The turkeys have started an eat ham campaign. I wonder why?
Here’s the place to post the turkey situations in your area, whether that is in WI a neighboring state or somewhere across the world.
Turkey Sitrep; “military speak for the turkey situation in a particular area”
FirstBubba says
“You da man, Chucky baby!” LOL!
Apr 1 SW OK
Yesterday (3-31-17), due to heavy rains earlier in the week, I decided I best check my “set up” as “Turkey – Spring” opens Apr 6th! It had been surrounded by high water but ultimately survived, setting mere inches above the high water mark!
As we turned out from the pasture, two birds crossed the dirt road a quarter mile away.
Hurrying as best we could cross a wash out, we slowed at the crossing point to look for birds.
Sure enough!
Two nice toms and three hens.
Not really enough to establish “Transition Period 2”, but close.
Two more miles west and turn onto the black top.
A turkey is easily seen standing in the west ditch.
Pushing the diesel a little harder, the gap is soon closed and there are two hens in the ditch!
Just across the fence in a wheat pasture there are THREE toms in full strut surrounded by 8 to 10 hens!
“YES! Transition 2!”
As each Transition Period lasts approximately 15 days (+/- 5 days) and a scouting trip a week ago showed Transition 2, the turkeys are right on schedule to be in Transition Period 3 for The spring opener!
Transition Period 3 is equivalent to the full rut for deer!
Anybody with a call and a single hen deke…or just a call…can be a hero!
Sorry Charlie!
If you can’t tell, I’m excited about opening day!
Charlie says
Hope it’s the same in Colorado. The turkeys around here can now be called in with a squeaky hinge. They’re going nuts with all the gobbling and the first crack at them is during the youth hunt with my grandson on the 15th. In past years the youth hunt would have been this weekend, the 8th.
Charlie says
Most of the turkeys in this part of Wisconsin are in the woodlands around the warmer areas where insects are hatching, and new grass is growing.
Spent a lot of weekend cruising glassing fields, wondering where in the heck are all the turkeys. Then got my butt out of the truck, started hiking likely zones and sure enough, we encountered several groups of three gobblers with satellite jakes in tow.
FirstBubba says
If you’re in WI, you’re in Zone 3,
which should put turkeys in late transition 1 or early transition 2.
You should (?) have groups of toms fighting among themselves, establishing “pecking” order.
I’ve got a picture I took last year of six toms in a circle, fighting. AWESOME!
Next transition, two, will find big groups of hen and toms with the toms strutting to attract hens.
I’ve seen as many as 60 hens with 15 or so gobblers. Five or 6 strutting at one time.
Transition 3 is that “sweet spot”! …and you’re right, a rusty gate hinge would probably work.
Charlie says
Sounds like a great pic. If you’d like to get it posted here please email it to me. Email is C (fill in the symbol) charlieelk.com
It appears many of the flocks have broken up into smaller groups now. Most of the March pecking order disagreements have settled down, though not all. There is some strutting around a few hens. For the most part, the hens have dissolved their winter flocks and are moving into potential nesting areas. Seeing hens in small 3-5 groups and some traveling singles.
A good turkey hunting buddy has explained his theory about ground temps dictating the stage for nesting to a few years ago. Since then I’ve been paying attention to ground temps, and I think he might be onto something. To my knowledge, there are no studies regarding turkey nesting and ground temperature correlations.
FirstBubba says
Had to head down to Ft Worth, TX this morning.
We left the house at 7:10AM.
Over near Wairika lake, out in a wheat pasture, were at least 30 turkeys with no less than 5 different toms in full strut! Absolutely awesome!
Definitely “Transition 2” behavior!
FirstBubba says
BTW! Find your “ground temp” theory very interesting! Something I’ll have to pay attention to also.
It DOES make sense.
huntfishtrap says
Here in NE Iowa, the opener (on the 17th) is still a ways off, but it’s really feeling like turkey season. The flocks have mostly broken up, and there’s a lot of gobbling and strutting when the weather is nice. Saw 4 gobblers in full strut with about 12-15 hens while driving yesterday, and 3 or 4 strutters with a couple hens in a different spot last weekend. I have never seen more turkeys in this area – can’t wait for the season to open! I might even try a hunt in Wisconsin this spring, depending on how it goes here.
FirstBubba says
Good luck Hft!
About the 17th, the hens will be nesting and the toms will be…Uuhhh….lonesome!
huntfishtrap says
Thanks, Bubba. Good luck to you, too. Don’t know if I will be out on the 17th or not (we actually have 4 individual seasons that vary from 5 days to about 3 weeks long, and you can only hunt in 2 of them. Yeah, it’s complicated), but hopefully when I do get out there I can give a couple of those lonesome gobblers some company!
FirstBubba says
Last year I missed opening day!
For some odd reason, OK decided to open season on Sat, Apr 4th instead of the usual Apr 6th!
FirstBubba says
That was 2015, not 2016 I missed opening day! LOL!
