Charlie Elk

pseudonym of a man

Wisconsin 2017 Spring Wild Turkey Harvest – with all the details

by 25 Comments

Here are all the 2017 spring wild turkey harvest/kill stats you could ask for from Wisconsin.  The first chart is the kill by county, sex, and age. Scroll down for the number bagged by the number of hunters and continue scrolling down for all the harvests/kill from 1983 to 2016.

An interesting number 384 bearded hens were taken during spring 2017. Sauk County had the most, 20, bearded hens taken.

  Type of Turkey Total (ALL)
Hen Tom
Age of Turkey Age of Turkey
Adult Juvenile Adult Juvenile
Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill
County Of Kill 9 . 664 144 817
ADAMS
ASHLAND . . 85 16 101
BARRON 2 . 311 92 405
BAYFIELD . . 149 23 172
BROWN 2 . 518 92 612
BUFFALO 6 1 524 130 661
BURNETT 1 . 211 49 261
CALUMET 1 . 236 63 300
CHIPPEWA 5 . 546 117 668
CLARK 5 . 591 164 760
COLUMBIA 15 1 988 226 1,230
CRAWFORD 4 . 751 122 877
DANE 13 2 1261 245 1,521
DODGE 10 . 762 151 923
DOOR 2 . 554 63 619
DOUGLAS . . 111 28 139
DUNN 5 . 636 133 774
EAU CLAIRE 2 . 539 101 642
FLORENCE . . 86 21 107
FOND DU LAC 10 . 667 166 843
FOREST 1 . 83 13 97
GRANT 8 . 864 148 1,020
GREEN 8 . 612 115 735
GREEN LAKE 2 . 394 115 511
IOWA 27 2 971 132 1,132
IRON . . 30 9 39
JACKSON 8 . 571 146 725
JEFFERSON 4 . 597 134 735
JUNEAU 6 . 614 108 728
KENOSHA . . 49 12 61
KEWAUNEE 7 . 465 63 535
LA CROSSE 4 1 477 85 567
LAFAYETTE 8 . 422 46 476
LANGLADE 2 . 284 61 347
LINCOLN 2 . 360 87 449
MANITOWOC 14 . 786 160 960
MARATHON 12 1 1036 246 1,295
MARINETTE 1 . 504 141 646
MARQUETTE 6 1 709 153 869
MENOMINEE . . 2 . 2
MILWAUKEE . . 4 1 5
MONROE 7 . 780 163 950
OCONTO 9 . 690 165 864
ONEIDA . . 154 40 194
OUTAGAMIE 3 . 540 124 667
OZAUKEE 4 . 268 59 331
PEPIN 3 . 212 49 264
PIERCE 4 . 573 123 700
POLK 3 . 359 105 467
PORTAGE 2 . 669 147 818
PRICE . . 220 56 276
RACINE 2 . 82 16 100
RICHLAND 17 . 704 125 846
ROCK 6 1 595 105 707
RUSK 1 . 293 70 364
SAUK 20 . 1019 175 1,214
SAWYER . . 103 25 128
SHAWANO 9 . 1006 136 1,151
SHEBOYGAN 16 1 642 132 791
ST CROIX . . 492 139 631
TAYLOR 1 . 553 105 659
TREMPEALEAU 5 . 521 123 649
VERNON 4 . 711 163 878
VILAS . . 74 23 97
WALWORTH 4 . 350 91 445
WASHBURN 1 . 185 52 238
WASHINGTON 4 . 607 114 725
WAUKESHA 1 . 494 142 637
WAUPACA 21 . 1155 228 1,404
WAUSHARA 7 1 525 183 716
WINNEBAGO 2 . 308 91 401
WOOD 4 . 492 131 627
Total (ALL) 372 12 35400 7521 43,305

 

Below is the number of hunters who each bagged the number of turkeys.  

Example from the chart 32,476 spring turkey hunters bagged one turkey each.  215 hunters bagged 4 turkeys each, etc.

Bagged By number of Hunters
1 32476
2 3368
3 761
4 215
5 79
6 36
7 18
8 5
9 5
10 7
11 2
15 1
21 1

 The historical number of permits issued, harvest and

permit success for spring turkey hunting, 1983-2016.

