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Wisconsin 2016 Spring Wild Turkey Beats 2015 Registrations

June 5, 2016 by Charlie 3 Comments

Wisconsin’s spring 2016 wild turkey registration total is 11% higher than last year. Preliminary total harvest has 45,496 turkeys registered spring 2016.

Unit 1 had the highest turkey harvest 13,862 for a 22% success rate.
Unit 2 registered 11,083 turkeys 23% success rate.
Unit 3 registered 10,348 birds 20% success rate.
Unit 4 registered 6,698 birds, success rate 21%
Unit 5 total 2,071
Unit 6 total 813
Unit 7 total 510
Fort McCoy checked in with 111

Total 2016 turkey permits issued 213,672 compared to 2015 issued permits 208,250. About 26,000 applicants who were drawn did not buy their license.

Keep in mind the number of turkey hunters is less than the number of issued permits because each hunter is allowed to buy more than one tag. The total number of spring turkey hunting licenses sold each spring in Wisconsin ranges between 100,000 to 120,000.

How should hunter success rates be calculated?

Currently, WDNR calculates the state success rate using the total number of permits issued giving Wisconsin hunters a statewide success rate of 21.3%. If the success rate calculation is done using the number of hunting licenses sold, which would accurately represent the number of individual hunters, the success rate is 41.36% assuming 110,000 spring hunting licenses were sold.

If the average hunter in Wisconsin buys two permits; And that hunter shoots one turkey are they successful? Or do they need to fill both permits to be successful?

What about the obsessed turkey hunter who purchases at least one permit per weekly season, perhaps more than one permit in the later seasons, so they have 7 or more permits to hunt. How many of those permits do they need to fill to be considered successful?

Other hunters buy extra permits in other units and time periods so that they can spend time hunting friends or family in those areas. Perhaps they only hunt a day for two or don’t hunt at all due to personal scheduling conflicts.

Bottom line. Does the success rate percentage really matter?

Hunters can apply now for their 2017 spring turkey tags. Log into your account on www.GoWild.gov, “Buy permit application”, under application and points. Applications can be changed anytime and as many times as needed until the December 10th deadline.

Grandson on The Wisconsin Youth Hunt

April 28, 2016 by Charlie 9 Comments

“Grandpa I see turkeys coming.”

“Where son?”

“Coming down the hill behind us.” Boy, does he have a good game eye, a gaggle of turkeys was weaving its way downhill in our direction.

As excited as we were to get started turkey hunting on Saturday it seemed life was conspiring to keep us from it. The game of turkey hunting is supposed to commence in the early morning dark and span the day, and that was not the way the 2016 Wisconsin spring wild turkey hunt began for us.

10:00- Found us set up in a small woodland bordered by some Ag fields. A lot of hunters would prefer setting up a blind and spread of decoys in an area like this. My grandson, like most young hunters, prefers to be outside a blind rather than in one. Within a half hour, the craggy bark of that old tree bit into our backs making the idea of moving very appealing. Or was it the lack of the turkeys? We moved, several miles away.

Nugget the turkey decoy. Keeps it interesting for the young ones.

10:45- We left the parked truck to hike across a prickly pear littered sand barren field, clearly an area that did not look like it would hold any turkeys, at least to the casual passerby. Down an embankment along the edge of a swamp with too much water for easy walking we headed up to a hillside step and for no other reason than there were fresh turkey scratchings everywhere we setup Nugget, (yes, he named the new decoy). We situated ourselves in a decaying blow down. Walker on my left.

A tom like this gets the most seasoned hunter’s heart beating overtime.

11:10- Walker’s picked those turkeys out, and he knew immediately they were gobblers with a gang of jakes bringing up the rear. With all those turkeys meandering a line towards us his excitement was quite contagious. I must admit my heart skipped a beat or two when it becomes clear exactly how big the lead gobbler was, and he was heading directly towards Nugget.

For some reason, turkey decoys don’t usually work for me. In spite of all those past failures a few days ago I purchased a Scheel’s decoy that had been on sale for $17.89 figuring Walker would like it. Apparently, the lead gobbler liked her too because his focus was on Nugget and seemed not to care in the least there was a trembling 13 year old trying to get a bead on his pulsing head only 12 yards away.