Charlie says
April 5; Found the first turkey nest of the year this morning in a marshy river lowland with two eggs. It might be what I refer to as a “false nest,” one that is not going to succeed but for whatever reason, the hen was compelled to lay.
This area has thawed out for several weeks and already has abundant insect and amphibian life which to a turkey is a gourmet banquet.
FirstBubba says
Skunked Thursday!
Heard lots of gobbling and yelping but the birds never materialized.
Friday had the same daylight sonata but the birds did come my way. Just not far enough!
Set up an ambush!
Big guys went the wrong way so a jake paid the price!
N.C.L.W. says
Turkeys seemed to have flocked up late. For Spring Bear too – It looks like a sleepy start and slowly opening Spring here in SouthEastern BC, CA.
I’ve been all over the place lately… Have had my hands full! As soon as I get figuring to head out to practice more (and come back with those Hornady Heavy Magnum Turkey results out of a BPS) something else comes up somehow.
Time to change up priorities and get some patterning done!
FirstBubba says
BC, CA? WOW!
That’s a LONG ways from me! LOL!
Even here in southwestern Oklahoma, the birds were behind schedule and slow to change.
N.C.L.W. says
Haven’t made the drive myself FirstBubba, but provided all goes well that’d be around a 32 hour drive or so. Of course, it would take much longer in a Sooner! 🙂
Low elevations in my area (3,000 to maybe 3,300 ft) are clear of snow and starting to green up. This winter just past was one of the harshest since around ’96 or 7. There is an exceptional snowpack on the mountains this year!
FirstBubba says
N.C.L.W., the turkeys here made a sudden change.
Sunday, I found groups of hens and toms. Tuesday, on the way to hunt, we saw five toms in the edge of a wheat field. Three were in full strut. No hens present. Unfortunately, I’m going out of state for the next two weeks. Pretty much ends my season.
Charlie says
The turkeys in Colorado were still in large winter flocks. While the turkeys in Wyoming and Wisconsin are right on schedule, broken up for spring breeding.
Posts are coming soon of my CO and WY hunt, plus, of course, what happens this weekend with my grandson during the WI youth hunt.
FirstBubba says
Good to hear (see?) you again Charlie!
Apparently, it’s been going well for you.
I’m anticipating your updates!
N.C.L.W. says
Colorado sounds a lot like what I know of around my locale thus far for Spring ’17! Things are probably much more like WY/WI conditions along the US Border and West of here a ways. That’s my best guess, unfortunately I haven’t checked personally.
My local Turkeys seemingly being behind schedule makes me feel a little better about my situation as of late… Not like me to not go patterning/shooting in this amount of time. It’s been awhile but unfortunately, how it is for now! Just swamped.
huntfishtrap says
Was out hiking this morning, and called in two big gobblers with my wingbone. I got them to within 50 yards before they picked me out – I wasn’t expecting to encounter turkeys and my only camo was a t-shirt. Would’ve probably gotten some good photos if I’d been fully-camoed. They left a hen to come to me, to my surprise. Also saw a gobbler strutting all by himself in a field while driving. The birds are definitely becoming more dispersed. Our 1st season opens Monday, but due to weather and work I will most likely be getting a 2nd season tag. That opens Friday. Can’t wait!
FirstBubba says
Had a gobbler, I suppose, respond to my calling Tuesday the 11th.
Wife and me in a hidey hole we threw together before season. She saw him coming across a pasture.
He never gobbled, strutted or made a sound. It took over an hour to get him to come into range!
Charlie says
4/21/17 West Central Wisconsin; Nesting season is in full swing. Today we found 7 turkey nests with attending brood hens, woodcock and grouse nests.
Gobblers were out in the fields until sunset strutting, many times for only one hen or themselves.
huntfishtrap says
I got on the scoreboard this morning, opening day of our 2nd season. The first farm I went to was dead, no gobbling on it or anywhere nearby. Left at 7AM to try another spot where I’ve had good success in the mid to late morning before. Set up and called for an hour, but didn’t hear anything close. So I went to the end of a big ridge overlooking a large drainage, and did a series of loud yelps. Got one response from a gobbler a long way away. I dropped down into the valley and closed the distance as much as I could. Set up and called, and had another gobbler answer me, much closer than the first one. He hammered back every time I called, but ended up working his way past up the slope from me, probably 200 yards away. I waited for him to get behind the corner of the hill, then sprinted around the opposite side of the horseshoe-shaped ridge and got in front of him. Set up and called, and he would answer, but hung up strutting about 100 yards away. After a 20-minute stalemate, his patience finally ran out and he came walking down over the crest of the hill right to me. I let him get to within 25 yards before dropping the hammer on the Longbeard XR. He had a fairly short and wispy beard, so I figured him for a 2 year old when he was coming in, but when I grabbed a foot I just about fell over in shock. He has the longest spurs I’ve ever personally seen – both are 1 9/16″, and razor-sharp. I’d guess he was at least 5 years old, although aging gobblers is inexact. Weighed 23lbs 12oz, and had a 9 1/2″ beard. Interestingly, some other gobbler had kicked his butt not too long ago, because he was covered in spur wounds and bruises. I’d love to see the bird that did that!
