The conservation patron license includes all the stamps so they’re not printed out on the receipt separately. The conservation card does not come up as an option to buy until clicking the “featured product. If you desire the conservation card it can be purchased later. If a resident all your purchases are automatically connected to your driver license. NR will need to keep an e-copy or paper.

If speed is important at the start of the turkey OTC tag sales make sure you register in the new GoWild system and set up a username and password. This takes a few extra minutes.

Using a credit card will cost 1.75% of total sale. Conservation license card fee was $2.89 that’s a little less than the old $3 convenience. The big saving will be for each OTC turkey tag, fee 18 cents for residents. If you really want to save on the “conveniences” then use a checking account by providing the bank’s routing number and bank account number.

A hat tip to the WDNR on the new Go Wild system is intuitive and easy to understand. It is hosted on the main Wisconsin state government computer system with, what appears to be the same payment process backbone as the state revenue department. You actually leave the Go Wild side to make a payment. I practiced navigating through the system a few times in order to be ready for the turkey sale. Got to stay in shape you know. Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments here.