For me, it was an eternity from the time that old gobbler stopped, extended his head high to get a better look at Nugget and the roar of Walker’s 20 gauge. Then inside the scream, NOOOOO… as those big wings clawed air carrying that very large turkey up above the trees and out of our lives. Shots at turkeys do not come much more perfect than that, how could he miss? Outwardly, I whispered, “your turkey nuggets flew away, stay still and be ready.”

The following turkeys had scattered at the shot. Turkeys have short memories and can’t rationalize what happens, they just react. In short order, my calls calmed them down, and they started to stroll back to us. Now you must understand the turkeys have calmed, but my grandson is still shaking from the first encounter, there is no doubt he is rationalizing the situation.

They’re back…

Four turkeys move back into shooting range if Walker was shaking before; this time, it’s an earthquake allowing the turkeys to bust our position and retreat. Again I call to them, for some reason, my turkey calling calms the turkeys but still does very little to calm Walker. Six turkeys come back in range to mill around clucking and purring their contentment. But as turkeys are prone to do given too much time they bust us and fade away again. At this point I remind Walker about how much fun this is, he agrees grinning ear to ear. I ask him if he is hungry for some turkey nuggets, of course, he replies. Then let me know when you are calm, and I will call those turkeys back, again.

After about 15 minutes Walker assures me he is ready to try again. Soft yelps and purrs waft thru the woodland soon the turkeys eagerly answer, and I amp up the calls causing the toms to do about faces and march in; who can blame a 13 old for all his excitement, we had no blind, so there was nothing between the turkeys and us. We were sitting on the ground, so when those birds were in close, they looked down on us. Heck, I know some veteran turkey hunters who’d crack too.

It was important to figure out why my grandson missed that first gobbler, so I measured the distance, exactly 12 yards. Later at the gun range he never missed a turkey target at that range and then it occurred to me; the target was just a turkey head, not the whole bird. I forgot to tell him to make sure he picks out only the head when he shoots at a live turkey.

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.

Take The Wisconsin Slam Challenge

December 28, 2015 by Charlie Leave a Comment

There’s no better place to hunt turkeys

Vic, my turkey dog, a Vizsla (member of the pointer group), and I begin our fall hunting adventure together, typically setting up where Vic scattered a flock of turkeys. Vic lays next to my left leg with the look of happiness only a dog can express at a glance. As the scattered turkeys start their lost “kee kee” whistles looking to find each other in order to regroup, we know that’s my cue to start lost yelping and assembly calling. In the case of scattered gobblers, coarse yelps, and aggressive purrs can bring them back into the gun.

The woods is filled with turkey calls. Vic the turkey dog can't understand why we're waiting.

The woods are filled with turkey calls and Vic, the turkey dog, can’t understand why we’re waiting.

I love it when the woodlands are filled with the sounds of turkeys whistling and yelping at each other and back at us. Vic and I then become part of the flock, talking back and forth. As the conversation continues, Vic stiffens on a laying point towards the direction of the approaching turkeys. My gun will be up at the ready. There are two tags in my pocket and with a couple of gunshots, I’ll be hoping to validate those.

Turkeys are not just another upland bird to be flushed and shot. You can certainly do that; it’s legal. However, to a traditional turkey hunter like me, turkeys are special birds that require more finesse to tag. After all, what other upland game bird can be called in?

And there is no better place to hunt turkeys than in Wisconsin. The combination of seasons, habitat and the fact I can take my dog along in the fall make it turkey hunting heaven.

Summer gobbler Vic’s first hunt. Beginner’s luck?

The Wisconsin Slam

Summer turkey? Wait you can’t shoot turkeys in the summer. There is only a spring and fall season, right?

Most think of Wisconsin’s two turkey seasons; spring (April 15 to May 26) and Fall (Sept. 12 to Dec. 31 — closes during nine-day gun deer season then reopens at the end of deer season).

But if you check the calendar, the fall turkey season dates overlap the official calendar dates of summer and winter. Summer officially runs June 21 to Sept. 22 allowing one to bag a summer turkey in the fall season, and winter officially starts on Dec. 22 giving Wisconsin fall turkey hunters a 10-day opportunity to shoot a “winter” turkey.

It was about eight years ago when it dawned on me that Wisconsin hunters can shoot a turkey during each of the four calendar-based seasons of the year: spring, summer, fall and winter.