My next tag is for our 4th season, which doesn’t open until the 3rd of May, so I’ll probably try to help my brother get a bird in the meantime.
Charlie says
Way to go, nice bird, now you have to wait… Like I am, until Wednesday, then my turkey hunting odyssey begins until the end of May. 11 tags to fill and thousands left to buy should I run out.
FirstBubba says
Need to come here more often had!
VERY nice bird! I’ve killed three or four birds that tipped the scale at 23 pounds, but nothing larger….
YET!
Congrats!
huntfishtrap says
Thanks, Bubba. My heaviest bird was 27 1/2lbs, and he was actually thin. I shot him after a very hard winter; after an mild winter I’m sure he would’ve been very close to if not 30lbs. That was a big turkey. I’ve shot a couple of 24 pounders, too. We grow ’em big here in the heartland.
N.C.L.W. says
TURKEY HUNTING (!) for Merriam’s is on in the Kootenay!
Still didn’t get a bird yet myself. We had a fine conversation this afternoon with a reticent gobbler that snuck out the back way instead of into the frying pan for this evening’s schnitzel. Saw some winterkill ungulate carcasses. Didn’t find any sheds…. Ticks are out, bugs are back. Saw live Whitetail, Grouse and some others… Nada for Bear sign that was fresh.
No further Turkey sightings but plenty of sign. Hatched eggs and some wing feather and bone left from bird. The snow only remains at high and higher elevations such as the peaks.
Seem to be keeping up with my responsibilities elsewhere, too. Going well!
Charlie says
That, there, is a pretty doggone good hunt. Keep at it; turkey schnitzel is mighty good eating.
N.C.L.W. says
Unfortunately I have had a very difficult time doing my thing this year and have not been able to dedicate sufficient resources to my Tom Bird pursuits, this spring. Our birds here are tough due to being at the northern most terminus of the range of Turkey. There MIGHT be 30,000 birds in an area the Size of Wisconsin, Michigan and what they hey, pick a next State (barring Texas or Alaska) and add that one on, too.
Apparently I am still a young guy and where I am currently located is surely a hard luck post… None the less, I am doing the best I can in this system of things. Very grateful for every Hunt this year, as always.
The aforementioned Hunt was the first time I’ve been able to get on Turkey since last May (May 14, 2016). I am grateful!
Charlie says
I understand how hard it is to hunt turkeys in the far north or anywhere else their density is low. The saluting point here is you keep at it while loving it.
N.C.L.W. says
Oh no, it’s really all my fault. I could easily get a bird if I prioritized it above other challenges. It was my priority to do so prior to other developments. None the less, I still might!
Not going to say much but I know given how your January went you can understand… Hope that’s enough said! At least for now.
Thank You, Charlie.
huntfishtrap says
I filled my 2nd Iowa turkey tag on Friday. Only took 3 hunts to fill the two tags.
I was hunting a piece of public land where I’ve always wanted to shoot a turkey; there are plenty there, but I always seemed to be snakebit in the past. About 8AM I had almost reached the area where I expected to find turkeys, a good 1/2 to 3/4 mile into the timber, when I heard a distant gobbler sound off. He was so far away I wasn’t sure which direction the sound came from, but when I yelped a few times 2 other closer birds gobbled as well.
I set up and kept calling, and the closer ones slowly worked their way toward me, until they got to within 200 yards. At that point they hung up and wouldn’t come a step closer. The stalemate lasted for probably a half-hour, until I grew impatient and decided to make a move. I was hunting an are of wide-open oak flats, making it hard to stalk anything, but I decided to circle around them and try to get as close as I could. A small ditch provided some cover, and I heard them gobble again as I was closing the distance.
I finally had to leave the ditch and start into the open timber, and just before cresting the ridge next to the ditch I heard them gobble, but they sounded farther away. I stopped and called a couple of times, but they didn’t respond. I was standing there trying to decide what to do next when I heard what I thought was a hen putting just over the hill in front of me. That was followed immediately by what sounded like multiple turkeys running in the leaves. I figured I’d spooked a flock of them and was just about to turn around and walk away when a red head popped over the hill, followed by 2 more. I was standing in the wide open with no cover, but when the birds put their heads down and started coming toward me I dropped to the ground and scrambled up against a tree. The first bird was a nice longbeard, and he was hell-bent on getting to the party first. He came trotting right toward me until stopping at about 20 yards, and I dropped him in his tracks. At the shot turkeys went everywhere – there were at least half a dozen, a mix of gobblers and jakes. He only weighed 20lbs, but had sharp 1 1/8″ spurs and a 10 1/2″ beard. Nice 3 year old.
Charlie says
Way to go HFT, if you’d like to post your story and pics here you can email it to me c (at sign) charlieelk.com
huntfishtrap says
I may just do that, if I can find the time. I’ll be in touch.