Year Permits Harvest Permit Success
1983 1,200 182 15.2%
1984 1,950 303 15.5%
1985 2,025 496 24.5%
1986 3,675 793 21.6%
1987 6,040 1,478 24.5%
1988 11,070 2,486 22.5%
1989 21,280 4,400 20.7%
1990 29,877 6,465 21.6%
1991 37,414 6,846 18.3%
1992 43,925 8,798 20.0%
1993 61,767 12,316 19.9%
1994 71,420 12,637 17.7%
1995 68,588 15,323 22.3%
1996 75,812 18,000 23.7%
1997 92,734 20,992 22.6%
1998 101,141 28,338 28.0%
1999 112,256 33,168 29.5%
2000 132,318 38,686 29.2%
2001 151,522 39,211 25.9%
2002 160,101 39,336 24.6%
2003 169,277 42,970 25.4%
2004 186,608 47,477 25.4%
2005 193,826 46,183 23.8%
2006 200,869 46,662 23.2%
2007 205,306 52,428 25.5%
2008 208,972 52,880 25.3%
2009 218,133 52,581 24.1%
2010 214,356 47,722 22.3%
2011 210,384 40,133 19.1%
2012 201,984 42.612 21.1%
2013 217,798 37,804 17.4%
2014 210,496 41,815 19.9%
2015 208,250 40,975 19.7%
2016 212,772 45,501 21.4%

Comments

  1. Well look at that….only a 45 total difference in the number of turkeys harvested in comparison to Missouri. That’s pretty cool. I noticed from the post that someone bagged 21 this year…any chance that was you, Charlie?

    Here’s Missouri’s spring ’17 reports…(my total contribution was 1 gobbler, and I am proud of it haha).
    Total Turkey: 43346
    Total Adult Gobblers: 37193
    Total Juvenille Gobblers: 5597
    Total Bearded Hens: 556 (that comes out to 1/78 birds killed were bearded hens)
    Top County: Franklin County (1053 turkey)

    Reply

    • Bearded Hens are much more common place than I thought.

      Thanks for adding your data JM.

      I’d add some local to myself yet, unfortunately, have none available now.

      Reply

    • Missouri beat WI by 41. I have not looked at all the states yet, but I think that puts MO at number one and WI at number two.
      No, I’m a piker (one who does things in a small way) compared to, whomever the 21 is, I only managed to be number 2 this year. But, keep in mind this is not in anyway a competition to see who can kill the most. Rather, each hunter must personally derive satisfaction from their own hunting.

      Reply

      • If I kill 21 turkeys in my entire lifetime I will be pleased with myself, haha. I do think I will easily surpass that number though at the steady rate of 1 per year :).

        Reply

        • Take heart JM; I’m not a better turkey hunter than most other hunters, just reached a point in life where I can spend a lot of time hunting. This spring I was fortunate to log 58 days chasing turkeys. Nearly anyone who spends that much time going after turkeys is bound to get lucky and stumble into the right combination of circumstances.

          Reply

          • Wow. I think I might actually get tired of it after 58 days of turkey hunting.

          • Towards the end, a certain delirium sets in, and folks around me hear muttering about; “they need to close the season to save me from myself.”
            All rested up now, and all I can say is “Come ON FALL!” turkey dogging season can’t get here soon enough. By the time we get done turkey hunting Kansas on the 31st of January, I expect to have logged 100 days or more of fall hunting.

  2. Woah, that’s a surreal amount of data generated tout suite by Wisconsin DNR!

    What’s up with all those bearded ladies (err, hens) in Sauk County?! Must be something in the water. ; D I never would’ve figured there’d be 384 bearded hens killed this year out of an estimated 500K Turkeys present in the State.

    Reply

  3. You got it, a lot of data and thankfully that gives us something to discuss between seasons.
    JM posted Missouri took 556 bearded hens. We keep trying to beat Missouri at something turkey. 😉

    Reply

      • @Charlie, You might beat MO in 2018. Reports say that 2016 was a down year(some say record low percentage wise) according to brood reports, but I do not think my local area will suffer…if anything the population is growing.