Think of it as “The Wisconsin Slam” — taking a turkey in each of the seasons. Who do you know who has accomplished this? No trophies are awarded, and there is no official recognition. It’s all about the personal satisfaction a turkey hunter who understands turkeys and their year round behavior gets from this distinction.

Bar none; Wisconsin is a unique stand-alone wild turkey hunting state offering thousands of tags over the counter that in some units do not sell out by season’s end.

Why pursue a Wisconsin Slam?

The Wisconsin Slam is fun motivation to get out turkey hunting during a time when you might be distracted by something else to do or hunt. The “summer” and “winter” turkeys are harder to bag and offer a fun challenge. The vegetation is thick in the summer making the turkeys harder to find and see. Winter season is the opposite — there is no vegetation, so the turkeys are easier to find, but that means it is also easier for the turkeys to see the hunter and his dog.

Being able to hunt in all seasons of the year is a uniquely Wisconsin hunting opportunity that so many hunters are overlooking. The spring season is the most popular but I’d like to see more hunters take advantage of hunting turkeys during the four seasons of the year. Need more incentive? Summer, fall and winter turkeys are more tender and taste much better than the spring gobblers who are the survivors of winter starvation.

Extend the season winter turkey hunting with your dog

Not only can you complete a Wisconsin Slam but the state offers a variety hunting flavors.

Want to chase turkeys in miles of forests? Head to the northern big-woods. Want to try mountain turkey hunting? Wisconsin doesn’t have any “real” mountains but western Wisconsin does have some mighty steep bluffs. Marshland and river bottoms across the state can provide hunting with the feel of southern swamp turkeys, minus the large reptiles. Don’t forget to try southern Wisconsin for some prairie turkey hunting.

I’d argue that no other state offers such a myriad of turkey hunting opportunities.

Another important dimension to Wisconsin’s wild turkey hunting happened when turkey dogs were legalized for the fall turkey hunt season starting in 2011. It is widely believed hunting turkeys with dogs is a new method; however, turkey dogs in North America are one of the original turkey hunting practices which date back to the founding of Jamestown in 1607. A small contingent of turkey hunters are now bringing the sport of turkey dogging back.

In spring, gobblers advertise their location by gobbling. In fall, this is not normally the case which makes finding the turkeys more challenging. Thus, a turkey dog comes in handy during the fall season. A turkey dog’s job is to find the turkey flocks then flush them in different directions while barking or yipping to let his master know where the action is. When turkeys scatter in different directions, it is easier for the hunter to call the turkeys back together while setup with their dog at the point of the break.

Hunting with a dog in the fall brings the excitement that makes spring hunting seem tame by comparison. When turkeys respond for gathering they do so with gusto, gobbling, purring, kee kees, yelps — you name the call, and they do it. Many times a group of gobblers will not only gobble and purr they’ll fight with each other as they come back.

Turkey dogging also extends the time of contact and interaction with wild turkeys. The first contact is when the dog is flushing or breaking up the turkey flock this is particularly rewarding for the hunter who enjoys the flush of wild birds. The second contact occurs when the turkey answers your call. Yes, turkeys talk to you. Then of course, hopefully, the interaction brings the turkeys in close to you and your dog. A trembling dog close by your side adds to the excitement of the incoming birds as you know you have trained this dog with the skills required. It’s fun to share the excitement, and there’s no better place to do it than in Wisconsin.

After breaking up a flock, Vic sets up with anticipation of the turkeys reappearing.

Wisconsin’s turkey management plan

Wisconsin Turkey Management Plan

The Wisconsin Wild Turkey Management Plan, a product of coordination between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, key stakeholder groups, and the public, is available on the department’s website.

People can view an electronic copy of the plan by searching the DNR website, dnr.wi.gov, for keywords “turkey management.”

The Wild Turkey Management Plan will guide decisions regarding the allocation of turkey permits, the structure of our spring and fall hunting seasons, the use of Wild Turkey Stamp funds, and many other aspects of turkey management in the state through 2025. The current plan reflects recent scientific research and changes in turkey distribution and hunting tradition. The management plan was guided in part by input received at 12 meetings held statewide in April and May 2012, as well as an online survey available during the same time period.

Article appeared in the Wisconsin Resource Magazine in August 2015. Written by charlie elk.

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