        @HFT, I agree, but according to archives Missouri has killed more than 400 bearded hens for at least 5 years running, and many reports show populations still growing in most parts of the state. I think you and Charlie would be licking your lips and drooling like a dog about to get his dinner if you saw the number of turkey in the area where I live. Just a shame that I do not have the turkey hunting skills that you two possess.

        Reply

        • It will be this year’s recruitment that will determine the number of turkeys for the spring of 2018. Has your spring been decent (not too wet or cold)?
          Rainfall in WI this spring has been 6-12 inches above normal with temps 10-15 degrees below normal, a bad combination for all ground nesting birds. However, there are many reports of strutters with hens over the last couple of weeks. This is usually a good indication of renesting.

          Reply

          • Someone told me Spring seasons are mostly a reflection of brooding rates from 2 years before…no idea on how much experience he had though. This spring has been “normal” aside from one week of really hard flooding rain, but MDC wont release brooding reports for awhile.

          • This year’s recruitment also determines the number of the best tasting turkeys this fall! I saw one hen yesterday with poults and another one today, about 15 miles apart. Today one poult flew a foot high for about 3 feet, that tells you how old it is. It’s rained 12 of the last 14 days. They survived all that rain solely due to the mother hens sheltering their featherless bodies. Some days it rained for 4 to 6 hours. Imagine a hen trying to shelter poults for that long, plus getting them enough to eat, and not getting eaten themselves.

          • Yeah, it’s a tough life being a turkey. They’re born to be eaten.
            Among some of my acquaintances, we have an informal contest to see who can shoot the smallest turkey. In September the birds of the year are all white, including the drums, and fork tender. Best eating you can get from the fields and forests.
            On this side of the state, we have had our rivers above flood stage 3 times during May and June covering nearly all the 27000 acres of WMA. That’s a lot of nesting area to be underwater. Good thing turkeys are resilient birds.

          • Jon,
            Poults can fly to roost 10 to 14 days after hatching. It don’t take long! LOL!

          • It’s been an ideal spring for nesting here in IA. Dry, with fairly warm temperatures. We’ve only had 3 or 4 measurable rains in the entire month of June.

          • I hear that – turkeys really do have it rough. I saw 3 hens with poults in the last 3 days, probably another 5 hens alone I couldn’t confirm. Amazing how they survived all this rain.

            Last year the winner of our informal contest was just over 3 lbs. – there was a lot of 2nd and 3rd hatches. Those poults don’t even kee-kee, only whistle.

            Stumbled on this mad mother this morning – turn up the speakers.

      • Not to worry Hft; in the big scheme of things, the hen harvest is statically irrelevant. Other predators take much more over the course of the summer.
        In the spring we chase beards, and in the fall we kill turkeys. Eighty percent of all turkeys are dead within two years whether we hunt them or not.

        Reply

  4. Very interesting, charlie. But I have to ask, what were you thinking, killing the only 2 turkeys in Menominee county? Gotta leave some to reproduce! ;-D

    I couldn’t find a breakdown of our harvest numbers by sex and age, but the total number of turkeys killed in Iowa in spring ’17 was 11,779. The highest county was Clayton, with 551. That was about 150 more than the next highest county.

    Reply

  5. Charlie – do you suppose there’s just as many toms without beards as there are hens with beards? Would like to see the number of turkeys per hunter bagged in the fall compared to spring, Do you have last falls numbers by chance?

    Your post prompted me to finish what I been thinking for some time:
    …how 30,000 birds instantaneously communicate high-speed synchronous murmurations.
    3rd Orange Row down – http://www.turkeydog.org/scratchings.html

    Jon

    Reply

    • I have never seen a beardless tom. I know they do occur, but I have to think that they’re quite a bit rarer than bearded hens.

      Reply

    • Good question Jon. I have killed two beardless toms, both during fall hunts. One apparently never grew a beard and the other looked like it had been in a fight, losing his by force. Multi bearded toms seem to be more common, perhaps because spring hunters are looking for beards to confirm the legality of the bird.
      A buddy wrote on this blog a few years ago about his triple bearded gobbler with a treble fish hook in its neck. The story is here- https://www.charlieelk.com/2013/06/17/treble-hooked-triple-beard-turkey-what/

      Reply

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